AP Top 25 Takeaways: Clemson's feeble performance against Georgia confirms demise of Dabo's Tigers

Updated Sep. 1, 2024 9:36 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Week 1 overreactions often turn into freezing cold takes by mid-October.

See, 2023 Colorado, for example.

We have all seen enough evidence of Clemson's demise over the last three seasons to comfortably say the days of coach Dabo Swinney's program as a national championship contender are over and not have to worry about looking silly later this year.

In fact, what made No. 1 Georgia's 34-3 demolition of the 14th-ranked Tigers on Saturday in Atlanta notable was just how unsurprising it was.

“When you get beat like that, that’s on the head coach," Swinney told reporters. "Complete ownership of an absolute crap second half. Sometimes you get your butt kicked and we did today.”

The Bulldogs aren't the defending champions — No. 9 Michigan has that title — but at 43-2 with two national titles since the start of the 2021 season they are the standard in college football.

This run of dominance for Kirby Smart's squad began against Clemson in the '21 opener. That night in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Bulldogs beat the Tigers 10-3 without an offensive touchdown.

Since then, Georgia has been a rocket ship and Clemson is basically the same team: duds on defense, dysfunctional on offense, with a coach who simply refuses to use all avenues available to improve his team.

Swinney's lack of transfer portal activity is well documented.

“People say whatever they are going to say,” Swinney said. "Doesn’t matter what I say. We do what’s best for Clemson. When you lose like this, they’ve got every right to say whatever they want and write whatever you want.”

Thing is, this really goes well beyond the portal. Cade Klubnik is now the second consecutive five-star quarterback recruit to not pan out at Clemson, following DJ Uiagalelei.

Maybe the receivers have a chance to be better this season. There was a lot of talk in the preseason about five-star freshman T.J. Moore. He had one catch against the Bulldogs.

Over the last three years, Clemson has had just three offensive players drafted, none higher than the fourth round. Who's changing that anytime soon?

The good news is it will only get easier for the Tigers because Georgia is if not in a class by itself, one that can meet in a broom closet.

This Clemson team still feels like one that could contend for an Atlantic Coast Conference title, with defensive lineman Peter Woods and linebacker Barrett Carter making life miserable against most opponents. Heck, the Tigers' D held up fine for a half against Georgia.

Try not to turn this into an indictment of the ACC, but it's not good news for the angst-ridden conference that its most recent national title winner is simply no longer part of those conversations.

Now, Virginia Tech losing to Vanderbilt might be an indictment on the ACC.

Fortunately, No. 19 Miami looked very much like the real deal, swamping Florida behind Cam Ward. On the Is-The-U-Back? meter, the Hurricanes' 41-17 victory was a solid 7 1/2.

Meanwhile, that smell coming from Gainesville, Florida, is resignation. A make-or-break season for coach Billy Napier started with no signs the Gators are any better than they have been.

"It’s embarrassing, to be quite honest with you,” Napier said.

Only seven more ranked opponents to go for Florida.

Resignation is probably the feeling for Clemson fans now, too. The Tigers salvaged last season by winning their final five games, renewing hope that maybe Swinney's program would rediscover its mojo.

It was nowhere to be found in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

"They didn’t hand out a national championship trophy tonight. We didn’t lose the ACC tonight,” Swinney said.

Nope, and with a new 12-team College Football Playoff, Clemson can still dream big.

The problem is the biggest dreams now appear to be pipe dreams.

Debuts

Riley Leonard's first game as quarterback for No. 7 Notre Dame was a gritty performance behind an inexperienced offensive line against No. 20 Texas A&M at a raucous Kyle Field. The Fighting Irish beat an SEC team on the road for the first time in 20 years, winning 23-13.

