Georgia named as college football's top winner of Week 1

The Georgia Bulldogs have been named as college football’s top winners following Week 1. Georgia earned a dominant 34-3 victory over the Clemson Tigers behind a monster second half.

USA TODAY’s Paul Myerberg explains that the gap between Georgia and Clemson is quite wide.

“Even if the Bulldogs are the No. 1 team in the country, that Clemson was thoroughly dominated shows how far the Tigers stand from true title contention,” said Myerberg. “When these two teams met in 2021, a 10-3 Georgia win, you could’ve made the case that Clemson was only a step or two behind the eventual national champs. A few years later, that gap has widened to miles and miles of what seems to be insurmountable space.”

Clemson has not made the College Football Playoff since the 2020 season. While the Tigers are still capable of winning the ACC and making the expanded playoff, they do not look like a national championship contender. Myerberg considers the Tigers to be college football’s top loser of Week 1.

Contrarily, Georgia looked like the best team in the nation. The Bulldogs’ defense looked fast and physical. Georgia barely allowed Clemson past the 50-yardline until the second half. The Tigers never scored a touchdown and managed just 188 total yards of offense.

Any team that wants to compete with Georgia is going to have to play better offensively. Clemson held up well defensively in the first half, but quarterback Carson Beck and running back Nate Frazier overwhelmed the Tigers as they combined for three of Georgia’s four second half touchdowns.