Georgia Tech takes the belt, 31–17, at home over Clemson.
AP poll, week 9: Clemson No. 6 at Georgia Tech unranked · No. 1 that week: West Virginia. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
Georgia Tech took the belt here, ending Clemson’s run of 42 days and 5 defenses (reign #278) and starting reign #279. It lasted 12 days and 0 defenses, until Virginia Tech took it on November 10, 2011.
For Georgia Tech this was its 15th shot at the belt; it had held the belt twice before — and it took it back here.
This is the only time Clemson and Georgia Tech have met with the belt on the line.
Recap
Georgia Tech dominated this belt-deciding matchup from start to finish, establishing control with a methodical ground attack that accumulated 383 rushing yards. After Clemson's opening field goal, the Yellow Jackets responded with four unanswered touchdowns, including a pair of short-yardage scores from Orwin Smith (1 yard and 3 yards) and another from David Sims (11 yards) in the third quarter. Clemson's offense, led by Tajh Boyd and star receiver Sammy Watkins, managed only spurts of production and couldn't overcome the turnover battle, surrendering four total turnovers to Georgia Tech's two. Tech's Time of Possession advantage (23:21 to 12:19) reflected their control of the game, keeping Clemson's high-powered passing attack off the field for much of the afternoon.
- Orwin Smith's 1-yard TD run early in Q1 gave Georgia Tech momentum after Clemson's opening field goal
- Tevin Washington's 56-yard rush to the Clemson 17 late in Q3 set up David Sims's 11-yard TD, essentially putting the game away
- Sammy Watkins's 48-yard TD reception in Q3 kept Clemson's comeback hopes alive but Georgia Tech's ground game proved too much to overcome
- Clemson's four turnovers versus Georgia Tech's two proved decisive in the belt transfer
Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.
Team stats
CFBD box scoreFull team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.
Key plays
CFBD play-by-play| When | Team | Yards | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 8:45 | Clemson | +34 yd | Chandler Catanzaro 34 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q1 8:45 | Clemson | +24 yd | Chandler Catanzaro kickoff for 65 yards returned by Orwin Smith for 24 yards to the GTech 29. |
| Q1 2:59 | Georgia Tech | +1 yd | Orwin Smith rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q1 2:59 | Georgia Tech | +0 yd | Justin Moore extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 14:49 | Georgia Tech | +46 yd | Tevin Washington rush for 46 yards to the Clem 25 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 12:01 | Georgia Tech | +23 yd | Justin Moore 23 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q2 5:44 | Georgia Tech | +3 yd | Orwin Smith rush for 3 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 8:47 | Georgia Tech | +21 yd | Roddy Jones rush for 21 yards to the Clem 34 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 5:44 | Georgia Tech | +38 yd | Justin Moore kickoff for 58 yards returned by Sammy Watkins for 38 yards to the 50 yard line. |
| Q2 5:44 | Georgia Tech | +0 yd | Justin Moore extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 4:22 | Clemson | +40 yd | Chandler Catanzaro 40 yard field goal MISSED. |
| Q2 1:32 | Georgia Tech | +44 yd | Tevin Washington pass complete to Stephen Hill for 44 yards to the Clem 10 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 0:37 | Georgia Tech | +3 yd | Tevin Washington rush for 3 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 0:37 | Georgia Tech | +0 yd | Justin Moore extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 15:00 | Georgia Tech | +21 yd | Justin Moore kickoff for 61 yards returned by Sammy Watkins for 21 yards to the Clem 30. |
| Q3 13:34 | Clemson | +48 yd | Tajh Boyd pass complete to Sammy Watkins for 48 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 13:34 | Clemson | +0 yd | Chandler Catanzaro extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 12:32 | Georgia Tech | +56 yd | Tevin Washington rush for 56 yards to the Clem 17 for a 1ST down. |
| Q3 11:30 | Georgia Tech | +0 yd | Justin Moore extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 11:30 | Georgia Tech | +11 yd | David Sims rush for 11 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 2:15 | Clemson | +28 yd | Tajh Boyd pass complete to Sammy Watkins for 28 yards to the GTech 44 for a 1ST down. |
| Q3 1:00 | Clemson | +26 yd | Tajh Boyd pass complete to Sammy Watkins for 26 yards to the GTech 2 for a 1ST down. |
| Q4 14:47 | Clemson | +0 yd | Tajh Boyd rush for no gain, fumbled, recovered by Clem Brandon Thomas in the endzone for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q4 14:47 | Clemson | +0 yd | Chandler Catanzaro extra point GOOD. |
| Q4 14:47 | Clemson | +21 yd | Chandler Catanzaro kickoff for 66 yards returned by Orwin Smith for 21 yards to the GTech 25. |
| Q4 10:39 | Georgia Tech | +26 yd | Tevin Washington pass intercepted by Rashard Hall at the GTech 35, returned for 26 yards to the GTech 9. |
| Q4 10:33 | Clemson | +0 yd | Tajh Boyd pass intercepted by Jemea Thomas at the GTech 0, returned for no gain for a touchback. |
| Q4 1:06 | Clemson | +0 yd | Tajh Boyd pass intercepted by Jemea Thomas at the GTech 49, returned for no gain to the GTech 49. |
Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).
