No. 5 Georgia opens season with defensive statement, win over No. 3 Clemson

ATLANTA — Kirby Smart has never lost a season opener since he took over the Georgia program five years ago. On Saturday night, that streak didn’t have to come to an end.

Behind a defensive gem, No. 5 Georgia made a statement with a 10-3 win over No. 3 Clemson and Dabo Swinney in Charlotte.

Georgia’s Christopher Smith returned an interception 74 yards in what turned out to be the game’s only touchdown.

“I knew we were would be pretty good and pretty deep on defense,” Smart said. “But we’re more athletic than when we were in the past.”

Clemson didn’t score until 9:08 left in the game when a 44-yard reception by Joseph Ngata an a defensive pass interference penalty set up a 22-yard field goal by B.T. Potter.

It helped the Tigers avoid their first shutout since 2003.

The defense showed it’s going to be a force to reckoned with.

The Bulldogs held the Tigers to 2 yards rushing and sacked Clemson’s new starting quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei seven times.

The offense will need to become more explosive.

J.T. Daniels completed 22 of 30 passes for 135 yards with one interception but told reporters after the game he was happy the team shut down Clemson.

“If the defense does that every game, we don’t need to score more than four points,” Daniels said.

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Georgia and Clemson have played each other 64 times in football, but only four times since 1995. They most recently met in a home-and-home series in 2013 and 2014, which the teams split.

Clemson entered the game with a 10-game win streak in regular-season games over SEC teams. But it was the Dawgs who came out on top this year.

Next up for Georgia is the home opener next Saturday against the University of Alabama-Birmingham. The Dawgs will open SEC play the following week on Sept. 18 against South Carolina.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

UGA coach Kirby Smart: At least 85% of football players are vaccinated Channel 2′s Alison Mastrangelo sat down one-on-one with Smart Tuesday before his SEC Media Days appearance in Hoover, Alabama.

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