Tigers swat Jackets to set up top five showdown |
ATLANTA, GA – Welcome to Clemson College GameDay.
Clemson’s defense throttled Georgia Tech’s option offense for most of four quarters and the offense did just enough as No. 5 Clemson defeated Tech 26-7 in front of 53,932 fans at Bobby Dodd Stadium late Thursday, winning its first game in Atlanta since 2003. With the victory, Clemson improves to 4-0 and will host third-ranked Louisville in what is expected to be a battle of top five unbeatens at 8 p.m. next Saturday. ESPN’s College GameDay has already announced it will broadcast from Clemson for the game. Clemson's defense held Georgia Tech to just 124 total yards - 95 on the ground and 29 through the air. Quarterback Justin Thomas had -25 yards rushing. Deshaun Watson was 32-of-48 for 304 and two touchdowns (one interception) as Clemson racked up 442 total yards - 138 yards on the ground and 304 through the air. Wayne Gallman had 17 carries for 59 yards and Ray-Ray McCloud was Clemson's leading receiver with eight catches for 101 yards. “This is a place we hadn’t won at very much, so mission accomplished. We’re happy to get out of here with a W, it’s been a long time," head coach Dabo Swinney said. "I love the fight of our guys. I love the preparation. Tim Bourret told me before we came in here that Clemson has come in here undefeated many times since 1903, but it’s the first time they’ve left undefeated. Hats off to Georgia Tech, but our guys were locked in. They played very well." The Tigers made it look easy on the opening drive. Tech won the toss and elected to defer, and it took the Tigers nine plays to cover 75 yards for the score. Ray-Ray McCloud had a 17-yard reception and a 17-yard rush that helped set up four-yard pass from Watson to Mike Williams for a 7-0 lead. Clemson’s second drive stalled inside the Tech 20 after Greg Huegel missed a field goal, but the Tigers got back on the board on the third drive of the game. Clemson forced the second Tech punt of the game, and it took the Tigers eight plays to cover 62 yards with Gallman crashing in from a yard out for a 14-0 lead with 2:26 remaining in the first quarter. The Tigers continued to make plays on offense but failed to score until late in the half, and it came in unconventional fashion. The Tigers drove into Tech territory, but his pass in the end zone was picked off by Lance Austin. Austin tried to bring the ball out of the end zone, but his own player knocked the ball back into the end zone and it was pounced on by a Tech player for a safety and a 16-0 lead. The Jackets were forced to kick off to the Tigers, who effectively ran out the clock in the half with their third touchdown scoring drive. Clemson took over at its own 28 with 1:53 on the game clock and marched 72 yards in 10 plays. The drive ended when Watson hit Jordan Leggett crossing the back of the end zone for a four-yard scoring toss. With four seconds left to play in the half, Clemson held a 23-0 lead. The teams then muddled through a third quarter that was defensive in nature and offensive to watch, but the Jackets finally got a drive going late in the third quarter. The Jackets took over at their own 11 with just over four minutes to play in the quarter, and aided by three Clemson defensive penalties found the end zone after 11 plays. Tech scored on a two-yard run by Dedrick Mills, and Clemson led 23-7 with 13:31 to play in the game. Clemson managed to get the ball near midfield, but the Tigers failed on a third-and-one situation and had to punt. The Jackets bailed out the offense, however, with Mills throwing a pass that was intercepted by Van Smith. The Tigers managed a 47-yard field goal from Huegel and held a 26-7 advantage with 9:57 to play. “The first half, outside of just a couple of miscues, was just a dominant performance. I think they had 22 yards at the half on 21 plays. Offensively we ran 56 plays and had 300-some yards, and it was just a thing of beauty. The second half was weird," Swinney said. "That was a weird second half, and that’s what happens sometime when you play this group. We only had seven (offensive) plays in the third quarter, only two possessions. We messed up the first third down, our tackle went the wrong way on a simple play. We come back the second time and got the perfect call on third down. He had the first down and went backwards, so he lost the first down. That’s the only two possessions we had in the third quarter, so give them some credit. I think they had a 90-yard drive. “We pinned them back, I thought the field possession was awesome all night. I was really proud of our punt team and the field possession they created, same thing with our kickoff coverage. In the fourth quarter, we got it done just enough. We were able to get the field goal. I think we had 27 first downs. We didn’t punch it in on a couple of the opportunities that we had. But when you can control the ball like that with that amount of first downs against this type of team, then you’re making hay, because they’re not really built to run a two-minute offense." Clemson hosts Louisville next Saturday at 8 p.m.
Date: Sep 22, 2016 Site: Atlanta, Ga. Stadium: Bobby Dodd Stadium
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