Georgia Bulldogs players celebrate at SoFi Stadium.
Foto:
Steph Chambers / Getty Images
NGLEWOOD, Calif. – The implementation of college football’s playoff system nearly a decade ago is supposed to make teams that reach the championship game similarly strong.
But on Monday night at SoFi Stadium, the Georgia Bulldogs made the Texas Christian University (TCU) Horned Frogs look like a rival from a lower conference. by crushing them 65-7 to be crowned college football champions for the second year in a row.
Georgia is the first two-time NCAA champion since the University of Alabama from the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Georgia is like the new Alabama of college football.
Georgia, the championships and the stars in the NFL
Head coach Kirby Smart was Nick Saban’s right-hand man at Alabama for many seasons. Eventually, as the Bulldogs’ coach, he learned to beat his former boss, and today it can boast the same kind of national dominance.
Georgia is not only the most dominant college football program in the country, but has become the one that produces the most talent for the NFL. In the past NFL Draft, a record 15 Georgia players were selected, including five in the first round. And anyway the Bulldogs have been crowned again.
Storm in California and storm inside SoFi Stadium
Monday’s game at SoFi Stadium took place in cold and rainy weather due to a storm that has hit the state of California. Although the stadium is roofed, the wind pushed water inside through openings in the impressive stadium design.
But for TCU (No. 3 after the season), the storm was scarlet and it started on the first play, when their offense committed a penalty that boded badly for the Fort Worth, Texas, native team.
TCU, which entered the 2022 season unranked after running a losing record in 2021, was looking to achieve the unthinkable. But the The Bulldogs, led by seasoned quarterback Stetson Bennett, quickly broke their hopes. The halftime score was 38-7.
Unstoppable night for Georgia offense
El quarterback Bennett, who completed 18 of 25 passes for 304 yards and 4 touchdowns, In addition to running for two other scores, he opened the scoring with an optional 21-yard run on his team’s first offensive drive. On TCU’s next possession, safety Christopher Smith made a terrific play to cause a fumble by running back Derius Davis at the Horned Frogs 33-yard line. The Bulldogs got three points to make it 10-0.
TCU woke up on his third possession with a Max Duggan bombing of Davis himself for 60 yards and three plays later the quarterback Duggan scored on a 2-yard run to pull his team within 10-7.
But the defending champions were quick to respond and scored on a pass from Bennett to receiver Ladd McConkey of 37 yards, making it 17-7. And minutes later, already in the second period, the quarterback of the The Bulldogs got their second rushing score, this time jogging in untouched from the 6-yard line, as Georgia pulled away to 24-7.
Duggan was intercepted on TCU’s next drive and the The Bulldogs closed out the game with a 10-play drive capped off by a touchdown run by running back Kendall Milton from the 1-yard line to make it 31-7.
And to top it off, Duggan was intercepted again with 36 seconds left. The Bulldogs did not forgive and scored another touchdownnow by pass from Bennett to Adonai Mitchell for the humiliating 38-7 before the break.
There was no mercy in beating records
The second half was paperwork, but Georgia kept adding points. Bennett’s pass to tight end Brock Bowers for 22 yards made it 45-7. Bowers was a nightmare for the Frogs with 7 catches for 152 yards.
But Georgia had no mercy. One series later, Bennett located McConkey on a 14-yard pass for the score of 52-7 before the completion of three periods. Coach Kirby Smart took the stars out of him early in the fourth quarter. But that’s not why the annotations stopped, already with substitutes on the field.
There were numerous records in the match, including 65 points in a national championship game and quarterback Bennett’s 36 points (24 passing and 12 rushing). Georgia had in the game 32 first-and-ten and had 591 yards.