Georgia advances in OT thriller
The Bulldogs topped Oklahoma 54-48 in two overtimes to win the Rose Bowl, earn berth in championship.
PASADENA, Calif. – Georgia blocked Oklahoma’s shot for victory.
Lorenzo Carter leaped high to deflect Austin Seibert’s 27-yard field goal attempt in the second overtime and Sony Michel took a direct snap and raced 27 yards for a touchdown two plays later, sending the Bulldogs into the College Football Playoff national championship game with a 54-48 win in a semifinal in the Rose Bowl game.
Eventually, Georgia’s edge in the trenches took hold. After slowing the Sooners in the second half, the Bulldogs defense held them out of the end zone in both overtimes.
The Sooners had rolled to 31 firsthalf points, when it felt like they could score almost at will.
But things changed radically in the third quarter. Suddenly, Georgia’s defense was dominant. Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield felt pressure — and, unlike so many games throughout his career, was unable to escape it; he was sacked three times in the third quarter, which the Sooners spent bottled up in their own end of the field, and threw an interception on the first play of the fourth quarter, leading to a Bulldogs’ go-ahead touchdown. Offensively, Georgia’s running game kicked into high gear, with Nick Chubb and Michel each scoring touchdowns on long runs.
Although Mayfield tied the score with a fantastic drive midway through the fourth quarter — and Oklahoma took the lead on a defensive score — Jake Fromm matched him, leading the Bulldogs to the tying score with 55 seconds left. Fromm first scrambled away from a would-be sack and hit Michel for a 17-yard pass. And on third-and-10 from the Oklahoma 23, he hit Terry Godwin for 16 yards, setting up the tying touchdown. Fromm was 20 of 29 for 210 yards with two touchdowns and never made a debilitating mistake.
Michel’s 27-yard TD to win it in two overtimes gave him 181 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries. Chubb finished with 145 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.
Now, Georgia gets a shot at its first national title since Herschel Walker carried the Bulldogs there in 1980. And it will happen in the very familiar, probably very friendly confines of Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium — where the Bulldogs won the Southeastern Conference championship last month.