ATLANTA—Nick Saban retired during the offseason. You may have heard about it. His departure, coupled with Jim Harbaugh fleeing to the NFL, leaves college football with just three active head coaches who have won national championships. Two of them—the only two who have won more than one title—faced off here Saturday.

The result underscored who is the new king of the sport. It’s two-time champion Kirby Smart, and it’s not close. The coach of the Georgia Bulldogs won his 40th straight regular-season game, routing the Clemson Tigers, 34–3, in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. And his two-time champion counterpart, Dabo Swinney, looks more like a has-been than ever.

The latest iteration of the Georgia beast is much like its predecessors. The Bulldogs have dudes all over the field, a never-ending supply of dominators and playmakers just waiting for their chance to show what they can do. Nine Dogs caught passes from quarterback Carson Beck against Clemson, and 22 others made tackles.

Star transfer running back Trevor Etienne, who came in from the Florida Gatos, didn’t play after an offseason DUI. Touted freshman Nate Frazier racked up 83 yards on 11 carries in his first college football game. Linebacker Jalon Walker, who was 11th on the team in tackles last season, was unblockable for a long stretch of the second half, racking up 1 ½ tackles for loss and 1 ½ sacks. Beck was a known commodity, but he showcased a full arsenal of talent in making a variety of throws and some timely runs.

The contrast between a very current Kirby and an outdated Dabo is jarring. Swinney has played Smart twice and is yet to score a touchdown. A guy who stood toe-to-toe with Saban for many years is lying at Smart’s feet. This was Swinney’s worst loss since 2013, before he elevated Clemson to elite status.

Swinney famously took zero transfers in the offseason, continuing his noble but anachronistic approach of building his team through high-school recruiting and internal player development. He’s also now lost three of his last four season openers, and 11 of his last 41 games after going 79–7 the previous six seasons. It’s getting away from him.

There was little to no room to explain away this beatdown, so Swinney didn’t even bother. “Tyler from Spartanburg” might well be on Line One for Swinney’s next radio show, ready to fire away again.

“You get beat like this, it’s on the head coach,” he said. “That’s on me. … When you lose like this, [the critics] have got every right to say what they want to say.”