In the Dabo Swinney era, Clemson has not backed down from scheduling the major intersectional matchups that have come to define the tournament otherwise known as the regular season.

From Auburn to Georgia to Texas A&M to Notre Dame, the Tigers have scheduled up to minimize the fallout when the ACC is down (which is, of late, quite often).

But the past year has demonstrated the potential cost of opening with a powerhouse, and the potential beauty of opening with a relative patsy.

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If your offense has fallen into a rut after the departure of arguably the top two players in the country, opening against the best defense in the country can bring profound and lasting repercussions.

And opening against a reeling program can bring the incremental building blocks that are vital to not just pulling yourself out of that rut, but pushing closer toward the type of offense you're used to seeing.

Had Clemson played last year's Georgia defense last night -- or heck, maybe even this year's Georgia defense -- it's not crazy to think it'd have unfolded a lot like Sept. 4, 2021 in Charlotte unfolded.