Tech defense outshines Clemson’s in victory

ATLANTA, Ga. - It wasn’t a good day for Clemson quarterbacks, and Georgia Tech was more than happy to take advantage.

The Associated Press No. 24 Yellow Jackets returned two interceptions for touchdowns and held the No. 18 Tigers without a touchdown in a 28-6 victory at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Clemson started the day as the No. 2 defense in the country in yardage allowed, thanks in large part to Rockdale High School graduate Grady Jarrett and Heritage alumnus Garry Peters, and was surrendering a third-best 18.4 points, but instead it was Tech’s defense (13th in yardage, 11th in scoring average in the Atlantic Coast Conference) that stood out.

After starter Deshaun Watson went out with a knee injury late in the first quarter, senior Cole Stoudt relieved the freshman and had a forgettable afternoon. Stoudt’s first pass came on a screen and was intercepted by Jamal Golden, who returned it 85 yards for a touchdown to put Tech up 6-3.

The Yellow Jackets (9-2, 6-2) led for the remainder of the day, continuing to pad their lead with field goals by Harrison Butker from 25 and 32 yards and a five-yard Justin Thomas-to-DeAndre Smelter touchdown that made it a 16-3 game early in the third. Thomas’ career-long rush of 65 yards to the Clemson 10 set up the touchdown.

“It was a just a simple fade route,” Thomas said of the touchdown toss. “We got a one-on-one match up in man (coverage) and DeAndre went up and made a good catch.”

Stoudt threw the last of his three interceptions to Tech’s Chris Milton, who returned it 65 yards for a score that made it 25-6 late in the third. On the previous possession, Zach Laskey had fumbled and Clemson’s Robert Smith recovered. Thanks to a dynamic day from the hosts’ defense, it didn’t matter.

“(Stoudt) was kind of expecting the receiver to be there and he wasn’t,” Milton said of his interception.

“What a huge play after we fumbled the ball,” said Tech coach Paul Johnson. “Not just to get a turnover, but to score off of it was huge.”

Clemson (7-3, 6-2) was held to just 190 total yards and could only muster field goals of 27 and 32 yards by Ammon Lakip, the last of which made it 19-6 with 5:47 to play in the third. The Tigers were held without a touchdown for the first time in 97 games with Tech also being the last team to keep the South Carolina school out of the end zone in September, 2007.

“Wow, what a game,” said Johnson. “We haven’t had a game like that defensively in a while. Today was the best game we’ve played defensively, bar none.”

A lot of that had to do with the fact that Watson suffered his second injury of the season. The freshman from Gainesville returned Saturday after missing the previous three games with a broken hand and had 40 rushing yards and was 5-for-7 passing before suffering the leg injury.