Bulldogs dismantle Wolverines in CFP semifinal
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Georgia football lost an air of invincibility that was built up during a dominant, unbeaten regular season and then unspooled during 60 minutes of play in the SEC championship game.
The No. 3 Bulldogs restored the reputation it created through the first 12 games by dismantling No. 2 Michigan in a College Football Playoff national semifinal 34-11 Friday night in the Orange Bowl.
“The resiliency, the bounce back, the amount of character, I’ve seen it all year,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “You can list all the things that we did in the last game. That’s all our kids have heard about for three weeks. Our focus has been on, OK, what can we do to get better at, where can we turn our energy, because it does not good to look backwards.”
Georgia showed it is still a force to be reckoned by rocking the Wolverines by running out to a 27-3 halftime lead before 66,839 Hard Rock Stadium.
Now the Bulldogs stand on the doorstep again of winning its first national title since 1980.
All that stands in the way once again is Alabama, the team that drilled the Bulldogs 41-24 nearly four weeks earlier and earned another trip to the title game.
The Bulldogs and Crimson Tide will play Jan. 10 in Indianapolis at 8 p.m.
Here are takeaways from a semifinal win that moved the Bulldogs to 13-1 on the season, tying a program record for wins:
Stetson Bennett quiets the critics
Twenty-seven days after Stetson Bennett’s showing against Alabama bubbled up plenty of talk that Georgia needed to make a change at quarterback, coaches stayed true to their word and stuck with Bennett.
He made offensive coordinator Todd Monken’s offense click to the tune of scoring on the first five drives of the game.
Bennett torched the Michigan defense, going 21 of 31 for 307 yards and 3 touchdowns and no interception.
“I didn’t go out there and play well today in spite of people,” said Bennett, named the bowl’s offensive MVP. “I came out there and played well and worked hard throughout the few weeks we had off because my teammates needed me to do that, and we needed that to win.”
The former walk-on started 9-of-9 for 92 yards including completing all four passes on the opening drive.
He hit tight end Brock Bowers on a 35yard completion on the opening drive and then on a 9-yard touchdown.
“He’s been really focused the last couple of weeks,” Smart said. “I think it’s amazing to have a guy his age block out all the noise and just focus harder.”
Bennett took advantage of favorable matchups to hit running back James Cook, lined up wide, on a 53-yard connection, beating linebacker James Colson to set up one of two Jack Podlesny field goals. Cook added a 39-yard touchdown catch in a bowl his brother, NFL star Dalvin Cook, was named game MVP when he played for Florida State.
With 1:38 to go in the first half, Jermaine Burton cruised past cornerback Vincent Gray for a 53-yard touchdown from Bennett.
Georgia defense roars back
Outgoing Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning termed his guys’ performance against Alabama as a “hiccup.”
It certainly looked that way against Michigan (12-2).
The Bulldogs held a Wolverines team that was 12th nationally in scoring at 37.7 points per game to 3 points until it gave up a touchdown pass from backup QB J.J. McCarthy with 4:25 to go when Georgia had pulled starters.
The Wolverines finished with 325 total yards and averaged 5.2 yards per play.
“We just wanted to make sure that we were dominant and physical up front,” said nose guard Jordan Davis, who had two tackles including one for loss.
Michigan’s vaunted rushing game was held to 88 yards on 27carries — just 3.3 yards per carry.
“Great defense,” Michigan offensive lineman Andrew Vastardis said. “A lot of those guys will be playing on Sundays. Good luck to them moving forward.”
In the first quarter, Michigan drove into Georgia territory but the Bulldogs held their ground as McNamara passes to tight ends Luke Schoonmaker on third down and Erick All on fourth down went incomplete.
On the next series, Robert Beal got a sack, Quay Walker batted down a pass on a rush and Dean snuffed out a short pass to force a Michigan punt.
Georgia later forced a three-and-out with a 20-3 lead to give the offense the ball back that they turned into seven points in only 3 plays.
A taste of their own medicine
Michigan has pulled out the stops this season to good success with flea-flickers and halfback passes.
Georgia did a rare trick play of their own for its second score of the game.
Kenny McIntosh took a handoff and ran to the right before stopping and lofting a pass to the right side of the end zone to freshman Adonai Mitchell. It put Georgia up 14-0, capping a six-play, 59yard drive.
Radio sideline reporter D.J. Shockley reported McIntosh was 0-of-8 in practice on the play.
“He didn’t throw a good pass this whole week,” Cook said.
Cook said he was surprised that Monken called the play because he thought “I . ... I was stunned by that one. When he called it, Kenny made a good throw. That was a great throw.”
Keeping score of sacks
Michigan boasts a pair of pass rushers that are drawing first round projections, but Aidian Hutchinson and David Ojabo had quiet games.
Heisman Trophy runner-up Aidian Hutchinson, who entered with 14 sacks, went without a sack. David Ojabo, who had 11, also didn’t record one.
“Sucks it’s got to end this way,” Hutchinson said of a season that included a surprising Big Ten championship and first CFP appearance.
Left tackle Jamaree Salyer and right tackle Warren McClendon neutralized them.
“They listen to everybody talk about those guys rushing, and Jamaree and and Warren are good pass protectors,” Smart said. “When they don’t or give up penetration, Stetson did a good job avoiding. There was a couple of times we got beat, even on the touchdown pass. I thought Stetson did an incredible job of getting the ball in the air.”
Bennett was hit hard as he threw a 39yard touchdown pass to Cook with 11:11 to go.
Earlier, Hutchinson was bearing down on Bennett on a first down and Bennett took off and worked his way through the defense for 20 yards.
Georgia’s defense, which never could sack Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, racked up four sacks from outside linebackers Robert Beal and Nolan Smith, inside linebacker Nakobe Dean and defensive end Travon Walker.
“It was a battle of the line of scrimmage,” Davis said.