MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Georgia won another Orange Bowl in a blowout Saturday night. Yawn, right?
It probably shouldn’t feel that way. The Bulldogs’ run under coach Kirby Smart remains monumental in its impressiveness. It just didn’t include a national championship this time.
But Georgia added another orange-filled trophy from this storied South Florida event. It will go on a mantle that includes one from the Rose, the Peach and the Sugar and, yes, two College Football Playoff championships in the past five seasons. The seven in a row is the longest active streak of postseason success in the nation.
Georgia’s 63-3 victory over Florida State had a similar feel to the last postseason game in which the Bulldogs played. That was the 65-7 victory over TCU in last season’s title game at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Saturday’s 60-point margin of victory broke the NCAA postseason record that Georgia set against the Horned Frogs just 50 weeks ago.
“The game mattered because we were playing a game,” said Smart, still fired up 45 minutes afterward. “And as long as winning matters, we’re going to compete like hell at Georgia, it doesn’t matter what it is.”
Like that one in L.A., the Bulldogs could have named the final score in this one. It was 42-3 at intermission, an Orange Bowl record for points in a half. Georgia’s 35 points in the second quarter was the most in one stanza by two touchdowns. Accordingly, the Bulldogs’ backups played the entire second half. In their defense, the No. 5-ranked Seminoles (13-1) were playing primarily with backups Saturday, including a third-stringer at quarterback. FSU, the first undefeated power-conference champion in history to get left out of the playoff, was playing without 12 starters, the majority of whom opted out of the game.
Conversely, almost all of Georgia’s starters reported for duty in Miami. That started with junior quarterback Carson Beck, who made a mid-December announcement that he not only intended to play in the bowl but would forgo the NFL draft to return for a fifth season of college football. He and senior running back Kendall Milton making early decisions to play in the bowl seemed created a contagion of upperclassmen to opt in rather than opt out.
“There’s nothing that’s not going to be important at our place,” Smart said at Saturday’s postgame press conference with Milton and Kamari Lassiter at his side. “There’s not going to be a day that we walk out on the field that’s not important. I think that standard has translated into success. I think that’s a big part of the culture we’ve created.”
Lassiter, a junior cornerback from Savannah, chose to play in the bowl despite getting a first-/second-round grade from NFL draft evaluators. Even Smart recommended that he sit out.
“If you’re a competitor, every game matters,” Lassiter said. “Every opportunity you get to play the game you love for the team you love, it’s second to none. Just being able to go out there with the guys one last time this season meant the world.”
Georgia’s upperclassmen all had a big impact on the game. Most of their work came in the first two quarters of play.
Beck, 6-foot-4, 220-pound junior from Jacksonville, took the rest of the night off after throwing his second touchdown pass of the game to Dominic Lovett just as the first-half clock expired. At that point, he already 203 yards passing and the Bulldogs led 42-3. Redshirt freshman quarterback Gunner Stockton played into the fourth quarter, and walk-on Jackson Muschamp finished the game.
That second quarter also represented the end of Milton’s college career. In the “Age of the Opt-Out,” the 6-1, 220-pound senior running back from Fresno, California, chose to play a final game with the Bulldogs despite doing so with his left knee in a brace and both thighs heavily wrapped because of troublesome hamstrings.
No problem, for his work was quick and efficient. He broke loose for a 43-yard run on Georgia’s last play of the first quarter and scored the Bulldogs’ first two touchdowns on runs of 15 and 5 yards. His last carry of the night came with four minutes remaining in the first half. By then, Milton had nine carries for 104 yards, his fourth 100-yard rushing game of his career and third in the past four games.
“One thing I learned early on is you can only control what you can control,” Milton said. “All you can control is how you approach every day and handle things on your end. That was the mindset our team had. We weren’t worried what anybody was saying our happening on the other side. We just knew this was our last game together, so we took it serious.”
Believe it or not, Florida State played a competitive game for about a quarter. They forced the Bulldogs to turn the ball over on downs on their opening possession and trailed only 7-0 at the end of the first quarter and 14-3 early in the second. It looked like the ‘Noles were game for a fight before their wheels came off in the second quarter.
“Tonight was a very difficult night,” FSU’s fourth-year coach Mike Norvell said.” It’s been a very difficult month, to be honest with you. But I’m proud of this football team. I’m proud of the work they’ve put in, proud of what they’ve shown throughout the course of a season.”
Georgia’s offense, slow to start all season, got warmed up in the second quarter. First was a 75-yard touchdown drive on the first possession of the second quarter. The Bulldogs’ averaged 18.75 yards on four plays. Daijun Edwards covered the final 15 with an untouched scoring run around right end.
FSU’s Deuce Spann turned over the football on the ensuing kickoff. A tackle by Cash Jones forced the fumble, and sophomore Cole Speer recovered at the Seminoles’ 27-yard line. Then Ladd McConkey reminded everybody he’s still pretty good when healthy.
On first down, Beck threw him a lateral pass near the sideline behind the line of scrimmage. FSU sniffed out the play, designed for McConkey to throw the ball downfield to another receiver. Once a running quarterback at North Murray High, McConkey simply relied on his old instincts and tucked the ball and ran. Moving across the field, he somehow evaded two would-be tacklers, then out-paced the defense to the goal-line pylon on Georgia’s side of the field for a 27-yard score.
“I wanted to throw it,” McConkey said, laughing and shouting to be heard over the deep bass music vibrating a celebratory locker room. “I really wanted to throw a touchdown, but it worked out. We had that play in all year, and we finally got to run it.”
That was the fourth in what would end up as nine consecutive touchdown scoring possessions by the Bulldogs. The last three came with Stockton in at quarterback. Promoted from third-string to backup because of Brock Vandagriff’s transfer to Kentucky, Stockton demonstrated that his trademark mobility can translate to the college level. He had 46 yards rushing on seven carries and also completed 6 of 10 passes for 96 yards and two scores.
By the end of it, Georgia had 372 yards rushing and 673 yards in total offense. Both were season highs and even eclipsed the championship game performance in L.A.
The Bulldogs’ offensive line, led by 44-game starting center Sedrick Van Pran, was beside itself afterward. He was the leader of a class of seniors that won a record 50 games in four years. That’s one better than last year’s seniors
“It’s a very humbling experience,” he said. “I can’t believe this is actually real now, but I’m super grateful and appreciate this opportunity. Three hundred seventy yards (rushing) is a great way to end the season. I appreciate Kendall and all the guys who hung around to help with that. It’s been a long time coming for him.”
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