Georgia’s 2014 win over Clemson is probably best remembered as the game that introduced the world to one of the most talented backfields in college football. The night belonged to Todd Gurley who added a kickoff return touchdown to 198 yards and three rushing scores. It was also the debut of Nick Chubb whose 47-yard scoring jaunt showed the speed, physicality, and determination that would define his career. Sony Michel even averaged 5.5 yards on 6 carries – not a bad start.

On the other side of the field though was a heralded freshman quarterback waiting his turn behind an established starter. Deshaun Watson saw limited time in that game and only attempted four passes. He threw Clemson’s only touchdown pass, and it was a laser down the middle of the field that showcased the range, power, and accuracy that justified the hype surrounding his recruitment. Clemson fans will never look back on a big loss to Georgia fondly, but Watson’s touchdown strike represented the start of something.

That 2014 season was a transitional year for Clemson. Watson couldn’t completely overtake Cole Stoudt for the starting job, but the future was evident. Over the next six seasons Clemson reached the playoffs five times, played for four national titles, and won twice. Georgia might have been fortunate to get Clemson early in 2014; the Tigers were on the verge of taking their above-average program on a run to become perhaps the elite program of the late 2010s.

The beginning and end of dominant eras aren’t always so clearly delineated by single games. Some very good teams don’t quite make it over the hump, and others do. Georgia fans spent the period from 2017-2021 wondering what could turn a talented and successful program into a champion. In hindsight that era was the leadup to the 2021 and 2022 titles. Georgia’s tight 10-3 win over Clemson in 2021 didn’t necessarily dethrone Clemson; it served more to demonstrate that Georgia belonged on the field with a program seen at the time as one of the best. Clemson hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2020, but they are still perennial ACC favorites and played for the conference title game 7 of the past 9 years.

Georgia’s resounding 34-3 win on Saturday, Clemson’s largest regular season margin of defeat since 2013, might let us close the door on a ten year Clemson era. The Tigers are still a good football team and might even contend for the ACC title in 2024. There was no mistaking though the difference between a team positioned to compete for a national title and just another above-average P4 team. Decline can be gradual and nonlinear, but certain results are definitive. Georgia’s depth of talent, speed, playmakers on both sides of the ball overwhelmed a team that wasn’t up to par both in personnel and execution. Some made this game into a referendum on Dabo Swinney’s reluctance to accept transfers, but it would take a lot of high-impact transfers to make up the ground between a program built with top 3 recruiting classes and one that’s struggled to land a top 10 class over the past three seasons. Clemson’s freshmen class contributed very little against Georgia: what we saw from the Tigers was the culmination of several years of recruiting and roster development by the Clemson staff, and it’s left their program at quite a different state than Georgia’s.

Welcome

On the other hand newcomers – both freshmen and transfers – factored into the outcome for Georgia. There’s always some trepidation about a season opener. We got a preview of life without Bowers and McConkey late last season, but there was uncertainty on the other side of the ball too with three key secondary players off to the NFL. It didn’t take long for newcomers to have a presence in this game. Safety KJ Bolden started things off with a clean open-field tackle on a third down pass play. Bolden’s readiness to play right away allowed the coaches some flexibility in the defensive backfield that paid off with the play of of Malaki Starks at star. Julian Humphrey isn’t new to the team, but he handled an expanded role as the second cornerback well.

The second half scoring outburst featured several of the offense’s newcomers. Colbie Young came to Georgia with the promise of being a tall weapon in the red zone, and he scored Georgia’s first touchdown of the season on a perfect back-shoulder pass from Beck. London Humphreys had to come in the game after Dillon Bell cramped up and had an immediate impact. His 23-yard catch on a 3rd and 10 at midfield sustained the second drive of the half and led to another score. Humphreys himself got in the endzone on another 3rd and long conversion that featured the speed that caught the eye of Georgia fans in Nashville last season.

Preseason hype is as much a part of summer as the heat, but if you sorted through the noise you kept hearing the name Nate Frazier. The loss of two top tailbacks for the game caused some concern about the running game, and Frazier got his opportunity. His first half was unassuming with a handful of carries, but he came to life in the second half. Needing an answer after Clemson’s field goal, Beck found Frazier out of the backfield for a 24-yard reception. Frazier finished off the drive for his first touchdown as a Bulldog. Georgia’s final scoring drive got the Frazier hype train going full speed: he started it with a shifty 40-yard run that saw him break tackles, explode across the middle of the field, and make tacklers miss en route to the other sideline. He followed that immediately with a 16-yard run that patiently bounced outside twice until he found room.

You remember when Georgia’s long line of great tailbacks had that first signature play that made you take notice. Swift’s touchdown run to clinch the 2017 SEC title. Chubb’s toss sweep romp through Clemson in 2014. Michel on a tunnel screen the next week at South Carolina. That 40-yard burst from Frazier got a lot of people outside of Athens talking, and the realization that Georgia has another weapon on offense has Bulldog fans excited. Frazier finished with over 100 all-purpose yards.

