Sony Michel took a direct snap and ran 27 yards for a touchdown in the second overtime to give Georgia a 54-48 victory over Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Monday.
Lorenzo Carter blocked a 27-yard field goal attempt by Austin Seibert on the first possession of the second overtime.
What. A. Game. #RoseBowl #GoDawgs #BoomerSooner pic.twitter.com/yehuP8FPb7
— Rose Bowl Game (@rosebowlgame) January 2, 2018
This was the first time a Rose Bowl Game had gone into overtime. College football added overtime in 1996. Each team is guaranteed a possession. Additional overtime periods are played if the score is tied at the end of overtime.
Georgia’s Rodrigo Blankenship kicked a 38-yard field goal on the opening possession of the first overtime. Seibert responded with a 33-yard field goal for Oklahoma.
The Bulldogs sent the game into overtime on Nick Chubb’s 2-yard touchdown run with 55 seconds left in regulation. The Sooners had taken a 45-38 lead with 6:52 remaining on strong safety Steven Parker’s 46-yard fumble return for a touchdown.
The victory puts Georgia (13-1) into next Monday’s national championship game in Atlanta against either Clemson or Alabama, who met in the other semifinal, the Sugar Bowl, played later Monday in New Orleans.
Michel ran for 181 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries and was selected as the offensive player of the game. Bulldogs linebacker Roquan Smith made a game-high 11 tackles and was selected as the defensive player of the game.
Georgia trailed 31-17 at halftime. Only two teams in the previous 103 Rose Bowl Games had overcome a double-digit deficit at halftime — Alabama in 1926 and Michigan in 1989.
The game was the highest-scoring Rose Bowl, one point more than USC’s 52-49 victory over Penn State in the 2017 Rose Bowl.
Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield completed 23 of 35 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns. He had one pass intercepted. Mayfield also caught a pass for a third score and Rodney Anderson ran for two touchdowns for Oklahoma (12-2).
Chubb ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns. Georgia freshman quarterback Jake Fromm completed 20 of 29 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns.
The Sooners outgained the Bulldogs, 531 yards to 527, and led 24-21 in first downs and 32:58-27:02 in time of possession.
The Rose Bowl Game dispenses with its traditional Big Ten versus Pac- 12 matchup once every three years to serve as a College Football Playoff Semifinal.
The matchup was determined by the final College Football Playoff rankings, which are made by a 13-member committee of five former coaches, four athletic directors, two former administrators, a college president and a former sports reporter.
Oklahoma, the Big 12 Conference champion was second in the final rankings, one spot ahead of Southeastern Conference champion Georgia. Atlantic Coast Conference champion Clemson was ranked first and Alabama fourth.
–City News Service