Clemson Tigers

Fire meets ice when Georgia Tech heads to No. 6 Clemson

Published Oct. 8, 2015 2:45 p.m. ET

foxsports

Fire meets ice this weekend when No. 6 Clemson hosts Georgia Tech in a matchup of two ACC teams that are heading in polar opposite directions.

The Tigers (4-0, 1-0) are fresh off a 24-22 victory over then-ranked No. 6 Notre Dame and enter Saturday’s contest as one of the hottest teams in the country.

Led by quarterback Deshaun Watson, whose nine touchdown passes leads the ACC, Clemson is red-hot right now and shows no signs of cooling off.

While it may be tempting for the Tigers to look ahead, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney will have none of that.

“Everybody wants to end the season after three or four games. It's so funny to see some of this rhetoric -- 'OK, these teams are in,'” Swinney said. “Every weekend is a season of its own. Just look around college football. I don't know who was sixth last week, but where are they now?

“You just got to go play the games. It's great to know that we're in the mix. We want to be in the conversation, but we've played four games -- not even half our season yet -- so we've got to keep our head down and keep chopping and grinding away."

Saturday’s game was supposed to be an ACC heavyweight battle, but with Georgia Tech (2-3, 0-2) having lost three straight games the contest has lost some of its luster.

The Yellow Jackets were ranked as high No. 14 this year, but consective losses to Notre Dame, Duke and North Carolina has swatted them out of the rankings.

Heading into the matchup, Swinney urged his team not to overlook Georgia Tech.

“They lost at Notre Dame. They lost to North Carolina, who's probably in the lead in the Coastal (Division) right now,” Swinney said. “They lost to Duke, who has just a loss to a ranked Northwestern team. They've played good teams. We have a ton of respect for their program and who they are. Their record has nothing to do with this game. If we have a letdown, we're going to get our butts kicked."