Clemson and Georgia: The night that "Even Georgia had to take a peek"

Vic Beasley sacks Aaron Murray.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Jun 19 07:00:03 GMT-04:00 2024

Clemson and Georgia. Georgia and Clemson. Just saying the names of those two programs together evokes memories and stirs passions. And the rivalry is rekindled in a few short months.

Clemson travels down the interstate to Atlanta to take on the Bulldogs, and the contest at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta has been designated as the Aflac Kickoff Game. Clemson won its most recent contest in the venue, a 41-10 victory against Georgia Tech on Labor Day night to kick off the Tigers’ 2022 ACC Championship season.

The game represents the first of five scheduled meetings between the programs over the next ten years. The historic geographic rivals have also previously announced two home-and-home series featuring games in Clemson in 2029 and 2033 and games in Athens in 2030 and 2032.

The schools first played back in 1897 – a 24-0 Georgia victory – and the Bulldogs won the first three before Clemson claimed a 39-5 victory in 1900.

In more recent history, the Bulldogs lost three in a row – in 1986, 1987, and 1990 – but have since claimed seven of the last eight. The outlier in the most recent stretch was Clemson’s 38-35 victory back in 2013, the year that “even Georgia had to take a peek.”

This year’s game will be the tenth neutral-site game between Clemson and Georgia all-time, and only one has been played outside of the programs' home states of South Carolina and Georgia. That was the most recent contest in 2021 in Charlotte, a 10-3 Georgia victory.

From 1907-13, the two programs met in Augusta, Georgia, every year as part of the annual Georgia-Carolina Fair. That included a 5-0 Clemson win in 1909. E.H. Pinkney starred for Clemson at quarterback that year, recording several long runs and completing a 30-yard touchdown pass (which had just become legal in 1906).

Despite missing the point-after attempt, Clemson's stingy defense held Georgia scoreless for the contest in what was the second of Clemson's three consecutive shutouts in a 10-day span. The only other location in which the programs have met outside of Augusta, Athens or Clemson was in Anderson, S.C. in 1916. That year, Clemson hosted Georgia at Cater Park, the home of the Anderson Fair, in a game that drew a standing-room-only crowd for which 1,500 temporary bleachers had been installed.

Let’s take a look back at the 2013 game in Clemson. That game is memorable because ABC filmed the Tigers getting on the buses and making their way around the stadium. The Bulldogs met the Tigers at the bottom of the hill, prompting Brent Musberger to say that even Georgia wanted to take a peek.

Tajh Boyd threw for 270 yards, Roderick McDowell rushed for a career-high 132 yards and Sammy Watkins had six catches for 127 yards as Clemson rolled up 467 yards of total offense. Georgia was also explosive offensively, gaining 544 total yards. Georgia’s Todd Gurley rushed 12 times for 154 yards.

The win was Clemson’s second straight over a Top 10 team from the SEC after the Tigers defeated LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

The teams traded three-and-outs to open the game, but the Tigers got the early lead on their second drive on a four-yard keeper by Boyd. Clemson ran the ball six times on a drive that covered nine plays and 78 yards, and led 7-0 at the 9:29 mark.

It took Georgia exactly one play and 12 seconds to answer as Todd Gurley took the handoff on the first play from scrimmage and went almost untouched on a 75-yard scoring run, tying the score at 7-7. The run was a career-long for Gurley.

It then took Clemson – you guessed it – one play and 12 seconds to score when Boyd hit Watkins over the middle at midfield, and Watkins outraced the defense down the field for a touchdown and a 14-7 lead. The pass was the longest pass in Boyd’s career and longest reception in Watkins’ career.

The Bulldogs kept the madness and the momentum going, capping an 11-play drive with a four-yard scoring plunge by Keith Marshall, tying the score at 14.

Georgia forced a Clemson punt, and then marched down the field again – making it look all too easy against the Tigers – and the Bulldogs capped the drive on a one-yard plunge by fullback Quayvon Hicks, giving Georgia a 21-14 lead.

The Clemson offense then went to sleep, but the Tiger defense responded with its best effort of the first half on the next two drives. Vic Beasley ended the first drive by burying Murray in the turf for a sack that forced a punt, and on the ensuing possession, Stephone Anthony stripped Murray of the football and it was recovered by Spencer Shuey at the Georgia 16-yard line.

Boyd made the Bulldogs pay for the first turnover of the night with a two-yard run to pay dirt, tying the score at 21-21 with just under four minutes remaining in the half.

The Clemson defense then forced a Georgia three-and-out, but Watkins muffed the catch on the punt, and Georgia took over at the Clemson 30-yard line. However, Murray’s first throw was intercepted by defensive end Corey Crawford, who sat back in a zone blitz situation – and the Tigers had the ball back with 2:08 remaining in the half. However, they were unable to gain a first down and the half ended with the 21-21 tie.

The Clemson defense forced a punt on Georgia’s opening possession of the second half, and Clemson’s offense finally got back in synch. A key play on the drive came on a 4th-and-inches play, and instead of running Boyd, Morris called for a pass to Charone Peake, who battled for the conversion. A play later, Boyd hit running back Zac Brooks on a wheel route down the sideline for a 31-yard touchdown and a 28-21 Clemson lead.

Clemson forced a Georgia fourth down on the ensuing possession, but the Bulldogs faked and picked up the first down, then scored four plays later on a 12-yard run by Gurley that tied the score at 28-28 with 7:41 remaining in the third quarter.

Chandler Catanzaro ended Clemson’s next possession with a 24-yard field goal for a 31-28 lead, and Clemson’s defense continued to harass Murray and hold, but a Georgia punt pinned Clemson deep at its own 13-yard line. Boyd led the Tigers down the field – mixed in with runs by Brooks and McDowell – but the drive appeared to stall inside the Georgia five when tight end Stanton Seckinger was ruled out of bounds at the two-yard line on a fourth down play.

However, the review showed that Seckinger stretched out across the goal line, and Clemson led 38-28 with just under eight minutes remaining in the game.

Georgia advanced to near midfield but was forced to punt, and the Tigers were able to run the clock down to the 2:30 mark before Pinion punted to the Georgia 36-yard line.

It didn’t take Murray and the Dogs long to score, with Murray capping off a quick drive with a one-yard plunge that made it 38-35 with 1:19 remaining on the game clock. The Bulldogs were out of timeouts, however, and the onside kick attempt was recovered by the Tigers, who ran out the clock.