Kirby Smart coached his first game for Georgia football in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome to open the 2016 season with a win against North Carolina and began the 2022 season in Mercedes-Benz Stadium by blowing out Oregon.

The No. 1 Bulldogs Saturday will play for the 11th time at the venue that opened in 2017 that is the home of the NFL Falcons and Atlanta United.

Smart didn’t put much stock in that familiarity with the stadium for the noon matchup with No. 14 Clemson in the AFLAC Kickoff Game.

“Hard to say,” he said. “That's about five minutes' worth of value. Once the game kicks off, nobody's thinking about where they are, they're thinking about the person they're playing against.”

Some stats on Georgia playing in the 71,000 seat stadium courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s X account: The Bulldogs are 5-5 overall there, but 5-1 against teams not named Alabama and 3-0 against ACC teams there.

Vivid Seats projects Georgia fans to make up 69 percent of the crowd at the game.

Why Georgia will beat Clemson

The combination of fifth-year senior Carson Beck and the Georgia offensive line. By the end of this season that just may be viewed as the best quarterback and best front five in the nation led by guard Tate Ratledge and left tackle Earnest Greene. Add in playmakers on defense (Safety Malaki Starks, pass rusher Mykel Williams, linebacker Jalon Walker) and talent should win out.

“They’re a very, very physical football team on both sides of the ball,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “You’ve got to be able to match that…You’ve got to win your share of battles up front.”

Clemson junior quarterback Cade Klubnik has been turnover prone with costly fumbles and six of his nine interceptions away from home and has been prone to take tackles for loss. The Tigers don’t appear to have the offensive weapons to exploit inexperience in Georgia’s secondary.

Why Georgia won’t beat Clemson

The Bulldogs have trouble running the ball with a depleted backfield (Roderick Robinson out with toe injury, Trevor Etienne possibly suspended) that leaves Branson Robinson, freshman Nate Frazier and Cash Jones as the top ball-carriers. Klubnik carries improvement on the practice field that Swinney says he’s seen to the field. Georgia’s defensive line has trouble controlling a running attack led by 6-foot-1, 230-pound Grayson High product Phil Mafah who rushed for 526 yards and 7 touchdowns on 5.0 yards per carry as the Tigers won their final five games of last season.

“The more carries he gets, the harder he is to tackle,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “I think he enjoys it the more he gets it. They hung their hat on him there towards the later part of last season, he was really physical, and a really good runner.”

Georgia score prediction vs. Clemson

Georgia 31, Clemson 14

We know what to expect from Georgia from what we’ve seen during the last three seasons. The Tigers need to prove they are an improved team after last year’s four-loss season. The Bulldogs have the better quarterback and more playmakers and that should keep the Tigers at bay.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: A look at Georgia football vs. Clemson: Scouting report, prediction