No. 1 Georgia opens season with complete domination over No. 14 Clemson in 34-3 rout

Georgia didn’t have much trouble with Clemson on Saturday.

The No. 1 Bulldogs beat the No. 14 Tigers, 34-3, in the first meeting between the two 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 TD drives.

Georgia opened the second half with a six-play drive that ended with Carson Beck passing to Colbie Young in single coverage in the end zone.

After Clemson responded with a plodding 12-play drive that ended with a field goal, Georgia marched 75 yards in eight plays as true freshman RB Nate Frazier got his first career score to give the Bulldogs a 20-3 lead with 3:15 left in the third.

It was obvious that Clemson needed to react quickly after Frazier’s TD. But the Tigers played conservatively. After QB Cade Klubnik was stranded on a third-and-short run, Clemson opted to punt the ball back to Georgia just before the end of the quarter. Clemson’s defense forced a three-and-out, but the Tigers were unable to score points the rest of the way.

Georgia is loaded

The Bulldogs opened the game with a 13.5-point lead, and a sluggish first half looked more like the result of a conservative offense than a Clemson-Bulldog showdown. After Georgia opened things up a bit in the second half, Beck really got going. The Heisman favorite finished 23-of-33 passing for 278 yards and two touchdowns.

Georgia also has had a creative running game in the absence of Trevor Etienne and Roderick Robinson. Etienne, a transfer from Florida, hasn’t seen the field after a DUI arrest this spring and Robinson is out with a toe injury.

Frazier ended up carrying the ball more often than any Georgia running back. And he looked phenomenal. The four-star recruit in the Class of 2024 rushed 11 times for 83 yards.

Georgia’s defensive depth was also tested at various points during the game. Edge Mykel Williams suffered an ankle injury on a low block while rushing the passer, while defensive teammates Warren Brinson and Nazir Stackhouse also received treatment on the field during the game.

Clemson still has plenty of questions

Is Clemson now simply a program that is good and not great?

It’s a fair question to ask given how Georgia took control in the second half. The Tigers have lost at least three games in each of the last three seasons and didn’t look like a true title contender entering 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 stifled 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 scoring pass, Klubnik’s passing regimen consisted almost entirely of short throws.

This lack of deep passes did not open anything up for…