Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney could not hide his excitement.
His joyous demeanor should come as no surprise to anyone who follows college football.
It is Game Week.
"It's a fun time of year,” he said. “We actually went out under the lights last (Sunday) night which was pretty cool preparing for an 8 o'clock kick. There's only so far you can get without playing a game. That's the next step for us...going and playing an opponent and figuring out where we are. 
"I'm excited to see us play and see what we need to do to improve.  It's that simple. This is a team that whatever happens Thursday night, we're going to have a lot of work to do. We have a long way to go,  but you've got to start somewhere." 
Adding to the difficulty of playing a season opener and conference game on a Thursday night is that Georgia Tech has an entirely new coaching staff.
Gone is Paul Johnson’s triple-option that was the bane of so many defenses. 
Now the Yellow Jackets are embracing a spread offense under first-year head coach Geoff Collins.
“It is a challenge because there are a lot of unknowns going into this game,” Swinney said. “Not only is it a coaching change but you have a complete philosophy change. You can't watch tape and get a good feel for their personnel on the offensive side." 
Collins brings with him a familiar face from his time with Temple, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Dave Patenaude, a 28-year college coaching veteran.
Under Patenaude, Temple put together 2 of the 3 highest single-season passing totals in school history and ranked 24th nationally in scoring offense last season. 
Just because the Tigers know about Temple does not mean they know about Georgia Tech.
“Openers are always tough and then you throw in an opponent like Georgia Tech that has good players and a whole new staff," Swinney said. "That’s a challenge because we know a lot about Temple, but we're not playing Temple. Last year, we were going to play Texas A&M and we were studying Florida State and Notre Dame. 
"There are going to be moments in the game where we have to figure it out and the same thing for them. They know a lot more about Clemson than we know about them, so that's an advantage for them. 
"We've got to make the adjustments and go from there.”