This isn’t Paul Johnson’s Georgia Tech.

At least, not offensively.

Clemson will begin the ACC portion of its schedule Saturday against the Yellow Jackets, who will visit Memorial Stadium having split their first two games to start the third season of the Geoff Collins era. Georgia Tech already has nearly as many losing seasons (2) under Collins as Johnson had (3) before stepping down as the program’s head coaching following the 2018 season.

The results haven’t been the only difference for the program under Collins.

Gone are the slotbacks, fullbacks and flexbone formations synonymous with Johnson’s triple-option offense that gave opposing defenses fits during his 11-year tenure in Atlanta. The Yellow Jackets have transitioned to a spread attack that’s much more common in modern college football, but Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said that doesn’t mean there still aren’t some option principles built into the Yellow Jackets’ scheme.

In fact, Swinney said, some of the elements of Georgia Tech’s offense are similar to what Clemson just saw from South Carolina State in the Tigers’ 49-3 win last week.

“(South Carolina State) had a lot of option principles to what they do,” Swinney said. “Same thing with Georgia Tech. They’ll definitely challenge you not from a traditional option stance but how they get the ball on the perimeter and get outside of you, formation you, zone read, (run-pass option) stuff. It’s a lot of similar stuff.

While the formations, personnel and blocking schemes may not look like a traditional option offense, Swinney said many teams with spread elements, including his own, have option tendencies built into their offenses. Clemson has handled Georgia Tech’s new-look offense pretty well, yielding just 10.5 points per game against the Yellow Jackets the last two seasons.

Clemson has won six straight in the series.

“Backside, when they run that stretch, the backside tackle is not getting cut down and dividing the defense in half,” Swinney said. “There’s a lot of things that carry over, but not like the triple option.”

Perhaps the biggest challenge Clemson’s defense faces in preparation for this year’s matchup is not knowing exactly which quarterback they’ll see come Saturday afternoon. A pair of freshmen, Jordan Yates and Jeff Sims, have both taken snaps for Georgia Tech, which is averaging 33 points through two games.

Swinney said it forces Clemson to prepare for both dual-threat signal callers.

“Simms is probably the more dangerous of the two when it comes to running the football. But they’ll get them on the edge. They’ll sprint. All the throwbacks and a lot of screen game. A lot of different formations to adjust to. Again, just trying to get you in space. So a good challenge for our defense with this bunch for sure.”

Football season has finally arrived. Time to represent your Tigers and show your stripes!