Georgia football found a way to win on Saturday, and the defense deserves most of the credit. The Dawgs are now 1-0 on the season and got over the first hump of the season.
After rewatching the game and analyzing the stats, it’s evident that this defense is something special. There can be some improvements, but to shut down Clemson’s offense as they did, the remaining opponents Georgia has on their schedule should be worried.
Defensively, the Dawgs held Clemson to 180 total offensive yards — two rushing and 178 passing yards.
The last time anyone held the Tigers offense to around 180 yards was in 2017 during the College Football Playoff semifinal game against Alabama. The Tide held Clemson to 188 total offensive yards.
So it has been 56 games since someone slowed down the Tigers the way Georgia did, and that is something to brag about because Clemson has been on a long run.
What was even more impressive was that Georgia held Clemson to 90 total offensive yards in the first half and zero points, which was the first time in 143 games the Tigers were shut out in the first half.
We will break down the defensive stats even more in one of our takeaways because what they could accomplish against a defense that usually does that to opponents deserves its own section.
Offensively the Dawgs didn’t look untouchable or even that good, but after rewatching the game, they played a lot of young guys. Georgia also stuck to the whoever can establish a running game would win, and look what happened.
There were some bright spots and then some stuff that made us scratch our head, but it’s something they can improve.
Enough rambling, here are my four takeaways from the Dawgs soul-crushing victory over the Tigers on Saturday.