Andy & Ari On3 - Georgia Tech RUNS OFF Clemson in Atlanta | What's next for Dabo Swinney?

Episode Date: September 13, 2025

Georgia Tech knocks off Clemson in Bobby Dodd Stadium in Week 3, 24-21. Watch here as Andy & Ari instantly react to the Yellow Jackets win over the Tigers in Atlanta. Join On3 today and get one full year of access to The Athletic included! https://www.on3.com/subscribe/C Watch our show on YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/FeyQnVyM2og Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River Bailey Interested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail]

Welcome to an instant reaction edition of Andy Nari on three presented by BetMGM. We just watched Georgia Tech run on and then walk off Clemson in Atlanta, 2421. Ari, there's a lot to unpack here. You have Georgia Tech out toughing Clemson, winning this game, taking the big lead, taking the counterpunch, coming back and winning. You have, what does this mean for Clemson going for? What does it mean for the ACC race? And also, we got to watch all the key replays in this game because of something the ACC is doing this year.

And it's a game changer for me. Game changer. Where do you want me to begin? I've got a lot to say. Let's start with Georgia Tech because that last field goal. And remember we saw TCU do that against Baylor the year they won the national title? Like, it is so hard to run your field goal team on in the course of a normal play clock.

And you heard the announcers talking about watching Georgia Tech practice this very scenario at practice on Friday. Like this scenario, like the first story I wrote about Brent Key when it became the head coach of Georgia Tech, this was in the interim when he got the interim job after Jeff Collins was fired, was about how he reimagined the punch shield within two days to save their punch. team like this guy just gets all the little details of football yeah you see how well his team plays i mean my prevailing takeaway about georgia tech right now andy is that i just watched four quarters of them being athletically and superior athletically and physically superior to their opponent um and their opponent's clemson which is very meaningful to me is like i don't

know if that's like uh get haines king like a permanent lebron crown or something but like the entire team has like and taken that that Haines King and embodied the the toughness and like that 13 play 90 yard drive they started on their own 10 yard line in the fourth quarter and went all the way down the field and it's just like Haines King up the middle hangs king to the left hangs king to the right over and over and over again it's five yards six yards they're falling forward on every play they are physically dominating that defensive line that has Peter Woods T.J. Parker and will help like everything that I thought I liked about Clemson in the offseason was completely dominated in this football game so like there that's a two two ways of looking at it one you know

the Georgia Tech side of it Andy which is Georgia Tech physically did that and then on the other side there's something broken with Clemson that I'm not necessarily sure I can put my my fingers on and all week this was a tricky game everybody was talking about how you know the spread was four and then it was dropping to three and then it got to two two and a half right before but like and remember we were talking about this on the pick show or maybe it was later in the week but bill connelly with the sp plus the sp plus projection for this game was a tie which it literally was until one second remained on the car or zero seconds on the clock yeah so like from this standpoint i feel like obviously i could sit here for 30 minutes and

give you a diatribe on how brent key has completely revived georgiax football program I'm getting that win at home in Atlanta to improve the 3-0 with the way that they did it is a site that I didn't know was even possible there, you know, four years ago. So to see that manifest in a win and now making Georgia Tech, in my opinion, a really tough out in the ACC because, you know, they played good defense. And again, I don't know if that's Clemson's offense is just fractured. There's a lot to unpack there, but they played good defense the entire game. Every single thing outside of that Bryant-West.

go, 73-yard touchdown reception that he had looked difficult for Clemson, batted balls at the line of sprint. The third and 22, which I think Britt Key is going to kick himself for that for a long time. But it didn't cost them the win. They still ended up winning the game. I mean, that third and 22 draw that was supposed to just be like, we're going to punt here. It was a give up, yeah.

They allowed, I think Clemson ended up scoring at the end of that drive too, right? Like that was what made it 13.7, I believe. I think so. I'm not 90, 100% sure. Yeah, this could have been, this actually could have been way worse. Yeah. But that also could have been the thing

maybe past Georgia Tech teams would have folded on. But like that, to me, you just have a very tough team. And I had the thought during the game, not to make Georgia Tech fans sad, but I was like, what if Eric Singleton was still on this team? I mean, I feel like that would have been something.

Auburn targeted Eric Singleton like 20 times in South Alabama game today. Yeah, I know. And Cam Coleman scored. we'll talk about Auburn tonight, but like it is just Bravo, right? Like I mean, I am like now here left to pick up the pieces of the Clemson thought process because like, again, I was very high on Clemson.