Penn State fans could not have been much happier with new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki after the eighth-ranked Nittany Lions romped at West Virginia, 34-12. Kotelnicki was hired away from Kansas to bring explosiveness to a unit that slogged through a 10-win season last year. He delivered in Game 1. Drew Allar averaged 12.7 yards per attempt. Harrison Wallace averaged 23.3 yards on five catches. Nick Singleton averaged 8.8 yards on 13 carries. Mission accomplished for Game 1.

No. 25 Iowa also unveiled a new offense, with former Western Michigan coach Tim Lester taking over for the beleaguered Brian Ferentz, son of Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz. It took while for Iowa — sans the suspended Kirk Ferentz — to get it cranked up in a 40-0 victory over Illinois State. The Hawkeyes finished with 490 total yards, their most since putting up 644 against Middle Tennessee on Sept. 28, 2019.

No. 2 Ohio State has assembled maybe the most talented depth chart in college football, and there is a very real chance its best player is a freshman. Receiving prodigy Jeremiah Smith caught two touchdown passes during a choppy first half against Akron before the Buckeyes rolled in the second half en route to a 52-6 victory.

This could be the year of the freshman receiver phenom: Alabama's Ryan Williams (two catches, 139 yards and two TDs); Texas' Ryan Wingo (four for 70); Auburn's Cam Coleman (two for 62, TD) and Perry Thompson (two for 82, TD); and Iowa's Reece Vander Zee (five for 66, two TDs) all shined Saturday.

Nebraska's highly touted freshman quarterback, Dylan Raiola, was rock solid in his first career game, throwing for 238 yards and two scores as the Cornhuskers rolled past UTEP 40-7, setting up an tasty Week 2 game against Colorado.

New Mexico State transfer Diego Pavia ran for 104 yards, threw for 190 and scored what proved to be the winning touchdown as Vanderbilt upset Virginia Tech 34-27 in overtime. A huge win for Commodores coach Clark Lea, who imported both Pavia and former New Mexico State head coach Jerry Kill from Las Cruces, hoping to show enough progress in Season 4 to earn a Season 5 at his alma mater.

The first Alabama football game without Nick Saban as coach since 2006 could not have gone better. Kalen DeBoer's fifth-ranked Crimson Tide won 63-0 over Western Kentucky and quarterback Jalen Milroe put up this crazy stat line: 7 for 9 passing for 200 yards and three touchdowns and 79 yards rushing and two TDs on 10 carries.

Around the country

In the transfer portal era, keeping stars is a major challenge for schools outside the Power Four. There was no bigger retention this offseason than running back Ashton Jeanty at Boise State. The preseason All-American ran for 267 yards and tied a Mountain West record with six touchdowns in a wild 56-45 victory at Georgia Southern. The Broncos play at No. 3 Oregon, which had a glitchy 24-14 win against Idaho, next Saturday. ... Arizona preseason All-American Tetairoa McMillan was the receiving star of the day, going off for a school-record 304 yards and four touchdowns in a 61-39 win over New Mexico. The 300-yard receiving game was the first in major college football since Ohio State's Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the 2022 Rose Bowl vs. Utah. ... No. 4 Texas beat Colorado State 52-0, but the big news was Arch Manning had the most extensive playing time of his career. College football's most famous backup quarterback was 5 for 6 for 95 yards and his first touchdown pass. ... Michigan looks as if it could use a guy like Manning. Playing two quarterbacks, the Wolverines' offense sputtered, but Will Johnson and the defense were stellar against Fresno State. The Longhorns visit the Big House next week. ... Lots of transfer quarterbacks debuted for their new teams. One that didn't get a ton of attention in the offseason was former Alabama blue chipper Eli Holstein to Pitt. Holstein was 30 for 40 for 333 yards and three touchdowns running new offensive coordinator Kade Bell's wide-open attack in a 55-24 win over Kent State ... Reminder: There is still a Pac-12. Washington State and Oregon State are operating as a two-team conference this season. The Cougars won their first game after being abandoned, 70-30 over Portland State. Oregon State did the same, beating Idaho State 38-15.

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Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP

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