No. 6 Georgia routs No. 4 Auburn 28-7 in SEC title game
ATLANTA » Shaking off a blowout loss to Auburn just three weeks ago, Jake Fromm threw two touchdown passes and No. 6 Georgia made its bid for a spot in the College Football Playoff with a 28-7 victory over the No. 4 Tigers in the Southeastern Conference championship game Saturday.
Auburn (10-3) was the hottest team in the country, rolling into Atlanta after wins over Georgia and then-No. 1 Alabama in its last three games. But the Tigers were stymied by two crucial turnovers, a blocked field goal and a Georgia team eager to make up for its embarrassing 40-17 loss on the Plains.
Nick Chubb, Sony Michel and freshman D’Andre Swift provided a much more effective running game for Georgia than the first meeting, which opened up things for the freshman quarterback. Fromm completed 16 of 22 passes for 183 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown to Isaac Nauta in the second quarter and a 6-yarder to Terry Godwin with just over 13 minutes remaining that essentially sealed Georgia’s victory.
The Bulldogs claimed their first SEC title since 2005 and capped an impressive rise in Kirby Smart’s second season as coach. Georgia went 8-5 a year ago, but Nick Saban’s former defensive coordinator insisted he was establishing a culture that would return the team to national prominence.
Georgia (12-1), which was No. 6 in the latest CFP standings, will surely move into the top four after its dominating performance against the Tigers. Auburn was ranked second in the CFP poll but managed only 259 yards after piling up 488 in the Nov. 11 rout.
NO. 2 OKLAHOMA 41, NO. 10 TCU 17» Baker Mayfield threw four touchdown passes and No. 2 Oklahoma staked claim to a playoff spot with a 41-17 victory over No. 10 TCU on Saturday in the return of the Big 12 championship game.
With their record 11th Big 12 title, the Sooners (12-1, No. 3 CFP) are a lock to get in the College Football Playoff for the second time in three seasons. They are the only Big 12 team to make the four-team playoff format that started in 2014.
Oklahoma jumped out to a 17-0 lead, including Caleb Kelly’s 18-yard fumble return for a touchdown after running back Kyle Hicks’ turnover on the first offensive play by TCU (10-3, No. 11).
Kenny Hill threw two TD passes to get the Horned Frogs to 24-17 at halftime, but Oklahoma scored twice on its first three offensive plays after the break.
Mayfield, the front-runner for the Heisman Trophy to be named next week, was 15 of 23 for 243 yards to take game MVP honors. The first two touchdown passes were to tight end Mark Andrews.
Hill opened the second half with three consecutive incompletions. On the first play after the punt, Mayfield hit Mykel Jones for a 55-yard catch-and-run score.
On fourth-and-1 from the Oklahoma 41 on the next drive, Hill bootlegged to the right side. Big defensive end Ogbonnia Okoronkwo chased him toward the sideline before Parnell Motley delivered the crushing blow that kept TCU’s quarterback from getting a first down. Two plays later, Marquise Brown made an over-theshoulder grab for a 52-yard TD strike and a 38-17 lead. NO. 12 UCF 62, NO. 16 MEMPHIS 55, 2 OT » Otis Anderson scored on a 1-yard run on the first possession of the second overtime and Central Florida — in what turned out to be its last game under coach Scott Frost — beat Memphis for its third AAC crown in five years.
Frost, the second-year coach and former Nebraska quarterback, took the Cornhuskers’ job after the game.
Memphis (10-2, CFP No. 20) got as far as the UCF 9 in the second OT, but Riley Ferguson’s pass on second-andgoal was intercepted by Tre Neal, giving the Knights (120, CFP No. 15) a likely spot in a New Year’s Six bowl.