Dabo Swinney had a message for Clemson fans after the 14th-ranked Tigers got throttled by No. 1 Georgia on Saturday in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The Bulldogs blew out Clemson in the second half, outscoring the Tigers by 25 points over the final two quarters en route to a lopsided 34-3 victory in the two teams’ season opener.

Swinney apologized to the Tiger faithful for his team’s performance, particularly after halftime, while vowing that the Tigers will “get back to work.”

“I’m sorry for our fans,” Clemson’s head coach said during his postgame press conference. “I feel terrible for them because we didn’t get it done for them (today) and didn’t play those last two quarters like we know we can play.

“But I promise you this – we’ll get back to work. We’ve got a long season ahead. We’ll see if we can find a way to have a great Sunday tomorrow, a great Monday, and find a way to get on the other side of this thing and just keep going there. One day at a time, one game at a time, and we’ll see what happens. But today was not our day, and all the credit goes to Georgia for sure.”

Clemson trailed just 6-0 at halftime before being outscored 28-3 after the break.

The Tigers managed only 188 yards of total offense, with their lone points of the contest coming on Nolan Hauser’s 26-yard field goal in the third quarter. The three points tied for the fewest in a game under Swinney (since 2008).

Clemson’s offense was stifled by a dominant Georgia defense, and the Tigers were unable to muster up much of anything on the offensive side of the ball all day.

After the game, Swinney was asked what he would say to people frustrated Clemson hasn’t produced the level of explosiveness that was expected offensively when Garrett Riley — the 2022 Broyles Award winner as the nation’s top assistant coach (TCU) — was hired to be the Tigers’ offensive coordinator going into last season.

“I’d say we’ve got a long season ahead. That’s what I’d say,” Swinney said. “I’d say (today) was bad. Georgia’s going to make a lot of people look bad, and they made us look bad today. But I do think that we’ll get back to work on Monday and we’ll go get better.”

The Tigers will try to bounce back when they host their home opener against App State at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 7.