CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Christopher Smith said his eyes grew as wide as saucers the moment he stepped in front of a pass intended for Justyn Ross late in the second quarter of Saturday night’s 10-3 win over third-ranked Clemson.
It was almost as if he knew what was coming.
Actually, it was. After stepping in front of the pass from quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, Smith returned the football 74 yards for the only touchdown in Saturday’s victory.
“We had been working that play, trying to perfect a disguise for that play,” Smith said. “We had a good route concept. I showed outside, then broke inside. He threw it right to me and the rest is history.”
It was like that all night long for the Tigers, which were held to just 180 yards, including 90 in the first half.
Georgia’s defensive effort was its most dominant against a team the caliber of Clemson in recent memory.
Clemson’s offensive line had absolutely no answers for the Bulldog front seven. Six different players combined for seven sacks for minus-47 yards, including two by linebacker Nakobe Dean.
“We knew we wanted to raise our havoc level this year,” Dean said. “We’ve worked hard on improving our pass rush, so it wasn’t surprising. They had a good team and a good game plan.”
Smith had a birds-eye view of that from his position at safety.
The Georgia defensive linemen combined for 14 tackles, while holding Clemson to just two yards on the ground.
Nose tackle Jordan Davis, defensive tackles Devonte Wyatt and Jalen Carter, along with defensive end Travon Walker, were in a word – dominant.
“This defensive line is one of the best in the nation and I’ve seen them work week and week out,” Smith said. “They got a lot of pressure on their quarterback and that helped us out on the back end and the linebackers on their blitzes. Coach (Dan) Lanning called a perfect game.”
Smith’s play was just part of the story for a Bulldog defense that flexed its collective muscles.
Take away Clemson’s lone scoring drive that resulted in a field goal after the Tigers drove 82 yards on 10 plays, Georgia’s defense dominated in a way few predicted it would.
“It just seems like we’re more athletic out there than we have been in the past,” head coach Kirby Smart said. “There’s a lot of speed on the field. When we do plays against the scout team with Travon and Adam (Anderson) chasing plays down, they’re fast. (Lanning) did a great job calling the game and the staff did a great job with the game plan. We frustrated and confused them.”
No, it wasn’t perfect.
The Bulldogs suffered a trio pass interference calls, two on redshirt freshman Kelee Ringo that extended drives.
However, considering many were predicting Clemson to score upwards of 30 against the Bulldogs, those mistakes were overlooked on this particular night.
“We definitely had some pass interferences, but our main goal is to stay composed, and I felt we did,” Smith said. “Those things are going to happen. We’re going to have penalties thrown on us. But the main thing is staying composed and get after the next play. I feel we did a great job with that.”