We got it wrong. Like we just we got it wrong. Yeah. We thought in the preseason that they were going to be national title type good. And look, we may find out that Georgia Tech's really good and LSU's really good. But I also think that's not it. It's not wrong about Clemson

because I don't think they're going to be national title good and they're probably not going to make the playoff. Well, here's the thing that I struggle with with Clemson, Andy, and I kind of wrote about this. There will be a column on three here shortly. Is last year when Clemson got their doors blown off by Georgia and the opener when we were together in Gainesville, I was able to write a column very easily

from the swamp outside and that wonderful press box there detailing where I thought it went wrong. And now when I'm looking at this Clemson team, which by the way, looks identical to the team from last year, like identical to me. Like it's like not better at all. I have a hard time putting my finger on where things went wrong

and we have to go back and analyze the offseason discourse as it pertains to this team in order to understand or try to understand where it's gone wrong. One is the college football aspect of this, which is we thought, or I thought, I'm going to take this one, Andy. I don't know if you agree with me or not, but this is my thought, that college football had gone so far off the deep end in talent accumulation and portal stuff where half the teams were replacing half their roster every single year and that we were going to regress back to the mean and that Clemson's solid, steady, lack of turnover philosophy was going to turn out to be the better way of doing things. This is also where I went wrong in my thinking, yes. And then secondly, they have really good players. And I don't, do you want me to go down the list of how many players I anticipate

are going to be drafted pretty high up in the NFL draft in April? I guarantee you it's going to be more than Georgia Tech. Peter Woods, and I don't know, you know, all this, you know, we're not going to speculate. Peter Woods will help the Monti K part, Avion Terrell. This is just some of the defense, by the way. Brian Westgo. Yeah, I know. But I'm just saying, like, guys that are going to be taken in the, in the first

round potentially they have seven guys that you can say make the case for it um they're going to have more players on this team drafted in the first round than georgia tech is going to have drafted in the first round is that a fair statement they're going to have more players in this team drafted than georgia tech's going to have drafted that's a fair question so that's the other thing too it's like well i could just like bash dabbo over the head again about not going in the portal enough but like that doesn't even seem to be the thing to me no yeah you're right it's not Like today, that was not the issue. That talent was not the issue.

They probably are more talented than Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech is just tougher. And we said this last year when Georgia Tech beat Florida State. Like Georgia Tech will punch you in the mouth. Like, and who did, they beat Miami last year. They handed Miami one of its two losses in the regular season. So this is a team that does not really care how much more talented you are. They took Georgia to eight overtimes.

in Athens. Yeah, the thing they don't care. That will never escape me here, Andy, in this game. And I think this is my prevailing takeaway from it. Because I actually thought that Clemson showed some gumption when they were down 13-0 to go down and score, make it 13-7, and then they were able to take the lead. Oh, yeah, they could have quit easily and didn't. Yeah.

So to complete this thought, though, Andy, they also gave up that 90-yard, six-minute drive that took 13 place for a touchdown, and they went right back down the field and scored again to tie the game. So I thought that they had guttiness, but the thing that really gets me about this and where I can't get over it is when Georgia Tech got the ball back with two and a half minutes left, everybody on Earth knew they were going to kick a field goal and win. Like when you have that defensive line, when you have that talent on defense, why do I feel that way? Why does everybody who's watching the game feel that way? Because you've watched Georgia Tech, especially if you watch Georgia Tech Colorado and you watch them bounce back from. three turnovers in the first eight minutes. Like, they just come at you and keep coming at you.

You knew that it doesn't matter. And you knew exactly what it was going to look like. Yeah. I don't know, like Haynes King is injured all the time because Hangs King takes an absolute beating and plays every play. Like, it's the final play of the Super Bowl. And I don't know, like, for an entire season, if Georgia Tech is going to run into some issues with how he plays

because he's, like, their primary back. But, like, you knew exactly what, what that drive was going to look like in Clemson, who has three players on their defensive line who are going to be taken in the first day or the second day of the NFL draft had no answer for it, like, at all. So, like, I don't know if that is a something's wrong with Clemson discussion or if that is Georgia Tech is awesome,

but like that's how I felt about it. And like a team that I thought was going to be able to win the ACC without question and go on to potentially like, you heard me screaming from the mountain tops, 22 to one, Clemson, that's wrong. 22 to 1, 22 to 1 to win the national title. That's going to be a team that walks into the playoff and has a chance to make a run. And, like, I'm sitting here on September 13th, and they've already lost a game when we didn't, we didn't believe them when they lost to LSU because LSU is very good. Last week when they were losing 13 or 16 to nothing or whatever the score was against Troy, we didn't believe them.

