Clemson is vulnerable. Georgia exposed the Tigers and QB Uiagalelei, who looked awful

Trevor Lawrence was inside Bank of America Stadium Saturday night, along with more than 74,000 other people for one of the most claustrophobically crowded sporting events in Charlotte’s history.

But Lawrence didn’t suit up in orange for Clemson, as he did for the past three years before becoming the NFL’s No. 1 draft pick in April. He was only a spectator with a weekend off from his real job. And that proved to be the biggest problem for Clemson, which was mostly pathetic on offense Saturday night in its 10-3 season-opening loss to Georgia in the Duke’s Mayo Classic.

D.J. Uiagalelei, Clemson’s 6-foot-4, 250-pound sophomore quarterback who played well last year as Lawrence’s backup, looked like a high school freshman on his first day of class.

To his credit, the quarterback took the blame after the game, claiming everyone else on the offense played “great.” Said Uiagalelei: “I didn’t play very good today, everyone could see that and it showed … It’s on me. ... I just missed throws. I’ve gotta play better. It’s as simple as that.”

Uiagalelei was indecisive. Jittery. Slow. He was sacked seven times. He never got his own team into the end zone. And he got no help from an outmatched Clemson offensive line, or a paltry running game (two total rushing yards!) or a Clemson coaching staff that made no halftime adjustments worth mentioning.

Uiagalelei did throw a single touchdown pass on a rowdy Saturday night, but it was to the other team.

Georgia defensive back Christopher Smith jumped a route in front of a Clemson wide receiver who was supposed to cross in front of Smith’s face and took a Uiagalelei pass 74 yards the other way in the second quarter. That play made half the crowd of 74,187 go wild and the other half get angry, because the Panthers’ home stadium was split nearly down the middle between those clad in red and orange.

And man, what a crowd it was.

My normal 40-minute commute to Bank of America Stadium on a Carolina Panthers game day took 100 minutes this time, and I was one of the lucky ones. There were many stories of driving a half-mile in two hours in uptown Charlotte, where traffic cops were few and far between. “Freeway lookin’ like a parking lot,” as North Carolina’s own James Taylor once sang. Plus, most of the license plates uptown were from Georgia and South Carolina, which meant not many people knew where they were going.

Still, the tailgate scene was tremendous once you got parked and everyone seemed to get inside before kickoff, where the crowd looked bigger than any I’ve seen at Bank of America stadium since the Panthers’ Super Bowl run during the 2015 season. Concession stands sometimes had 50 people in line, ready to buy $11.99 beers and $4.99 water bottles.

Let’s just hope this doesn’t turn out to be a COVID superspreader event — masks weren’t required for the outside seats. Mecklenburg County Public Health Director Gibbie Harris was worried about this one — “no way is that COVID-free,” she had said of the event — and you can see why. I’d estimate no more than 5% of fans wore a mask in the open-air portion of the stadium (which is almost everywhere).

With all that said, the sports story of the night was Georgia’s defense flummoxing Uiagalelei, whose Clemson offense managed only 180 yards. Even after taking over at the Georgia 37 after a third-quarter Clemson interception, the Tigers got zero points, as Uiagalelei took sacks on both second and third downs.

“It wasn’t just on D.J.,” Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said of all the offensive problems, adding that several times receivers ran the wrong routes and that he was “proud” of the way the quarterback played down the stretch. “D.J. is going to own this game right here, he’s going to get better and the future is still extremely bright for him.”

Uiagalelei looked better in the fourth quarter, when he at least led Clemson to a field goal to avoid the Tigers’ first shutout since 2003 and made his overall passing numbers (19-37 for 178 yards and the one pick-6) more respectable. But mostly he didn’t run when he had the chance Saturday night, didn’t throw the ball quickly, didn’t feel the Georgia pressure and sometimes didn’t have any shot at doing anything at all before he was knocked on his back.

All of it added up to a Clemson team that not only lost its opener for the first time since 2014 and looked nothing like the No. 3 team in the country, but also to an ACC that suddenly can say: “Hey, Clemson is vulnerable.”

Without Lawrence, who threw 90 TD passes over the past three years for the Tigers and will start Week 1 for the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 12th, Clemson looked lost on offense.

Georgia’s defensive front was the axis on which the game spun, as it harassed Uiagalelei all night. Clemson’s defense also played plenty well enough to win, allowing only a third-quarter field goal.

But if your offense is only going to score three points, you’re not going anywhere. Credit to Georgia, who was No. 5 in the country before this game and will certainly move up.

Clemson? Not only were Uiagalelei’s Heisman hopes dashed upon the Georgia rocks, but he’ll eventually lose his job if he plays like that. That Clemson game at N.C. State Sept. 25th suddenly looks interesting.

Clemson fans have been spoiled at quarterback for a long time. Saturday, they got to see how the rest of the college football world lives. And it was ugly.

This story was originally published September 4, 2021 at 11:32 PM with the headline "Clemson is vulnerable. Georgia exposed the Tigers and QB Uiagalelei, who looked awful."