GEORGIA RUNS OVER CLEMSON IN SECOND HALF …
Misery must love company in the Palmetto State …
Two days after No. 9 South Carolina was eviscerated by Texas A&M, the Gamecocks’ in-state rivals received a beat down of their own.
No. 16 Clemson seemed in position to make it a close game on the road against twelfth-ranked Georgia – leading 21-14 midway through the second quarter – but its high-octane offense was completely shutdown in the second half.
The result? A 45-21 Georgia romp that extended the Bulldogs’ lead in the series to 42-18-4.
The Tigers punted seven times, earned just one first down and gained only fifteen yards after intermission – with quarterback Cole Stoudt failing to move coordinator Chad Morris’ offense against coordinator Jeremy Pruitt’s Bulldog defense. Meanwhile the Bulldogs’ Heisman Trophy candidate Todd Gurley ran wild – scoring on touchdown runs of 18 and 51 yards in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
Gurley finished the evening with a career-high 198 yards and three rushing touchdowns. He also returned a kickoff 100 yards for another score – breaking Rodney Hampton’s 1987 single-game Georgia record for all-purpose yardage when it was all said and done.
“I think he’s the best player in America,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said of his star tailback, “or at least one of them.”
No argument here …
After an off week, the 6-foot-1, 226-pound junior from Tarboro, N.C. will take his Heisman quest to Williams-Brice Stadium on September 13 against the Gamecocks.
One bright spot for the Tigers’ offense? True freshman quarterback DeShaun Watson. The heralded high school quarterback (and Georgia native) completed two of four passes for 59 yards and a touchdown in limited action.
Unfortunately for Tiger fans, head coach Dabo Swinney didn’t give Watson much of a chance in the second half – choosing to put the game in Stoudt’s hands. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound senior from Dublin, Ohio couldn’t get anything going, though – as Georgia’s halftime defensive adjustments overwhelmed Morris’ offense, operating for the first time in three years without quarterback Tajh Boyd and wide receiver Sammy Watkins.
“(Fans) might not see it,” Bulldog safety Corey Moore said last week, “but we know as a defense that we have improved.”
That’s for sure.
Clemson’s defense – led by talented end Vic Beasley – played well, but ran out of steam late in the game after the Tigers’ offense kept producing three-and-outs.
“We’ve got to prepare harder and get better,” Stoudt said.
Clemson (0-1, 0-0 SEC) plays S.C. State in its home opener next week before traveling to Tallahassee, Florida on September 20 for a matchup with the top-ranked Florida State Seminoles.
38 comments
Another sad night in Tigertown.
But nobody got shot. How about Columbia?
So is it safe to say that SC college football sucks statewide?
There’s more to SC college football than Carolina and Clemson.
Northern Illinois 55 PC 3
NIU played FL State in the 2013 Orange Bowl.
It doesn’t come close to sucking. Two teams in the top 20 that lost games to 2 very good teams. Both will most likely have very good years and possibly both end in top 25 and go to bowls. That’s not sucking.
Wasn’t Lorenzo Ward the defensive coordinator tonight?
Nope.
Brent Vulnerable.
Interesting you’d note that Clemson is 0-0 in the SEC.
Typical of Sic’s usual commitment to
accuracy.
SEC …ACC…there’s a difference? Oh, wait, there is…
Losing is not a big deal, but the in-game Jekyll and Hyde bit is getting old. It is more than the other team making adjustments.
*Dana Carvey voice*
“Beat down by a Gurley-man.”
all good things come to an end. the state of south carolina’s football has experieced its best run over the last 3years for both carolina and clemson. last year was the crest of the wave and all waves move up then down. it’ll get worse before it gets better. georgia and florda state games within a week of each other for both schools. georgia and fsu may play each other for national chapionship. carolina and clemson will both get beat worse than the 24point losses versus those two. predicti0n: carolina-clemson rematch in chic-fil-a bowl both teams 8-4. oh, btw, where is lizz gunn gamecock no.1 fan ever with her reaction to texas a?M game? the real no.1 real gamecock fan ever faces a loss like that not hides.
