Kirby Smart improved to 6-0 in season openers in the Bulldogs' 10-3 win over Clemson last week. The Bulldog defense held Clemson to its fewest points and yards rushing under Dabo Swinney, and its second fewest total yards performance. This was the fifth time in six season openers that Smart’s teams held an opponent to ten points or less. Georgia is now 43-18-4 all-time against Clemson, and now has won seven of their last eight dating back to that magical night of 1991.
This week, Georgia takes on UAB in the season’s home opener. The Dawgs have only played the Blazers twice, with the last time being in 2006. So, check out this look back at Clemson and look ahead to UAB in this week’s Stats Crunch.
The three points scored by the Tigers was the lowest in any of the 174 games under Dabo Swinney as Clemson Head Coach. In fact, the last time the Tigers scored less is when the Bulldogs shut them out in the 2003 season opener. The Dawgs have held their opponents to under ten points 16 times in the Smart era, five of them been shutouts. Five of the 16 have also been against ranked opponents. Here are those five games:
The last time, Georgia has held a top five team to three points or less was when it upset the top-ranked Florida Gators in 1985 by the score of 24-3.
The Bulldogs led the nation in rush defense the last two seasons, and the way they started, they could make it three in a row. The Bulldogs are 30-2 when an opponent doesn’t net 100 yards rushing under Smart. Clemson gained 50 yards on the ground last Saturday, but lost 48, for a net of two yards. That is the third lowest total for rush yards in game allowed in the since 2016.
The Bulldog record for fewest rush yards allowed in a game happened in 1999, when Georgia held Kentucky to -50. Not surprisingly, Georgia’s unofficial sack record in a game is 11 in that same game. The Bulldogs sacked Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei seven times. Strangely enough, six of the eight highest sack totals by Georgia under Smart have been in neutral games.
Nakobe Dean led the way with a career-high two sacks. Adam Anderson, Travon Walker, Nolan Smith, Jordan Davis, and Jalen Carter added one each.
Georgia's total 15 sacks in back-to-back games (both against top-10 opponents) is the most in back-to-back contests as far back as 1994.
One of the biggest plays for the Dawgs resulted in the game’s only touchdown. Christopher Smith intercepted Uiagalelei’s pass at the 26-yard line and raced 74 yards for the score. It's the only interception thrown in Uiagalelei’s college career (154 attempts). Last season, Georgia’s defense had two pick-sixes, both by Eric Stokes. Crazy enough, the last time Clemson’s defense had a pick six was in 2019, when Derion Kendrick had one against Florida State (Kendrick now plays for Georgia).
The last time Georgia won a game without scoring an offensive touchdown was in 2016, when a different Smith had a pick-six. That time it was Maurice Smith, who had the big play against Auburn in the 13-7 win.
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Offensively, the Dawgs didn't have many of their key weapons—and it showed. The 256 total yards was the fourth fewest under Kirby Smart, and the second fewest in a Smart victory (only the 251 gained against Auburn in 2019 was fewer).
JT Daniels threw for just 135 yards. It was his lowest total in the five games (all wins) he has played for Georgia. However, he did complete 22-of-30 passes for a 73.3 completion percentage. That percentage was his second highest as a Dawg and his third highest overall. Of his 22 completions, eight went to wide receivers, and seven apiece went to tight ends and running backs.
Eleven different players caught the 22 completions thrown by Daniels. True Freshman Brock Bowers made his Bulldog debut by hauling in six catches. The record for most receptions in a Bulldog debut is ten by Terrence Edwards in the 1999 Utah State game. The 11 receptions as a team marks the fourth time the Dawgs have had at least that many under Smart; three of the four have been season openers. Here are those four and the players who caught the passes:
James Cook was the only name mentioned in all four games.
Going back to Bowers, his six receptions was the most by a Georgia tight end since Arthur Lynch had six in the 2014 Gator Bowl against Nebraska. Former tight end Shannon Mitchell holds the record for most receptions in a game by a Bulldog with 15 in the 1993 game against Florida. Wide Receiver Michael Johnson's 13 in the 2002 game against Auburn is second, but third is another tight end, and he tops this next list. Here are the top ten Bulldog tight ends in terms of receptions in a game since 2000.
On Saturday, the running game didn't dominate, but it did its job when it needed to. The Bulldogs converted three third-down conversions in the game’s final drive to preserve the win. Georgia had 121 yards rushing for the game. They were led by Zamir White, who had 74 yards, including a long of 22. How were the carries split among the main backs. Here is a look at their rushing attack quarter-by-quarter.
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Jake Camarda (with a little help from Arian Smith) had pin-point accuracy. Four of his five punts were downed inside the 20-yard line. Last season, 18-of-36 were downed inside the 20.
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UAB is coming to down this week. The Blazers finished 6-3 last season and won the Conference USA Championship. They shut out Jacksonville State 31-0 on September 1st to start the season. The Bulldogs are 2-0 all-time against the Blazers. Georgia squeaked by them 16-13 in the 2003 Homecoming game and then, in 2006, the Bulldogs won, 34-0. The 2006 game was Matthew Stafford’s first-ever start for the Dawgs. He only went 10-for-17 for 107 yards and no passing touchdowns. However, he did have a rushing touchdown in the victory.
In case you forgot, UAB is also the school that transfer Jake Ganus came from after the school stopped playing football in 2015. Ganus was one of the team’s captains and led Georgia in tackles in his lone season with 102.
The last thing I want to mention is, when I think of UAB, I think of Norm Reilly, who was one of the sports information directors at Georgia for 15 years, and later became the head of sports information at UAB in 2002 and spent 14 years there as well. He passed away in 2016 after a lengthy battle with cancer. We miss you, Norm!
