Georgia didn’t have much trouble with Clemson on Saturday.
The No. 1 Bulldogs defeated the No. 14 Tigers 34-3 in the first meeting between the teams since 2021. After Georgia led just 6-0 at halftime, they broke the game open in the third quarter with back-to-back 75-yard touchdown drives.
Georgia opened the second half with a six-play drive that ended with a pass from Carson Beck to Colbie Young in single coverage in the end zone.
After Clemson responded with a powerful 12-play drive that ended with a field goal, Georgia drove 75 yards in eight plays while freshman running back Nate Frazier grabbed his first career touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 20-3 lead with 3:15 left in the third quarter.
It was obvious that Clemson needed to respond quickly after Frazier’s touchdown, but the Tigers played conservatively. After quarterback Cade Klubnik was stopped on a third-and-short run, Clemson decided to punt the ball to Georgia just before the end of the quarter. Clemson’s defense forced a three-and-out, but the Tigers couldn’t score points for the rest of the game.
Georgia is loaded
The Bulldogs entered the game as 13.5-point favorites, and a sluggish first half looked more like the result of a conservative offense than a Clemson-Bulldog matchup. After Georgia opened things up a bit in the second half, Beck really got going. The Heisman favorite finished the game 23-of-33 for 278 yards and two touchdowns.
Georgia also relied on a creative running game in the absence of Trevor Etienne and Roderick Robinson. Etienne, a transfer from Florida, did not take the field after being arrested for driving under the influence this spring and Robinson is out with a toe injury.
Frazier ended up being Georgia’s most prolific running back and looked phenomenal. The four-star recruit in the class of 2024 ran 11 times for 83 yards.
Georgia’s defensive depth was also tested at several points throughout the game. Defensive end Mykel Williams suffered an ankle injury on a low block while rushing the passer, while fellow defensive backs Warren Brinson and Nazir Stackhouse were also treated on the field during the game.
Clemson still has many questions
Is Clemson now just a good-but-not-great program?
It’s a fair question, given the way Georgia took control in the second half. The Tigers have lost at least three games in each of the past three seasons and didn’t look like true title contenders on Saturday.
Clemson hired former TCU offensive coordinator Garrett Riley after the Horned Frogs reached the national title game against Georgia in 2022. And just as Georgia held back and overwhelmed TCU in that title game, Riley’s offense couldn’t get anything going against the Bulldogs on Saturday. Outside of a 36-yard completion, Klubnik’s passing diet consisted almost entirely of short passes.
That lack of deep passes opened up nothing for the running game and the Tigers were completely stuck in a stalemate.
This is a Clemson program that still has a strong chance of making the College Football Playoff via an ACC title. If Florida State’s loss in Week 0 is any indication, the conference is wide open. But simply making the expanded playoffs isn’t the standard at Clemson.
Maybe it is now. It was a no-brainer to watch a transfer player like London Humphreys score a fourth-quarter touchdown for the Bulldogs and eliminate the Tigers while Dabo Swinney’s program infamously doesn’t explore the transfer portal at all.
Georgia has outperformed Clemson in recent years thanks to better high school recruiting classes and key additions through the transfer portal. Right now, Clemson is relying solely on players coming out of high school to build its program. And the Tigers are falling behind in the playoff race.