Dude …you’ve got eternal life.
Take a typing class.
Boy, you ever try typing with no hands? It’s hard to do with a cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other.
Fits, please pick Clemson and Carolina to lose. You’re a jinx. Oh, and pick Nikki to win.
RCP
Rasmussen Poll-August 27, 2014
Nikki Haley 51%
Vincent Sheheen 36%
You do realize that Watson did play some in the 2nd half. He had one good series and was shut down every other time he went in. UGA did not fear the run at all and the DE just pinned their ears back and attacked. Once again, I think Chad abandoned the run too early.
*Wakes up. Stretches. Notices many unusual aches, pains and crackling sounds. Checks for missing parts. Vividly recalls 24-21 at the start of the 4th quarter.*
“Who Let The Dogs Out?”
Queue the fair weather fans in 5-4-3-2-1…..Fire the coach, fire the Defensive Coordinator, fire SOMEONE and fire them now.
Look the rest of the country is out play Cooter’s Garage and Culinary Institute of Northern Fairfield County, USC played Texas A&M who look like they are the best team in the country right now and Clemson played Georgia who looked good real good. Both teams will straighten out their problems and have something together by next week. USC and CU both needed a dose of humility to bring them back to reality.
1 Quarter: Tigers play Great.
2 Quarter: Special teams collapse. Give up 7 and miss easy field goal.
3 Quarter: Offense collapses. Doesn’t score or give defense a rest. Georgia only scores 3.
4 Quarter: With Bad field position and ‘3 and out’ offense and extremely talented Georgia running backs, Clemson’s exhausted defense completely falls apart.
Domino Theory:
1. Special teams.
2. Offense
3. Defense
The Tigers will always be 0-0 in the SEC but guess who is 0-1.
Todd Gurley 100 yard kickoff return.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1U6CeARhUs
It was tough to stomach as a Tiger fan but it was a fantastic run to watch.
Gurley is an absolute beast…be afraid, be very afraid.
Lol. Clemsux pulling a Clemsux.
If you expected much different, you don’t know much about football. Clemson had its best team in a decade in 2013. I’m guessing it’s back to being an good ACC team now…which means a very mediocre program. And not much chance to beat SEC teams.
Fixed it. Changes are in parentheses.
If you expected much different, you don’t know much about football.
(South Carolina) had its best team in a decade in 2013. I’m guessing it’s back to being a (low SEC)-level team now…which means a very mediocre program. And not much chance to beat SEC teams.
Crutch much?…
Bottom line: People are still amazed at how bad SC looked. You’d have to be a major Dumb@$$, if you did not think Clemson would get shellacked by Ga.
I wonder if the dawgs are looking forward to eating a little chicken?
I wonder if Fits works on holidays.
We’re working on our site. But FITS figures he has his idiots locked down. He knows you will not go to where original – non-cookie-cutter- ideas are offered. He may be right.
Your IQ can’t be more than 90.
Well, as a Tiger fan and alumni I will say that I was disappointed we lost. To be sure there were some bright spots, pretty much all of the first half up to the point where we missed FG, but the second half was obviously not good. This is a classic “rebuilding year”.
A tale of two halves really and the Tiger offense is clearly lacking weapons like we had last year.
Not sure of the wisdom of benching key guys for such a big opener b/c of disciplinary reasons. If you need to sit them out a game, do it for the SC State game. Also not sure why the coaches benched Watson all the way until the 4th quarter given it was obvious Stoudt was struggling in the third.
Clemson probably looking at an 8-4 type season if they’re lucky…but could be as bad as 6-6. Sheesh.
Because of the rule that you bench for the “next game” not the “fluff game” that came into play several years ago.
Is that an NCAA rule? I was not aware if it is.
I thought that players could be disciplined for some infractions by the coach (even if they aren’t NCAA infractions) and that the coach also has say in which games they miss.
Coots and Taters think that they are relevant? Shiiiiiiiiit.