A WILD ROSE BOWL:
PASADENA, CALIF. — In a wild game with several lead changes and 102 combined points, the Georgia Bulldogs beat the Oklahoma Sooners, 54-48, in the Rose Bowl to advance to the national championship game in Atlanta.
No. 3 Georgia, which ran for a remarkable 317 yards behind dominant performances from Sony Michel and Nick Chubb, won the game in a second overtime on a 27-yard run by Michel.
No. 2 Oklahoma had been in control of the game, leading by 31-17 at halftime, but the Bulldogs reeled off 21 consecutive points to take a 38-31 lead early in the fourth quarter. Nick Chubb’s 2-yard TD run with 55 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter tied the score to force OT.
But the game was far from finished as Oklahoma would continue to fight all the way until a blocked field goal in the second overtime period set up Georgia’s game-winning drive.
The Bulldogs, who will face the winner of Monday night’s other game, the Sugar Bowl, between No. 1 Clemson and No. 4 Alabama for the national championship on Jan. 8, averaged 9.3 yards a carry in the game. And they survived a tremendous performance from Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield, the Heisman Trophy winner, who passed for 287 yards and two TD and caught a 2-yard TD pass.
Rodrigo Blankenship made a 38-yard field goal to give Georgia a 48-45 lead in overtime. Austin Seibert’s 33-yard field goal tied the game at 48 to force the second overtime. Lorenzo Carter blocked Seibert’s second field-goal attempt to set up Michel’s game winner.