The three phases

The offense still goes through Carson Beck, and it took a while to get going. Beck admitted that nerves and anxiousness were a factor early on, and it cost a few opportunities. A red zone slant to Young sailed high, and Georgia had to settle for a field goal. Later a pass to Lovett was thrown behind the receiver, and the broadcast mentioned Beck taking ownership and needing to calm down. Beck did calm down, and the Georgia offense picked up with the help of good play design. Frequent presnap motion forced Clemson to tip their defensive alignment and made things easier for Beck. That motion and the usual dose of play-action opened things up from the second quarter. Though it took over a half to get into the endzone Georgia put points on the board on 6 of 8 drives after the first quarter.

A near-shutout of a top 15 opponent requires a total team defensive effort, and that’s what Georgia got. The Tigers were held to 46 yards rushing (none longer than 9 yards) while being unable to capitalize on just a handful of explosive pass plays. Cade Klubnik averaged a scant 4.9 yards per attempt, and the Tigers were just 4-14 on 3rd and 4th downs. But within that collective result there were individual standouts. Jalon Walker is a havoc machine lined up everywhere from middle linebacker to the edge, and it’s tough to key on him when Mykel Williams is just as difficult a matchup. The linebackers are a solid barrier side-to-side. Georgia’s secondary held its own without Aguero available, and the versatility of Starks is on par with what Bowers meant to the offense over the past three seasons.

A year ago freshman kicker Peyton Woodring got off to a shaky start. He missed 3 of his first 7 FG attempts including two misses in a close win over South Carolina. Since that game Woodring has only missed once – a 50-yarder against Alabama after a sack and penalty cost Georgia 12 yards of field position. He’s been steady and reliable from short and moderate range, and Saturday’s career-long 55-yarder shows that he can be effective from longer range now. Georgia’s edge on special teams was as evident as their advantages in the other two phases. Woodring allowed Georgia to build a modest lead in the second quarter. Thorson continually pinned Clemson inside their 20. Evans had some modest success returning punts, but most important was his effort to field nearly everything: a zero-yard return of a line-drive punt that could roll another 20 yards is just as valuable as a highlight return.

Extra points

• On a team with so many deep position groups, the inside linebackers stand out. Mondon is healthy and active. Allen always had the speed as a freshman, but he’s more instinctual now. The best surprise might’ve been Raylen Wilson. Wilson played in a reserve role in 2023 but was featured quite a bit more against Clemson and jumped off the screen. Mondon, Allen, and Wilson each finished with four tackles and shut down what Clemson wanted to do at and along the line of scrimmage. There’s more to come – Justin Williams stopped a runner dead cold in the backfield during garbage time sending a late jolt through the crowd.
• Clemson struggled to sustain much of anything in the first half, but the margin was close. Three of their five first half drives ended at 4th and 1, 4th, and 1, and 4th and 3. Georgia’s tackling had something to do with those drives coming up just short, but Clemson’s execution and routes didn’t do them any favors.
• I’m not mad that there weren’t many downfield shots to Arian Smith. We know what Smith can do vertically. To earn a spot on the field beyond those few shot plays Smith has had to develop additional skills beyond speed. It was encouraging then to see him catching shorter and more difficult sideline routes. He ended up among Georgia’s leading receivers, and the offense found a way to get him more involved than we saw earlier in his career.
• Depth along the defensive line was tested. It was thin to begin with, and Brinson’s early injury meant that Stackhouse and Miller in particular had to play more snaps than you’d usually see from Georgia. Freshman Joseph Jonah-Ajonye got on the field for some experience. Brinson and McLeod should be available soon, but it will be a position where you have to watch for wear and tear as the season progresses.
• It was unexpected but a pleasant surprise to build a large enough advantage that so many players were able to get experience in a game of this magnitude early in the season. Seven players recorded a rush, nine players recorded a reception, and 23 defenders recorded a tackle. Overall at least 62 Bulldogs saw action.
• The job of replacing Brock Bowers is one of the big 2024 storylines, and Georgia used all three of its experienced tight ends. It’s no surprise that the superhuman Bowers production was hard to replicate. Luckie caught the two receptions in the game for the TE position including a nice cut out of a slant that resulted in a long gain. Delp was only targeted once and was covered well, but Delp’s development as a blocker has continued from last season. Yurosek was thrown into the deep end early in the game and will have to continue to get up to speed with the physicality of the SEC. Georgia’s offense was finally victimized by the same defensive line stem used so often to get opposing offenses to jump, and it was Yurosek who drew the penalty.
• We heard a lot last year about “extensions to the running game” especially early in the year when several top tailbacks were injured. Georgia’s running game wasn’t dominant against Clemson the way it was, say, in 2014, but much of what Georgia did started with releases or motion out of or across the backfield. It started with Arian Smith on jet motion on Georgia’s first snap and went from there.
• Operationally it was a fairly clean game for an opener, and that’s to be expected of Georgia by now. There were some costly penalties to clean up, but there were no real visible moments of disorganization or confusion from the sideline. The Dawgs avoided turnovers and special teams mistakes, and they’ll be tough to beat if that continues.

Georgia has won 40 consecutive regular season games as an SEC team in an era of rapid roster turnover and wholesale changes to the structure of the sport. Sustaining that streak will become more difficult in the coming weeks, but Georgia’s first outing of 2024 shows that they just might have the stuff to do it.