It was a sleepwalk or sleepwalk hangover game. So we go into week three thinking, by the way, Troy got housed by Memphis today. Yeah, right. So we go into week three. And, like, now there's no more excuses, man. Like, there's just something wrong. And I, and again, I wish I could tell you right now, here's exactly where Clemson went wrong and here's how to fix it.

But Clemson has a problem. And I don't know what it is, but if Clemson fans are tired of them winning a 9 and 3 or a 10 and 2 or an 8 and 14 that, you know, looks exactly like they did today, I don't know if this is a Cade Klubnick thing. Is he not as good as we thought he was? I don't, like, who, what quarterback would you have taken in this game? I know which one I'm taken. Well, and here's the thing.

So we're talking about Clemson. This is where now the idea of them walking in the playoff, like it all falls apart because I was like, okay, when's their Florida State game? The Florida State game is not until November 8th. They could lose to SMU. They could lose to Duke. They could lose to Florida State.

They could lose to Louisville. They could lose any of those games, any of those games. And they're probably not going to be favored against South Carolina at the end either. So, like, they're in danger of being knocked out of the ACC race. in early November. Yeah. If they're not careful. Yeah, for sure.

No, and that's like, again, Clemson last year made the playoff. They fought back and they made the playoff. I still think it's within the realm of possibility that Clemson could fight back and make the playoff. We saw them do it last year. The ACC is kind of open. But it's probably going to have to be as the ACC champion, though.

But also, that's the only way. Yeah. They're not losing a third time in getting it. So if, without winning the, without winning the ACC. But here's the thing. that you can't predict. What was the team, and you have a better memory, Andy? Help me out here.

Who beat the shit out of them last year in the middle of the year randomly? Was it NC State? Louisville. Louisville. Ran all over. That is on the table every single game they play for the rest of the year. Period. Like a team that feels good about itself offensively could just roll through them.

Yeah. Like I said, their last four ACC games. Like, there's a chance. I would assume they're. three and one. They got Syracuse, UNC, and Boston College. I assume they're three and one when they hit that stretch. But those last four are all loseable. Yeah. So, you know, I think that it's a celebration for Georgia Tech because they deserve it. This is a day that loyal Georgia Tech fans have been waiting for because not only was it a signature win, it was a signature win while

the season is still ahead of it, right? Being three and no and still being. And still being, And while we're talking about Clemson and the ACC, let's talk about Georgia Tech in the ACC title. Yeah. Because I think that's equally interesting. This is a team that, okay, they play Temple out of conference next. They should beat Wake Forest in Virginia Tech. Duke's not going to be easy, but they can win.

Like, Georgia Tech, actually, as you look at this scheduler, I clicked it. There was a comment a few minutes ago that I clicked that said 11 and 0 Georgia Tech versus 11 and O Georgia in clean old-of-fashioned hate. Like the 11-0 Georgia tech part is not outside the realm of possibility. Look at this schedule. Temple Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Duke, Syracuse, NC State, Boston College, Pitt. God, that would be so. Georgia Tech may drop one of these, but Georgia Tech is in playoff contention going into the Georgia

game more than likely. And maybe still in playoff contention if they lose that game. Also, we're going to be coming out right now. Well, because the stuff it's just with the ACC title, and it might be their first loss. It might be their first loss. So, you know, this is the fun part. If they lose it, they went eight overtimes last year. The fun part of September 13th, Andy, is that we start to get to see which teams are going to be the teams this year.

