Georgia tops Oklahoma in Rose Bowl thriller

PASADENA » Sony Michel burst through the line for a 27yard touchdown run to give No. 3 Georgia a 54-48 victory Monday night against No. 2 Oklahoma, winning the first overtime Rose Bowl and sending the Bulldogs to the College Football Playoff championship game.

Michel, who had a fumble in the fourth quarter returned for a go-ahead Oklahoma touchdown, ran for 181 yards and three scores for the Bulldogs (13-1), but none bigger than the last one in the second overtime.

In the final game of one of the great college careers, Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns, and caught a touchdown pass that gave the Sooners a 17-point lead with 6 seconds left in the first half.

But the Heisman Trophy winner could not get the Sooners into the end zone in the first overtime when a touchdown would have ended the game.

The Bulldogs will play either Alabama or Clemson on Jan. 8 for the national championship in Atlanta, about 90 miles from their campus — with a chance to win their first national title since 1980.

The first overtime Rose Bowl was also the highest scoring, surpassing last year’s 52-49 USC victory against Penn State. There was a lot more on the line in this one, which will go down as one of the greatest Granddaddies of Them All.

After an offside penalty on Georgia gave Oklahoma a first down on third-and-five in the second OT possession, the Sooners stalled again and Austin Seibert came out for a 27-yard field goal. Leaping through the line, Lorenzo Carter got his outstretched hand on the kick and the ball fluttered down short of the uprights.

GREGORY BULL — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Georgia linebacker Lorenzo Carter, left, celebrates with fans after Georgia beat Oklahoma 54-48 in overtime in the Rose Bowl Monday in Pasadena, Calif.