Dog walked
The day began with Dabo Swinney making an appearance on ESPN's College GameDay set and jokingly calling the cast soft for using air conditioners beneath the desk to cool themselves on a hot day in September.
As it turned out Clemson couldn't take the heat in Charlotte against a Georgia team that physically overwhelmed the Tigers for most of the night.
Clemson's last game of the 2020 season brought months of questions after the Tigers were humiliated by Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.
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Now Georgia administered another whipping on the big-boy stage, handing Clemson back-to-back losses for the first time since 2011.
The final score said 10-3. It felt much worse than that.
"You're either elite or you're not," Kirby Smart said after the game.
Smart was referring exclusively to his team, saying that was the mantra he repeated to the Bulldogs for weeks of August camp as they prepared for a chance to play against the program that has the championships they've been seeking for 40 years.
But in hearing those words, Clemson fans probably can't help but wonder if they also apply to the Tigers.
As in: Is this team still elite? The Tigers didn't look like it for large stretches Saturday, save for a defense that kept Georgia's offense out of the end zone.
Last year, DJ Uiagalelei showed in two emergency starts against Boston College and Notre Dame that he could handle the pressure as he performed marvelously.
Everyone knew Georgia's defense was nasty coming into this one, particularly close to the line of scrimmage. Everyone knew Clemson's reconstituted offensive line faced a tall order.
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But no one thought the lights would be too bright for Uiagalelei, simply because they weren't last year.
The sophomore operating in the shadow of Trevor Lawrence simply didn't look comfortable, didn't look like the type of quarterback that has delivered national titles to Clemson in 2016 and 2018.
The positive is that there is still plenty of time to hone and refine and improve before the next chance Uiagalelei and this team gets against a heavyweight.
But there were times in this one when things seemed so disjointed on offense that you wondered if Clemson will get to the point of playing another elite team in a playoff setting this season.
Bottom line, if the offense makes a habit of playing like that then it's realistic to think Clemson can fall again against ACC competition it has devoured over the last six years.
The Tigers had 180 total yards, 2 on the ground.
"We've got a long season ahead and this game isn't going to define us," Swinney said. "It's going to develop us into something I know we're capable of being."
Coming in, the big topic was the absence of Tyler Davis and Nolan Turner. Those voids were thought to be huge.
As it turned out, that was a footnote as Clemson's defense performed well and Georgia's defense rampaged to such a degree that Clemson stopped even trying to run the ball.
The immediate aftermath of Georgia's two biggest miscues told the story:
After a punt hit a Bulldogs player and gave Clemson the ball at midfield, Uiagalelei tossed a slant pass into the arms of Christopher Smith and it turned into a 74-yard pick-6 (Swinney said that was on Justyn Ross for not running the correct option route).
After Baylon Spector intercepted JT Daniels to give the Tigers the ball at Georgia's 33, Clemson went into reverse and out of field goal range while losing nine yards as Uiagalelei took a sack. The ensuing punt gave the Bulldogs' the ball at their own 14.
So Uiagalelei's interception resulted in the only touchdown of the game.
Daniels' interception resulted in ... his offense losing 19 yards of field position.
It was thought that Uiagalelei's legs could be the difference in this type of game, particularly given that Daniels is exclusively a pocket passer.
But there wasn't much called for Uiagalelei in the area of designed runs -- not even when Clemson was near Georgia's end zone in the fourth quarter (the Tigers settled for a field goal after three passes) and in other cases he didn't see opportunities to flee the pocket and make things happen with his feet.
"I've got to play better," Uiagalelei said. "I think it's as simple as that. Like Coach Swinney says, in these big games the best players have got to play well. I've got to play better. Simple as that."
All in all, a weird and sobering night for Clemson in its home away from home.
The Tigers are used to flexing their muscles inside Bank of America Stadium.
The team from Athens flexed instead.
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