The unranked Georgia Tech Yellowjackets raced to a 24-3 halftime lead and upset the #6 Clemson Tigers 31-17 on Saturday night at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta.
Tevin Washington ran for 176 yards and a touchdown. Orwin Smith scored twice for Georgia Tech. The Tech offense blistered Clemson with 383 yards on the ground while controlling the football for 39 minutes. The Yellowjackets improved to 7-2 overall, 4-2 in the ACC.
Clemson did not score a touchdown until the third quarter. Tajh Boyd threw a 48 yard TD pass to freshman Sammy Watkins. But the Tigers could never get closer than 14 points of the lead in the second half. Clemson turned the ball over four times on the night.
Boyd completed 23 of 40 passes for 295 yards and one touchdown. But he threw two costly picks including one in the fourth quarter when Clemson was deep in Georgia Tech territory threatening to cut the lead to seven.
Watkins had a huge night with 10 catches for 159 yards and a score. Several former WPDE All-Zone selections made an impact on the Clemson defense. Lake View's Quandon Christian had 11 tackles, Malliciah Goodman out of West Florence had eight tackles, Jonathan "Tig" Willard from Loris had seven stops and Marlboro County's Lateek Townsend had two tackles.
The loss knocks Clemson out of the national championship picture. The Tigers will take next weekend off before hosting Wake Forest on Saturday, November 12 in Death Valley.
