Dawg-gone great
Bulldogs break Sooners’ hearts in classic to reach national title game
PASADENA, CALIF.» 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.
“I made plays. I gave up plays. My team just had faith in me,” said Michel, who did all that damage on just 11 carries. “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 with six seconds left in the first half.
But the Heisman Trophy winner could not get the Sooners (12-2) into the end zone in the first overtime when a touchdown would have ended the game.
“It’s tough to describe right now,” Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said of the loss, which he called “an epic Rose Bowl game.”
The Bulldogs will play Alabama next Monday for the national championship in Atlanta, about 70 miles from their campus — with a chance to win their first national title since the Herschel Walker-led 1980 team.
“We’ve got to get back to work. It’s not done,” Michel said. “Now we’ve got to finish. Let’s just finish this season off right.”
The first overtime Rose Bowl was also the highest scoring, sur- passing 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-5 in the second overtime 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.
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. Confetti rained down. Meanwhile, Mayfield stood motionless on the sideline for several seconds, bent over with his hands on his knees and head down. Mayfield battled flu symptoms the week leading into the game, but he played just fine.
“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 running mate Nick Chubb were awesome for Georgia. Chubb ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns, including a 2-yarder on a direct snap with 55 seconds left in regulation to tie it.
Both teams settled for field goals in the first overtime, first Georgia’s Rodrigo Blankenship from 38 yards to make it 48-45.
Then it was Mayfield’s turn. A touchdown would have sent the Sooners to Atlanta, but on third-and-2 from the 17, Georgia linebacker Roquan Smith nailed Jordan Smallwood a yard short of the first down.
Seibert then kicked a 33yarder to tie it.