The Clemson Insider

By Will Vandervort.

ATHENS, Ga. — While Georgia’s Todd Gurley was warming up in the second half, Clemson’s offense went cold.

After racking up 276 yards on 54 plays in the first half, the Tigers managed just 15 yards in the second half while Gurley and the Georgia running game steamrolled a tired Clemson defense that was on the field every four plays. The Bulldogs held the ball for nearly 20 minutes in the second half.

Gurley rushed for 198 yards on 15 carries and scored four touchdowns, one on a 100-yard kickoff return as the Bulldogs beat Clemson 45-21 at Sanford Stadium. The junior scored on runs of 23, 18 and 51 yards.

“We can’t keep a good offense on the field with great field position like we did tonight,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said.

The Tigers had just one first down and six three-and-outs in the last 30 minutes of the game. Clemson had minus-24 yards in the fourth quarter. Like Swinney said they spent most of the game on their side of the field and were unable to flip the field.

Georgia’s average start for drives was its own 43, while the Tigers started at their own 19.

“That’s the difference in the game,” Swinney said. “Eventually that is going to catch up with you. They did a great job getting us behind the chains and we got into some long yardage situations that we could not convert.”

At one point in the fourth quarter, Georgia scored three touchdowns on consecutive offensive plays from scrimmage. Gurley went 18 yards to give the Bulldogs a 31-21 lead with 10:26 to play. After the Clemson offense went three-and-out and the Bulldogs Nick Chubb took a hand off around right end, broke a tackle and then scooted down the sideline for a 47-yard touchdown.

On the next offensive play, Gurley broke free again and took it 47 yards for a touchdown. Georgia rushed for 283 of its 328 rushing yards in the second half. The Bulldogs had 45 yards at halftime.

They had 211 rushing yards in the fourth quarter alone.

“Todd Gurley is obviously as good as it gets,” Swinney said. “He is a great football player. If you give him the ball in the position that we gave them he is going to do great things. Gurley, and all of their backs, were special tonight.”

Clemson’s offense did nothing to help its defense out. The Tigers had six three-and-outs in the second half and were held to minus-24 yards of total offense in the fourth quarter.

Georgia had 346 total yards in the second half overall and finished the game with 459 yards.

Clemson and Georgia were tied, 21-21, at the break.

“I thought that we were right there. We just could not get the critical play when we needed too,” Swinney said. “We just couldn’t do it in the second half. You have to give them credit for putting us in that position.”

The Tigers got one-yard touchdown runs from D.J. Howard and C.J. Davidson and also a 30-yard touchdown pass from Deshaun Watson to Charone Peake, while racking up 276 yards in the opening half.

But despite all that success, Georgia was able to keep the game tied. Gurley had a 100-yard kickoff return and also scored on a 23-yard run to pace the Bulldogs.

Georgia had just 126 total yards in the opening half.

Clemson quarterback Cole Stoudt was 9-20 for 115 yards in the first half, while freshman Deshaun Watson was 2-3 for 59 yards. He also had a 29-yard pass to Mike Williams on the same drive. Williams had three catches for 88 yards in the game.

As good as Clemson played in the opening 30 minutes, it also had its mistakes too. Williams and Peake combined to drop three passes that would have kept drives alive, while Stoudt threw an interception to end one drive and Ammon Lakip missed a 35-yard field with 48 seconds left in the first half that could have given the Tigers’ the lead.

Georgia took a 24-21 lead with 11:27 to play in the third quarter thanks to Marshall Morgan’s 37-yard field goal. Georgia’s drive covered 57 yards on 8 plays and took 11:27 off the clock.

Clemson took a 7-0 lead on its opening possession of the game when it marched 70 yards in 12 plays, capped by a one-yard Howard touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the one.

Stoudt, in his first start, first hit Williams on a slant that the sophomore broke for a 68-yard gain to the Georgia 35. Two plays later on third-and-10, Stoudt scrambled for a 20-yard gain. He later picked up another first down on third-and-one which moved the ball inside the five on a quarterback power.

Four plays later, Howard completed the drive with his one-yard score on fourth down.

Georgia tied the game at seven with 6:36 to play in the first quarter when Gurley exploded off the left side for a 23-yard touchdown. The Bulldogs drove 57 yards in five plays to tie the game up. The drive took 1:13. They key play was a Hutson Mason 19-yard pass to Michael Bennett.

Mason gave Georgia its first lead of the game with 0:35 left in the first quarter when he kept the ball on a two-yard run. The Bulldogs needed only five plays and a minute and six seconds to score following a third straight three-and-out by Clemson’s offense.

Clemson tied the game when Watson found Williams for 29 yards to the Georgia 30 on third down. On the very next play, he zipped a pass over the head of Ramik Wilson and right into the arms of Peake for the touchdown.

The drive covered 78 yards in six plays and took just 1:42 off the clock.

Clemson took the lead for a second time as Stoudt came back in and directed the Tigers on a 10-play, 68-yard drive that Davidson capped with a one-yard touchdown run when he dove over the top on third-and-goal from the one.

But Gurley took the ensuing kick 100 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 21-21 with 7:15 to go in the first half. Gurley finished the game with 298 all-purpose yards – a Georgia record.