Player stats
CFBD player statsPassing
Georgia Tech
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tevin Washington | 4/9 | 60 | 6.7 | 0 | 1 | 52.7 |
Clemson
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tajh Boyd | 23/40 | 295 | 7.4 | 1 | 2 | 18.8 |
| Sammy Watkins | 1/1 | 9 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 98.9 |
Rushing
Georgia Tech
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tevin Washington | 27 | 176 | 6.5 | 1 | 56 |
| David Sims | 15 | 68 | 4.5 | 1 | 11 |
| Roddy Jones | 4 | 52 | 13.0 | 0 | 21 |
| Preston Lyons | 9 | 42 | 4.7 | 0 | 10 |
| Orwin Smith | 7 | 37 | 5.3 | 2 | 12 |
| Embry Peeples | 2 | 16 | 8.0 | 0 | 13 |
| Stephen Hill | 1 | -2 | -2.0 | 0 | 0 |
Clemson
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Bellamy | 8 | 67 | 8.4 | 0 | 18 |
| D.J. Howard | 7 | 22 | 3.1 | 0 | 7 |
| Sammy Watkins | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 |
| Brandon Thomas | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 |
| Tajh Boyd | 8 | -1 | -0.1 | 0 | 6 |
Receiving
Georgia Tech
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Hill | 2 | 47 | 23.5 | 0 | 44 |
| Tyler Melton | 2 | 13 | 6.5 | 0 | 8 |
Clemson
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sammy Watkins | 9 | 153 | 17.0 | 1 | 48 |
| DeAndre Hopkins | 7 | 83 | 11.9 | 0 | 18 |
| Dwayne Allen | 5 | 38 | 7.6 | 0 | 17 |
| Jaron Brown | 2 | 26 | 13.0 | 0 | 15 |
| D.J. Howard | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 4 |
Show more stats (5 more categories)
Interceptions
Georgia Tech
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jemea Thomas | 2 | 2 | 0 |
Clemson
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rashard Hall | 1 | 26 | 0 |
Kick Returns
Georgia Tech
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orwin Smith | 2 | 45 | 22.5 | 24 | 0 |
| Roddy Jones | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 17 | 0 |
Clemson
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sammy Watkins | 6 | 124 | 20.7 | 38 | 0 |
Kicking
Georgia Tech
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Moore | 1/1 | 100.0 | 23 | 4/4 | 7 |
Clemson
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chandler Catanzaro | 1/2 | 50.0 | 34 | 2/2 | 5 |
Punt Returns
Georgia Tech
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jemea Thomas | 3 | 7 | 2.3 | 7 | 0 |
Clemson
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bashaud Breeland | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| DeAndre Hopkins | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Punting
Georgia Tech
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sean Poole | 3 | 132 | 44.0 | 0 | 0 | 46 |
Clemson
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dawson Zimmerman | 3 | 115 | 38.3 | 0 | 0 | 54 |
Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.
Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 313020059) · This game in the downloadable dataset