No. 5 Georgia Upsets DJ Uiagalelei, No. 3 Clemson 10-3 behind 7 Sacks on Defense
No. 5 Georgia opened the 2021 season with a 10-3 win over No. 3 Clemson on Saturday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Georgia's dominant defense produced seven sacks and the game's only touchdown courtesy of a Christopher Smith 74-yard pick-six:
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Georgia took a 7-0 lead into halftime and led 10-0 entering the fourth quarter.
Clemson's offense struggled all night, amassing just 180 total yards. However, the Tigers got something going in the fourth quarter with a 10-play, 82-yard drive that ended with a B.T. Potter 22-yard field goal.
The Tigers got the ball back after a three-and-out, but their drive stalled at the Georgia 45-yard line after a 4th-and-5 pass fell incomplete. The Bulldogs ran out the clock in response.
The victory marked the Bulldogs' first win over a Top Five team since defeating No. 2 Oklahoma 54-48 in double overtime in the 2018 College Football Playoff semifinals.
Clemson lost in the regular season for just the second time in four seasons. The Tigers fell to No. 4 Notre Dame 47-40 last year before getting revenge on the Fighting Irish with a 34-10 win in the ACC Championship Game.
Notable Performances
UGA QB JT Daniels: 22-of-30, 135 yards, 1 INT
UGA RB Zamir White: 13 carries, 74 yards; 1 catch, 13 yards
UGA TE Brock Bowers: 6 catches, 43 yards
UGA Defense: 7 sacks, 1 INT
CLEM QB DJ Uiagalelei: 19-of-37, 178 yards, 1 INT
CLEM WR Joseph Ngata: 6 catches, 110 yards
Georgia's Pass Rush Takes Over
Georgia's overwhelming pass rush dominated Clemson's offense all game save for one fourth-quarter drive.
The Bulldogs set the tone early with Nolan Smith's first-quarter sack deep in Clemson territory:
Clemson never crossed its own 23-yard line in the first quarter, which featured two Georgia sacks and a massive yardage differential, per Seth Emerson of The Athletic.
The Tigers got as far as the Georgia 30-yard line in the second quarter before their drive ended in the Smith pick-six.
Georgia ramped up the pressure in the third quarter with four sacks. Travon Walker ended any faint hope Clemson had of converting a 3rd-and-14 deep in its own territory with this sack:
Six of Georgia's sacks came on third down, shutting down a Clemson passing attack that faltered outside of wide receiver Joseph Ngata's performance (six catches, 110 yards).
No other Clemson receiver had more than 26 yards, and Lyn-J Dixon led the team with just 10 rushing yards.
As for the Bulldogs, Nakobe Dean led the way with two sacks. Adam Anderson, Walker, Smith, Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter had the rest.
That group looks like it will be a dominant, overwhelming, game-changing force all season. It's also possible that Georgia may not face a tougher opponent than Clemson all year, as there isn't a current Top 10 team on its regular-season schedule.
Therefore, an SEC Championship Game showdown against defending national champion Alabama might be inevitable if the Bulldogs defense is going to simply crush opponents on a weekly basis.
There's a long way to go until December, but Georgia's defense has the Bulldogs in position to be a legitimate national title contender.
Christopher Smith Changes the Game
The Georgia defensive back couldn't have chosen a much better time to make his first career interception.
Smith jumped wide receiver Justyn Ross' route, stepping in front of a DJ Uiagalelei pass that would have gone for a first down if completed.
That wasn't the case, and the race was on between Smith and Uiagalelei. Smith won that battle, outlasting the Clemson signal-caller before finding paydirt.
"He threw it right to me, and the rest was history," Smith said postgame, per Brandon Sudge of the Telegraph.
Per Sudge, Smith also noted that the Bulldogs worked on the disguise used to bait Uiagalelei all week during practice.
It wasn't easy for the Bulldogs to find an edge at first, but it worked out in the end:
Credit goes to the relentless Bulldogs pressure too, as Emerson noted:
In the end, however, Smith made the big play, and now Georgia has started its season with a massive wave of momentum in hopes of winning its first national title since 1980.
What's Next?
Both teams will play home games Saturday.
Clemson will host South Carolina State in Memorial Stadium at 5 p.m. ET, and Georgia will welcome UAB into Athens' Sanford Stadium at 3:30 p.m. ET.
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