“We’re putting our best players on special teams and (Todd Gurley is) one of our best players. … We had Sony (Michel), (Nick) Chubb, (Keith) Marshall all out there covering kicks. Our tailbacks are probably the best runners and hitters we have on our team.”
— Georgia coach Mark Richt on utilizing the Bulldogs’ tailbacks on special teams.
“Todd Gurley is obviously as good as it gets. He’s a great, great football player. If you give him the ball in the position we gave to them, he is going to do great things. Gurley — and all their backs — were special tonight.”
— Clemson coach Dabo Swinney.
“Ah, man, I guess a ladybug tripped me up. I just kind of fell. I felt like I should have stayed up and I could’ve had a chance to score. It was definitely good, though. I was glad I could make a play for my team when we needed it.”
— Georgia freshman defensive back Aaron Davis on his second-quarter interception.
“You wait so long to play in an environment like that. You dream and you sit over there and just wonder what it’s going to be like. But you can never put it into perspective until you’re actually in there. It was phenomenal.”
— Georgia quarterback Hutson Mason on making his debut as a season-opening starter.
“I don’t care if I throw for one yard and we win. When you wait around for this one year and you’ve got one shot at it, records aren’t on my mind. I want a championship. Dancing in the glitter is all I think about.”
— Mason on his individual performance (18 of 26 for 131 yards passing, 0 TDs, 0 INTs).
“Hutson Mason was solid. He managed the game well. Clemson has a formidable pass rush so he had to get rid of it sooner than he wanted. But we’ll get better at throwing and catching.”
— Richt on Mason.
“As an offensive line, that’s what you want, that’s what you dream of. You want the coaches to put it on you and say let’s go and they did and we took it. It’s special blocking for Todd and all those backs. It’s a blessing. God did something when he made those guys because I didn’t get any of it.”
— Georgia senior center David Andrews.
“We just didn’t tackle. The aim of the defense is to get the guy on the ground and we didn’t do that. It’s fixable, but we knew what we were getting when we came into this game. They have great running backs and to be successful we have to make the play and tackle them.”
— Clemson defensive lineman Grady Jarrett.
“It was a lot of fun. I felt like we played great as a defense and it paid off. There wasn’t any adjustments at halftime. We said we’re going to keep running our stuff. I guess the execution just came through in the second half.”
— Georgia outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, who had two second-half sacks.
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