Defensive gem lifts No. 5 Georgia past No. 3 Clemson, 10-3
Christopher Smith returned an interception 74 yards for a touchdown and the fifth-ranked Bulldogs turned in a defensive effort for the ages, toppling No. 3 Clemson 10-3 on Saturday in the opener for both teams. (FOX 5 Atlanta)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Georgia coach Kirby Smart knew his defense was super athletic.
He didn’t know they would be this good.
Christopher Smith returned an interception 74 yards for a touchdown and the fifth-ranked Bulldogs turned in a defensive effort for the ages, toppling No. 3 Clemson 10-3 on Saturday in the opener for both teams.
The Bulldogs held the Tigers to 2 yards rushing and sacked D.J. Uiagalelei seven times to position themselves for a serious run at the College Football Playoffs.
Uiagalelei finished 19 of 37 for 178 yards with one interception. He bobbled snaps, was out of sync with his receivers and spent most of the day under heavy duress against a relentless Bulldogs pass rush.
"We frustrated and confused them," Smart said.
Even when Georgia turned the ball over, the Tigers couldn’t take advantage.
Trailing 7-0 in the third quarter, Baylon Specter appeared to give the Tigers some momentum when he intercepted JT Daniels’ pass at the Georgia 33. But after a short gain on first down Uiagalelei was sacked on consecutive plays and Clemson was forced to punt.
Clemson didn’t score until 9:08 left in the game when a 44-yard reception by Joseph Ngata and a defensive pass interference penalty set up a 22-yard field goal by B.T. Potter, helping the Tigers avoid their first shutout since 2003.
Despite being dominated all game, the Tigers had a chance to tie with 7:35 left when they took over at their own 25. Clemson reached midfield and Dabo Swinney went for on fourth-and-5, only to see Uiagalelei’s hurried pass fall incomplete. From there, the Bulldogs ran out the clock.
"I knew we were would be pretty good and pretty deep on defense," Smart said. "But we’re more athletic than when we were in the past."
The loss leaves Clemson with a razor-thin margin for error when it comes to making its seventh straight College Football Playoff appearance. No team has ever made the playoff with two losses since the new four-team format began in 2015.
"I’m not going to write the season off because we lost 10-3 to a top-five team," Swinney said.
Georgia’s defense, which dominated the line of scrimmage, set the tone early with Nolan Smith and Nakobe Dean registering third-down sacks on Clemson’s first two possessions.
The only touchdown of the game came late in the second quarter when Smith jumped in front of a Uiagalelei pass intended for Justyn Ross and raced 74 yards to the end zone to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead at halftime. Swinney placed the blame on Ross making a bad decision on the route, saying he was supposed to "sit down or turn out" but instead kept running a slant.
"That’s the receiver putting the quarterback in bad spot," Swinney said. "He just didn’t make the right decision."
Uiagalelei wasn’t blaming anyone but himself.
"I didn’t play well today and everyone could see that," Uiagalelei said.
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