Georgia runs past Oklahoma in semi
Bulldogs earn chance to play for first national title since 1980 season.
PASADENA, CALIF. — Sony Michel burst through the line for a 27-yard touchdown run to give No. 3 Georgia a 54-48 victory Monday against No. 2 Oklahoma, as the Bulldogs won the first overtime Rose Bowl and advanced 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), 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 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 TD pass that gave the Sooners a 17-point lead in the first half. But the Heisman Trophy winner could not get the Sooners into the end zone in the
first overtime, when a touchdown would have ended the game.
The Bulldogs will play Alabama on Monday night for the national championship in Atlanta, about 90 miles from their campus — with a chance to win their first national title since the 1980 season. Georgia became only the third team in 104 Rose Bowls to rally from a double-digit halftime deficit. The first overtime Rose Bowl was also the highest-scoring, surpassing last year’s 52-49 USC win over Penn State.
After an offside penalty on Georgia gave Oklahoma a first down on third-and-five in the second OT 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. Mayfield stood motionless on the sideline for several seconds, bent over with his hands on his knees and head down. He battled flu-like symptoms in the week leading into the game, but he played just fine.
“I can’t believe it’s over. It’s been a wild ride,” Mayfield said with a hoarse voice before starting 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 to make it 48-45. Then it was Oklahoma’s turn. A TD would have sent the Sooners to Atlanta, but on a third-and-2 from the 17 Georgia linebacker Roquan Smith nailed Jordan Smallwood a yard short of the first down. Seibert kicked a 33-yarder, and the Bulldogs and Sooners played on.
A mistake by Oklahoma (12-2) just before halftime proved costly. The Sooners led 31-14, having scored on a trick play that resulted in Mayfield catching a 2-yard TD pass from receiver CeeDee Lamb with six seconds on the clock. But a blown squib kick was enough to help Georgia tack on a field goal that ended up coming in handy.
The Sooners’ plan was to drive the kick into the center of the field, thwarting any kind of run back and allowing the remaining time to elapse. Instead, Georgia got the ball at the Oklahoma 47. QB Jake Fromm needed only five seconds to pick up nine yards on a pass, and Blankenship connected on a career-best 55-yard field goal. That still left the Dogs down by two TDs, but they got one of them back on their first offensive play of the second half, when Chubb bolted 50 yards for a touchdown.