Bulldogs on scent of a championship
Running game, blocked kick keys in game marked by several rallies
PASADENA — After ending the first overtime Rose Bowl, one of the greatest Granddaddies of Them All, Sony Michel was swarmed by Georgia teammates as he broke down.
The senior tailback had gone from possible goat to all-time hero for Georgia, sending the Bulldogs to the national-championship game with one last burst in a game full of them.
Michel raced 27 yards for a touchdown in the second overtime to give No. 3 Georgia a 54-48 victory against No. 2 Oklahoma in a College Football Playoff semifinal Monday night.
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), and none was bigger than the last one.
“I made plays. I gave up plays. My team just had faith in me,” said Michel, who did all that damage on only 11 carries and got a hug from former Georgia tailback Garrison Hearst after scoring the winning TD. “That’s what this team is all about. They showed true character today.”
In the final game of his great career, Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns, and caught a touchdown pass that gave the Sooners a 17-point lead late in the first half.
The Heisman Trophy winner could not get the Sooners (12-2) into the end zone in the first overtime when a touchdown would have won it.
“It’s tough to describe right now,” Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley said. “It’s a hell of a college football game. You know, an epic Rose Bowl game.”
The Bulldogs will play Alabama on Monday for the national championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, about 70 miles from their campus. After Georgia made its first trip to the Rose Bowl since 1943 a rousing, heart-stopping success, the Bulldogs will play for their first national title since 1980.
“We’ve got to get back to work. It’s not done,” Michel said. “Let’s just finish this season off right.”
The 104th 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, the first CFP game to go to overtime as well.
After an offside penalty on Georgia gave Oklahoma a first down on 3rd-and-5 in the second OT possession, the Sooners stalled again and Austin Seibert came out for a 27-yard field-goal try. Leaping through the line, Lorenzo Carter got his outstretched hand on the kick and the ball fluttered short of the uprights.
Any score would have ended it for the Bulldogs, and on the second play, Michel slipped one tackle and was home free. The Bulldogs sprinted off the sideline and toward the corner of the end zone to mob Michel. Meanwhile, Mayfield stood motionless on the sideline for several seconds, bent with his hands on his knees and head down. Mayfield had dealt with flu-like symptoms the week leading into the game.
“I can’t believe it’s over. It’s been a wild ride,” said Mayfield with a hoarse voice before he started to cry.
Michel and his roommate and running mate, Nick Chubb, thrived for Georgia. Chubb ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns, including a 2-yarder on a shotgun snap with 55 seconds left in regulation to tie it. The Sooners had taken a 45-38 lead when Steven Parker returned Michel’s fumble for a TD with 6:52 left in the fourth.
“I told him that he had to keep running and trying to hit the corner,” Chubb said. “We had a long game and after the fumble, we went down and he made up for it with that run to win the game.”