CLEMSON, S.C. — Now this is what America wants to see from a pair of top 10 powers, battling before Labor Day:
A ton of points. Big plays from the game's brightest stars. A strong finish. And two dynamic offenses which could conceivably leave No. 1 Alabama -- vying for an unprecedented third straight national title -- quaking in its boots . . . when the SEC championship and BCS title games take place in December and January, respectively.
But let's keep things in perspective. After all, No. 8 Clemson's 38-35 victory over No. 5 Georgia was rooted more in fortuitous timing (Georgia's botched field goal comes to mind) than anything remotely dominant from the defense.
In fact, it's fair to ask if the Tigers defenders, who surrendered 545 yards on Saturday, will have the endurance to navigate a deceptively tricky schedule of North Carolina State, Syracuse, Virginia, South Carolina on the road . . . as well as a pair of major home tilts with Florida State (Oct. 19) and Georgia Tech (Nov. 14)?
But that's a question for another day: At the time of this article hitting the Web (2 a.m. Sunday), the orange- and purple-clad zealots of Clemson were still circling Memorial Stadium in celebration, reveling in the school's first triumph over Georgia in 23 years.
The victory also erased the painful memories of the Tigers' 30-0 home drubbing to the Bulldogs from 2003 -- the most recent meeting between two rivals separated by only 150 miles.
"This was a great win. This was a gutsy win," said Clemson coach Dabo Swinney. "The character and toughness that our guys showed was something special. ... We knew this was going to be a slugfest for four quarters. Georgia is a great team."
Swinney later added: "This was a magical day. The energy all day was incredible, and it was capped off by a special night."
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For a thrill-a-minute event that featured 43 first downs, 73 points and 1,012 total yards, it's somewhat painful to declare a blown field-goal opportunity as the game's watershed moment.
And yet, it's fair to wonder how things might have transpired for Georgia -- down 31-28 at the time -- if the snap-kick conversion between UGA holder Adam Erickson and kicker Patrick Beless hadn't gone awry, on the precipice of a chip-shot attempt from 19 yards.
If the Bulldogs had connected for three points, who knows if the Tigers offense feels more pressure to move the ball downfield on the next possession . . . and drain the clock in the process.
Instead, Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd coolly orchestrated a game-clinching, 87-yard scoring drive, highlighted by Stanton Seckinger's nine-yard TD reception (overturned by replay), boosting the Tigers' advantage to 10 points.
Over the course of a long season, this is the kind of luck good teams need to become great, in the eyes of history.
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How frenetic was the action in the first quarter? In one 31-second flurry, Clemson and Georgia produced three touchdowns -- on three straight plays from scrimmage.
The Tigers struck first, as Boyd scored on a 4-yard run with 9:29 left in the quarter, the culmination of a nine-play, 76-yard drive that consumed less than three minutes.
Georgia immediately countered with Todd Gurley's 75-yard touchdown run, the byproduct of a massive running lane along the right side of the Bulldogs' line.
With the crowd of 83,830 still buzzing from Gurley's scoring dash, Clemson wide receiver Sammy Watkins took a short pass in the flat, spun away from one defender and then outsprinted three more Georgia players to the end zone -- 77 yards in all -- even though two Bulldogs had the tackling angle down the sideline.
Watkins' post-catch acceleration was the lasting memory of a fast-paced (but poorly defended) quarter full of big plays. It might have also been the signature moment for the noticeably large contingent of NFL scouts taking in the game.
No doubt to get a closer look at Watkins (six catches, 127 yards, one TD), Boyd (312 total yards, five touchdowns), Georgia's Murray (323 yards passing, one rushing touchdowns) -- all presumptive high NFL picks next April.
Tigers tailback Roderick McDowell (142 total yards) wasn't too shabby, either, nearly matching Gurley, blow for blow.
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For Georgia, (likely) the only school to open with back-to-back clashes against top 10 programs (Clemson, South Carolina), the loss obviously cuts into the team's hopes for an undefeated campaign and subsequent run to the BCS title game in Pasadena.
But aside from that (and receiver Marvin Mitchell's knee injury), what have the Bulldogs lost here?
"Our biggest challenge was dealing with the crowd noise and penalties (nine for 84 yards)," said Murray. "It's tough to convert third-and-long (plays). Penalties are a big reason why we lost."
If we've learned anything from the SEC's dynastic run of seven BCS national championships in seven years (Auburn, LSU, Florida twice, Alabama thrice), it's that one-loss clubs from the nation's most dominant conference will be in the conversation for No. 1 or No. 2 after the first Saturday in December.
Even if schools like Louisville (easy schedule, mediocre competition in the new American Athletic Conference) run the table without much drama, as expected.
In other words, the Bulldogs' margin for error -- BCS title-wise -- has been greatly reduced from the events of Saturday. But their quest for an SEC East title still hinges on tent-pole games against South Carolina (next Saturday), LSU (Sept. 28) and Florida (Nov. 2).
It also helps that Alabama (which spanked Virginia Tech by 25 earlier in the day) isn't on the regular-season docket.
"I am not one to cry about schedules," said Georgia head coach Mark Richt in the postgame media scrum. "And I am fine with the way our schedule is."
From an individual standpoint, Gurley (154 rushing yards, two TDs) enhanced his profile with some of college football's most prestigious awards; and Murray took another sizable step toward becoming the SEC's all-time passing leader . . . sometime around mid-October.
"I thought Gurley played a great game and ran the ball hard," said Richt. "Unfortunately, he strained his quad and wasn't as effective as he was (in the beginning)."
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The landmark victory, Clemson's second straight over an SEC power (LSU in last year's Chick fil-A Bowl), further legitimizes the tangible progress of Swinney's program.
This time five years ago, he was a largely anonymous position coach (wide receivers) for the Tigers, a thirtysomething whipper-snapper more famous for his Rudy Ruettiger-esque rise through the playing ranks at Alabama (unheralded walk-on to letter-winning receiver on a national championship team) than anything from the coaching circles.
Plus, his first taste of true power, serving as Clemson's interim head coach during the 2008 season, yielded mixed results, with solid victories over Boston College, Virginia and rival South Carolina . . . but a bowl loss to Nebraska. That's typically a death knell to unknown leaders desperate to have the 'interim' tag removed from their title.
But the indefatigable Swinney, a real-estate marketer just a decade ago, survived the hiring process, beating out Vic Koenning and Brad Scott for the head-coach position and implementing significant changes to the Clemson culture -- starting with the "Tiger Walk," a game-day tradition of players and coaches mingling with the Clemson faithful just before entering the stadium.
The Tigers' recruiting fortunes have also improved in the Swinney era, with the school landing their share of high-end playmakers (Watkins, Boyd, the recently departed DeAndre Hopkins), big, physical linemen in the trenches and enough depth on both sides of the ball to compete for ACC titles.
Along with unofficial bragging rights over the SEC.
