ATLANTA — All during the spring and all during the summer, new Clemson defensive coordinator, Tom Allen, preached tackling.
Yelling to his defense, “We are going to be the best tackling team in America.”
However, that was not the case in Saturday’s 24-21 loss to Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta.
The Tigers struggled to get Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King to the ground, especially in the second half and on the Yellow Jackets’ game-winning drive.
“I just think we made too many mistakes all day and give credit to them. They are a great team, and No. 10 is a dog,” linebacker Wade Woodaz said. “We just made too many mistakes, and we could not come up clutch in the end.”
On Tech’s game-winning drive, it faced a third down-and-one from its own 34. However, King, off the left side, ran for a 9-yard gain and a first down.
Two players later, again on third down, this time needing two yards for a first down, King again hit the left side of the defense, where he met would-be-tacklers in the hole. However, he rumbled forward for a four-yard gain to the Clemson 49.
King, who rushed for 103 yards on 25 carries, carried the ball two more times on second and third down on the next set of downs, which moved the football into field goal range, setting up Aidan Birr’s 55-yard game-winning kick as time expired.
What did the Tigers (1-2, 0-1 ACC) do wrong in the second half, after holding King to 28 yards on seven carries in the first half.
“Misfits, some missed tackles, obviously. Simple technique and eyes (not) on the right things,” Woodaz said.
The loss was heartbreaking for Clemson because for three quarters, the defense kept a wrap on the Georgia Tech running game, as it had just 103 yards on 28 carries.
The Yellow Jackets came into the ACC opener averaging 271.5 yards per game on the ground. The Tigers held them to 147 yards and 3.5 yards per carry overall.
Georgia Tech (3-0, 1-0 ACC) was averaging 7.24 yards per carry before Saturday’s game.
The loss drops Clemson to 1-2 overall for the first time since 2014 and makes the road to the College Football Playoff extremely difficult. It’s not the way the Tigers imagined the start of the 2025 season back in July when they were the darlings of the ACC and picked by everyone to contend for another national championship.
“We don’t let that stuff get in our heads. Obviously, it is disappointing, but all we can do now, is just control our response and go on,” Woodaz said.
