Kirby Smart: ‘You’re either elite or you’re not’

Kirby Smart and Georgia made a statement Saturday night. Despite not scoring a single offensive point, the Bulldogs pulled out a 10-3 victory in Charlotte over No. 3 Clemson.

Entering the game, Kirby Smart’s team knew solid standing in the College Football Playoff race was on the line. The Bulldogs left Charlotte unscathed, and now they are in position to contend for an SEC title and a berth in the playoff.

The aggressive, elite focus Georgia has been harping on throughout this preseason made the difference.

“Aggressive,” Smart said to Holly Rowe after the win in the Duke’s Mayo Classic. “Getting after it. You’re either elite or you’re not. That’s what we’ve been saying all camp. You’re either elite or you’re not.

“Tonight, we played a really good game defensively and look guys, Clemson’s got an unbelievable team. But I’m so proud for our university to come in this atmosphere, in their backyard, where they play their ACC Championship Game, and come here win this game — a lot of resiliency, and a lot of composure.” 

While the Georgia offense struggled, the defense accomplished a feat that has not happened in 11 years. They held Clemson scoreless for the first 30 minutes.

Prior to tonight, Clemson had scored points before the half in an NCAA-best 143 games. The last time the Tigers were shut out in the first half was 2010. NC State held the Tigers scoreless for a half, but Clemson had the last laugh. They won the game 14-13.

Saturday night’s results were different.

The Georgia front seven absolutely suffocated quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei and the Clemson run game. They held them to -4 rushing yards and just 2.8 yards per play in total in the first half. Lyn-J Dixon lead the team in rushing with just 10 yards.

Clemson finished the game with a total of two yards on the ground. Uiagalelei was sacked seven times.

And now the Bulldogs can look ahead. They still have a full slate of SEC games to play. But Kirby Smart and Georgia can pin a top-five win on their resume for the rest of the season.

“Just like we’d have said if we’d lost, everything’s still in front of us, but we’ve got a really tough game next week against a team that’s really good,” Smart said. “And we’ll have to spend a lot of time getting better to be able to be the team we want to be.” 

On3’s Jamie Oakes and Ashton Pollard contributed to this story.