December of 2012 wasn't a fun month for Clemson's football players.

They'd just been punked at home by South Carolina, and outside sentiment seemed to favor them getting punked again by LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

A couple weeks of brutal practices prepared Clemson for big-boy football, and the result was one of the more magical evenings of the Dabo Swinney era.

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You could argue this offseason has a similar feel as Swinney and his staff take uncompromising measure of their team's physical readiness.

Some of it is rooted in what happened against Ohio State in New Orleans. Most of it comes from what Clemson will face in Charlotte when it takes the field for the first time in 2021.

Without question, the most daunting aspect of facing Georgia will be having to face its defensive front.