Yeah. And I think that Georgia Tech, like I wrote a Clemson column, we probably at the very least should write a Clemson. I mean, a Georgia Tech, if not today at some point this week. I believe. I believe Mr. NACOS is on duty. He's on it. He's on duty. Okay. And I will be writing about the ACC letting us watch the replays, which they've done in other games this year. They did it Thursday night for for NC State Wake Forest. They did it for a few games last weekend as well. I believe the James Madison at Louisville game was one of them. Before we get into this, Andy, because I can't wait to talk about it. I just wanted to put a bow on one. I wanted to ask you a question. Okay. Should Clemson fans? be are Clemson fans in a pretzel with Davosweeney or is that way too soon yes okay because it's a what have you done for me lately world because he is one of the great him for what he did but they're they're really mad at him right now yeah but i want like are you do you think he he's

the problem right now yeah i mean it's his program the book stops with him and they are essentially what they were last year and maybe not as good as last year or maybe the rest of the ACC is better than last year either way that's a problem for them yeah so um yeah Tennessee they will never fire down I'm not saying

they should fire Davo no no no I'm not saying my headline on my column is it's time for Davos we need to evolve um so we'll see how that plays I think that I was very rational in it um and I don't even know what evolution

that means. I don't know if that means more portal, more shots and recruiting. I don't know if they can't. I don't know. I mean, because having the better roster didn't help them today. Yeah. I don't really know what that means. Yeah. I,

everything I said in the video, I wrote the story. But like, it is an interesting. By the way, producer Rivers watching Tennessee go down the field on Georgia on the first drive. I don't think he's even paying attention to our show at all. I very much like to watch that too. talk about the uh all right yeah let's talk about the replay because this was touchdown tennessee

by the way this was the first time we really got to see a really critical call in a major game where we got to see the entire process of the replay and what it was is it it was originally called a touchdown in the back of the end zone for clemson it looked like he caught it and toe tapped it and then you get to see it and we'd watch the other replay reviews in the the game and but none of them had felt particularly huge this one did like you could hear the crowd reacting to the replay as you're listening to the referee go back and forth with the with the command center about the play and i i just love it because it shows one the professionalism of the people involved like these guys are on top of stuff and i get it like eventually

they're going to have one where it's wrong where they get the play wrong stuff And that's when it's going to be electric, but yeah. Yeah, but it was, I mean, imagine the pressure today knowing you're on TV and you're deciding whether this touchdown that could decide the game or not counts. Now, granted, it was first and goal. So they just, after they overturn the call, Clemson just runs it in on second and goal. But in the moment, it felt enormous and they got it right. Like you heard them talk it through.

you watch even after they really kind of figured it out and realized no he didn't have control while he was in bounds they're still looking at other angles just to make absolutely sure and then you hear the referee like this is a part people don't think about unless they've actually officiated a football game i think but like the referee going back to them and saying okay so that would be second a goal at the two is the clock good yes that stuff you never even think about but that's what they're doing so i I thought that little bit of transparency from the ACC is incredible, and every league needs to go to this immediately. Yeah, I think that transparency is the key to everything, right? And being able to watch it and look through their process, I wonder too. Like, you know what I was thinking during that time as I was laying in my bed, watching the game with my laptop on my chest?

It was like, God, I wish I could have seen that process last year for the end of the Miami. What was the- Virginia Tech? Virginia Tech game. Yeah, that's right. I was like, God, I wish I could have watched them walk through this on that. And we will get that in the ACC this year. And I think that being able to go through the process and, like, hear what they're saying to each other might give people more of an understanding on where they're coming from and how they're arriving at certain things.

Yeah, and when they announce this, I think David Thiel, who's like a, you know, long time Virginia-based writer who's covered ACC teams for, pretty much forever. He wrote about this, I want to say back in August, and one of the ACC officials that he interviewed in the story said, basically, we have nothing to hide here. I love that. Such a great attitude. Like, other leagues need to do it too.

If we're being honest, don't stop here. Let's just do it in the playoff room, too. Do a little bug camp for us to hear them to take. Why couldn't go? What's wrong with that? I don't think they have anything to hide. I don't, I don't think they would. want their their unfiltered comments about various teams getting out but i know i know and then people

will be and if if somebody is anti-bama in the room then they become anti-bama publicly and then it's correct it's even if they're even if they're speaking about it in an objective way it doesn't matter because people will get mad if if you didn't pick their favorite team which is we talk about the objective ways all the time and people get mad of course but we we go on camera and do it that's the difference. So, no, please thank you, ACC for doing this. Everybody else have some Cajones like the ACC did and start it next week. Like, every league should have this available next week. I'm with you. You're done. Guys, good start Saturday. I got a feeling it's going to get wilder from here. Yeah, wait a second. If Tennessee wins, are we live again, obviously?

we may be live either way I got a feeling something crazy will happen in this window too yeah Joey Aguilar is already the king of Rocky Top all right let's go boys let's watch the game we'll be back later

See you guys