Georgia stifles Clemson to cap atrocious Week 1 for ACC football

Barry Werner
·2 min read
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Clemson misses Trevor Lawrence. That was apparent Saturday as Georgia thwarted D.J. Uiagalelei and the Tigers’ offense in a 10-3 victory played in Charlotte, NC.

The loss, in a contest between top-five teams, capped an awful Week 1 of the college football season for the Atlantic Coast Conference, which saw three ranked teams lose.

  • On Friday, 10th-ranked North Carolina fell at Virginia Tech, 17-10, as the Hokies picked off Heisman hopeful Sam Howell three times.

  • The Miami Hurricanes came into Saturday’s matchup with No. 1 Alabama ranked 16th. The Crimson Tide made the Hurricanes look like candidates for the Bottom 10 in a 44-13 thrashing. Alabama lashed the Miami defense for 501 yards of total offense in a game that was not as close as the final score.

  • And the second-ranked Tigers (USA Today poll) sputtered and were stymied at every turn by a ferocious Bulldog defense.

Uiagalelei never had a chance, going 19-of-37 for 178 yards, while being sacked 7 times and throwing a pick-six to Christopher Smith, which turned out to be the lone touchdown in the contest.

A field goal in the fourth quarter prevented the Tigers from being shut out for the first time since 2003.

So, if you are counting, the ACC saw the second-, 10th-, and 16th-ranked teams fall in Week 1 of the season.

You can add another insult to the brutal weekend as Duke was upset by Charlotte, 31-28, on Friday,

The victory was the first for the 49ers over a Power 5 program.

There is the potential for more shame on Sunday when Notre Dame, back to being an independent, travels to Florida State. On Labor Day, Louisville meets Ole Miss in Atlanta.