When Georgia and Clemson tee it up on Saturday, it’ll be unlike many of the classic clashes between the Dawgs and Tigers as it’ll be at a neutral site.
That said, Saturday will feel like a bit of a throwback to the days of old when things kick off at noon.
Thankfully, it’ll be indoors. And without question, it won’t be as hot as it was 21 season openers ago when Georgia made the short trip into the Palmetto State to take on Clemson.
Those of you who were there that day know exactly what I am talking about.
Unofficially, it may have been the hottest Georgia game in history.
As for the game, it can honestly be counted as one of the bigger statement games of the Mark Richt Era as Georgia won 30-0.
Clemson is always a tough place for Georgia to play, and given that the Dawgs took a close win the year before in Athens, the Tigers were expected to be plenty motivated.
As for Georgia – it had lost key players off the 2002 SEC Champions like Tony Gilbert, Musa Smith and Boss Bailey. Oh, and eight players were also suspended as UGA was also basically replacing a whole offensive line.
“It’s tremendous, considering all the losses we had through injury and suspension. It’s a time those guys could’ve lost heart, but they came up fighting,” Richt said after the game.
It wasn’t hard that week for Larry Munson to discount the Dawgs’ chances.
A loss that day would paint Georgia as a one-year-wonder with a dynamic senior class in 2002.
The opposite happened as Georgia dominated Clemson from the start when David Green’s QB fake hit a wide-open Fred Gibson who had himself faked out Clemson’s top defender Justin Miller.
Green was 12-of-17 for 203 yards that day with Gibson having all 104 of his receiving yards in the first half.
From there it was all Georgia as it slowly took control and wore Clemson down. Simply put, the loss was a faceplant for the Tigers who were coming off a 55-15 loss to Texas Tech in the Tangerine Bowl. It was Clemson’s first home shutout since 1998.
That win set Georgia on a run of success past 2002, advancing to the SEC title game in 2003 and winning the SEC in 2005.
Much of that had to do with a tone since on a very hot 2003 afternoon.
Go Dawgs!