Clemson is a 2-touchdown underdog to Georgia. SC’s Graham says he’d take that bet

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham has confidence that 14th-ranked Clemson can pull off an upset over top-ranked Georgia when the two schools kickoff their football seasons Saturday.

“Clemson, they got (the) quarterback coming back,” Graham said Wednesday referring to Cade Klubnik when asked about this season’s outlook for Clemson and the University of South Carolina.

“You know, we got a really good guy. (They) lost a lot of defensive people,” Graham added in an interview with The State ahead of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce’s Washington Night. “Georgia is a tough opening game in Atlanta. So I think they’re, they’re two touchdowns or 13-point underdog. I’d take that bet all day long. I think, I think Clemson, they could do what Georgia Tech did to Florida State.”

Even though his football allegiances would be with the team from South Carolina, Georgia is a swing state in the presidential election. A Fox News poll released Wednesday had Vice President Kamala Harris leading former President Donald Trump by two percentage points.

Would Graham, a Trump ally, wear the black and red of the SEC powerhouse at Saturday’s game to help the former president’s chances?

“If I had to, I would, but I’m not. We can win without that,” Graham said with a laugh. “When you see me do that, you know we’re in a world of hurt.”

When it comes to Graham’s alma mater, the University of South Carolina, he was a little more reticent about the Gamecocks’ season outlook.

“We’ll see how the quarterback does,” Graham said referring to redshirt freshman LaNorris Sellers. “I played golf with the coach not long ago. (Shane) Beamer’s a great guy. Everybody loves him.”

Graham has concerns about the ongoing name, image and likeness changes happening in college football.

“If we don’t change the NIL, if we don’t bring some regulation to the wild west, we’re going to lose college football as we know it, every year people change, there’s no continuity,” Graham said.

Graham isn’t the only member of the South Carolina federal delegation worried about the ongoing questions about how NIL works.

U.S. Rep. Russell Fry, R-Surfside, also has a bill to put a pause on lawsuits around the country over players benefiting from their name, image and likeness.

“If you care about sports, and college sports, like equestrian, and track and field and wrestling and all these other things, and that people can go and use their talents, if you care about those in colleges, you’re going to want to stop these things, because eventually it’s going to come down to how much money do we need to save? We’re going to make cuts to make sure that we can afford these lawsuits,” Fry said.