RECAP: Defense shines as #5 Georgia beats up on #3 Clemson 10-3

Brian Olson

We have seen these performances from Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs before. A physical defense making it hard on their opponent with immense pressure up front and wreaking havoc in opponents’ backfields. What we saw on Saturday night in Charlotte, however, may be enough to finally propel Georgia to a national championship.

Georgia’s defense faced a tough task in going up against the mighty Clemson Tigers offense, led by former five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2020 recruiting class, DJ Uiagalelei, and the Bulldogs were definitely up to the task and then some. 

Georgia’s fast and physical defense held Clemson to only three points and 180 yards of total offense. Most importantly, the Bulldogs made Uiagalelei extremely uncomfortable in the pocket, sacking him seven times. Uiagalelei finished 19/37 for 178 yards and one interception. 

That interception also happened to be the difference in the game, as Christopher Smith returned the interception 74 yards for a momentum-shifting pick-six. Georgia never gave up the lead after that, and things did not get much easier for Clemson’s offense. 

While the UGA defense was a broadway play on the field Saturday night, the offense was more of a middle school music class production. 

JT Daniels was pretty average on Saturday night, as he threw 22/30 for 135 yards and one interception. The Dawgs could not get anything significant done on offense, as they were held to only three points. They were able to get 121 rushing yards behind that beefy offensive line. 

TAKEAWAYS:

  • Georgia: It will be interesting to see what went wrong on offense for Georgia. The very pedestrian showings cannot continue if the Bulldogs expect to make a deep run. Whether it was good defense by Clemson or just sloppy play by UGA, they have UAB at home next week to iron out the kinks
  • Clemson: DJ Uiagalelei needs time to figure it out. He is not Trevor Lawrence, but the lofty expectations placed on him may not come to fruition right away as Uiagalelei struggled in the pocket and at reading the defense

About the author

Brian Olson
Website | Read more posts by this author

I was raised in Texas, but I am a Georgian by heart. I come from a long line of Dawgs. I have been a diehard Georgia Bulldogs fan since the day I was born. I have hosted multiple podcasts, and college football has always been my passion. I went to the University of Texas at San Antonio to study education, but I plan on returning to get a degree in Journalism. Go Dawgs! P.S. Tyler Simmons was onsides.

You may like these posts