By Hale McGranahan.

ATHENS, Ga. – Todd Gurley, Nick Chubb, Sony Michel and Keith Marshall. Oh, my.

In the second half of Clemson’s 45-21 loss at Sanford Stadium on Saturday night, Georgia’s running back quartet plodded its way through the Tigers’ worn down defense, finishing with 31 carries for 304 yards and four touchdowns.

What’s even more impressive — or disappointing for the guys decked out in all white — the Dawgs’ foursome mustered a mere 36 yards on 11 first half carries.

After three quarters, they had a combined 18 runs for 110 yards and a score. To that point, Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables was relatively satisfied.

“I’m incredibly proud of the way our guys fought and competed,” he said. “They showed tremendous resiliency and toughness, purpose; until about nine minutes to go in the game.

“Just couldn’t change the momentum of the game. They were getting stronger and stronger. We started playing on our heels a little bit. They did a good job of attacking the edges of the defense, not at the d-line as much as attack the edges outside of their spread and two-back run game.”

According to Venables, Georgia’s four backs is the most talented group he’s ever encountered.

“The strength that those backs run with, you (must) get leverage. I did a poor job of coaching our guys and getting them ready for that,” he said. “Give Georgia credit. They pushed us around when it counted. They wanted it a little bit more.”

Grady Jarrett concurred. Things were going fine until the quarter of the game.

“Just the fourth quarter kind of got away from us,” he said. “I feel like we started off pretty well. The game was in reach. Then, it just got out of hand.”

The offense certainly didn’t do Jarrett and the rest of his defensive mates any favors. One of Georgia’s three fourth quarter scoring drives started at the Clemson 47-yardline. Another began at the Dawgs’ 49.

“I’m more concerned about that,” said Dabo Swinney, who hadn’t lost a season opener since taking over at Clemson in 2009.

“I’m disappointed (with) three-and-out, three-and-out, three-and-out; eventually when you’re tackling a horse like Gurley, eventually you’re going to miss a tackle. He’s a great player.

“Missing tackles, we had him there; we just didn’t make the tackle. Give him some credit, he broke some tackles.”

Gurley rushed for a career-high 198 yards on 15 carries with three scores. He also had a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. His 293 all-purpose yards set a school record.

“Gurley was, obviously, as good as it gets,” Swinney said. “He’s a great, great football player. You keep giving the ball where we gave it to them — the one time we finally flipped the field they put the drive together.”

That drive began on the Georgia 18. Gurley rushed three times for 58 yards, including an 18-yard scoring run.

“All their backs ran hard,” Swinney said. “But Gurley was special tonight.”