Reliving Electric Opening Night Clemson vs. Georgia in 2013
Part seven of our look back at 10 of the most crazy, exciting, and impactful games played at Death Valley in the last 20 years…
Death Valley, prime time, under the lights, College Game Day, and a top 10 matchup. It seemed as if the entire college football world was centered around Clemson, SC on August 31st, 2013. In their season opener, the #8 ranked Tigers were playing host to #5 Georgia in a battle of titans on the first night of the new season. Georgia was led by quarterback Aaron Murray and monstrous running back Todd Gurley. Clemson was star-studded in their own right, with quarterback Tajh Boyd leading the way. Boyd was surrounded by his ‘WRU’ battery of Sammy Watkins, DeAndre Hopkins, and Martavis Bryant. On paper it looked like the game of the season. Little did the 83,000 fans at Death Valley know how special that night would turn out to be three hours later. The Tigers captured the attention of the college football world during their dramatic bowl victory over LSU the season before, but by the time the clock struck zero in this matchup against Georgia, Clemson was a household name.
Welcome to the most exciting 25 seconds in college football…
It would be the first time Clemson had been able to showcase their famous stadium entrance to a national television audience, and ESPN, who televised the contest as their game of the week and made sure to present the captivating spectacle as vividly as they could to the national audience. Television cameras rolled from all angles, following the team busses from the west end of Death Valley around to the hill. As Dabo Swinney and the Tigers met at the top of the hill, waiting for the cannon to fire, Death Valley was aglow in the twilight of late summer foothills Saturday night. With a cannon shot and deafening roar, Clemson raced downward and into a sea of orange. If you were there to see it in person, it was a spectacular sight. Then, the game kicked off.
Don’t blink…
Fans in attendance barely had time to take a gulp of their beverages to reset their hoarse voices before both sides began trading haymakers. The first quarter was outright wild, and when the smoke cleared on the first period, Clemson and Georgia were tied 14-14. It was not just that both teams had each scored two touchdowns in the opening stanza, but that three of them happened in the span of 31 seconds. The Tigers connected first, with Boyd powering in for a four-yard touchdown run with 9:31 to play in the quarter. On Georgia’s next play from scrimmage after the ensuing kick-off, Gurley announced his presence by busting a run right up the middle and taking it 75 yards to the house. One offensive snap later, Boyd launched a dime down the right sideline to Watkins, with Sammy outracing a bevy of Bulldogs to the endzone to make it 14-7 in favor of the Tigers with 8:58 on the clock. Georgia would get the equalizer with 4:12 to play in the period on a four-yard plunge from George Marshall.
War of attrition…
The game slowed down considerably with both defenses settling in to start the second. The game’s attrition, however, remained. Georgia scored their third touchdown just two minutes into the quarter on a one-yard Quayvon Hicks touchdown run. It would be the Bulldogs’ final points of the first half. Clemson would even things up once again with 3:51 to play before the intermission on Boyd’s two-yard dive, his second rushing touchdown of the half. With 30 minutes down and 30 to go, both teams remained right where they started; tied.
Dropping the hammer…
The Tigers jumped back in front less than five minutes into the second half. Boyd connected on his second touchdown pass, this time 31 yards to running back Zac Brooks on a wheel route, to give Clemson the lead once more. Placekicker Chandler Catanzaro remained perfect on the night, and his point after kick made it 28-21. Georgia was far from done. Gurley returned the blow with a 12-yard dart to paydirt around the right side on the Bulldogs’ next possession and the score was again deadlocked at 28-28. The Tigers fired one final salvo as the third quarter waned, with Catanzaro capping off another solid drive with a field goal from 24 yards. Clemson 31, Georgia 28 with 15 minutes to play.
Backbreaker…
Both teams traded possessions to start the final quarter, and after Clemson took over with just over nine minutes to play, Boyd set about delivering a dagger to Georgia’s hearts. With a sharpened blade, he helped the Tigers’ offense knife into Bulldog territory once more before plunging a proverbial blade into Georgia on a nine-yard pass to tight end Stanton Seckinger as Death Valley became completely unhinged. If this was big boy football, the Tigers were the Bulldogs’ bully. To Clemson, it just meant more. Trailing 38-28, Georgia came away empty on their next two possessions. One final, desperate volley came with 1:19 to play in the game when Murray punched it in from one yard out, but it was all for naught by that point. Clemson recovered the onside kick that followed, and as the throngs of orange and purple-clad delirious fans streamed onto the Memorial Stadium field, the Bulldogs limped away, whipped, and dejected. This was supposed to be a nationally televised showcase of the SEC’s might. Instead, it was the final act of Clemson’s coming out party on the big stage of college football.
Curtain call…
The Tigers would finish the 2013 season with an 11-2 record and be selected for a BCS bowl game for the first time. Clemson met Ohio State in the Orange Bowl, and in Tajh Boyd’s final game as a Tiger, he guided Clemson to a 40-35 victory over the Buckeyes in dramatic fashion. It was a bookend victory for the Tigers, who started and ended, their season with wins over two of the marquis programs in the country. Clemson fans will always remember that balmy August night at Death Valley, though. It is one of the greatest games to ever be played at Memorial Stadium, and yet another reminder that Clemson as a program could no longer be ignored. The Tigers have been featured on College Game Day many times since that night, and ESPN has perfected the art of broadcasting the most exciting 25 seconds in college football. In the years to come, the Tigers have also perfected the art of winning and maintaining their place as a giant in college football.
