After the game, Georgia’s star running back, Stetson Bennett, hugged coach Kirby Smart on his way back to the locker room. There were standing ovations and snacks on the sidelines during the fourth quarter of college football’s most one-sided championship game.
Georgia became the first team to win the College Football Playoff national championship two years in a row. Their win proved that the ‘Dawgs were the new bullies on the block. Bennett scored four total points in the first half, as he threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more as No. 1 Georgia defeated No. 3 TCU 65-7.
The Bulldogs (15-0) are the first major college football team to win back-to-back titles since Alabama did so a decade ago. The Southeastern Conference seems to be starting a new dynasty.”
Smart said, “We didn’t want our kids to be afraid to play.” “I told them all year, ‘Guys, we’re not being hunted. We’re the ones doing the hunting, and the hunting season is almost over. We only have one more chance to hunt, so we went hunting tonight.”
In the semifinal of the Fiesta Bowl, Michigan fell under Georgia’s spell but not TCU’s. Georgia had one of the worst wins ever in a big game. It was like when Nebraska beat Florida by 38 points in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl, and USC beat Oklahoma by 36 points in the 2005 Orange Bowl.
This, though, was an even greater catastrophe. There is too much ability present because they had too much of a head start.
The Bulldogs won two championships in a row. Since the BCS’s inception in 1998, no team has ever scored more than their opponents in the national championship game.
Smart requested a timeout with 13:25 remaining in the fourth quarter to allow Bennett to leave the game to a standing ovation, capping off an eventful collegiate career.
Bennett said, “That was great,” passing for 304 yards and four touchdowns while completing 18 of 25 passes. “For the rest of my life, I’ll keep that in mind.” The Georgia offensive line was seen eating chicken wings on the sidelines as time wore down.
The Bulldogs were then showered with confetti and awarded a championship trophy for the second year in a row. “I really appreciate our squad, the fans, and our band. “I love everybody,” Bennett stated at the award ceremony. Close together, baby. Back-to-back.”
Over his first seven years at Georgia, Smart has led the Bulldogs to an 81-15 record and two national championships. His role model, Nick Saban, led Alabama to a 79–15 record and three national championships in his first seven seasons as head coach.
After losing 15 NFL draft picks from the 2021 squad, this year’s Bulldogs were a different type of dominant: not nearly as stingy on defense, but more explosive offensively. If you look at the talent level, last year’s squad had more, Smart said.
But the team this year seemed to have the tiger’s eye. They couldn’t lose. Fans of Smart’s alma university, Georgia, were initially concerned that the former defensive coordinator for Saban wouldn’t be able to construct an offense competitive with the high-scoring age of college football. For the third year in a row, Bulldogs offensive coordinator Todd Monken has led his team to new heights of production, innovation, and depth.
They dismantled TCU’s 3-3-5 defense from every angle. Multipurpose Tight End, Seven of Brock Bowers’ receptions, went for 152 yards. Ladd McConkey scored two touchdowns.
Seven runners gained over 10 yards, and each scored a touchdown. Georgia gained 254 yards on the ground in the first half. Bennett ran it in twice; the two-time national champion and former walk-on barely got touched on either of his quarterbacks to keep touchdowns.
In the first quarter, he completed a 34-yard touchdown pass to McConkey on a masterfully executed play out of a bunched formation. Bennett’s 22-yard touchdown pass to Adonai Mitchell was more difficult, as he had to drop it above a defender’s covering.
Georgia won 24-10. It mirrored the Bennett-to-Mitchell touchdown that gave Georgia a lead it wouldn’t lose in last year’s CFP championship game against Alabama. Last year, Georgia defeated the Tide to win the national championship, avenging the Bulldogs’ lone loss from the regular season.
Against the new Horned Frogs, there was none of this drama. “The trip was awesome. “I’ll never forget it,” said TCU running back Emari Demercado. “The trip didn’t end the way we wanted, though ultimately, it was great.” Alabama was never a threat to these Bulldogs.
They rolled through the SEC, beat Ohio State in a classic CFP semifinal, and then finished off a perfect season with a historic blowout. “Does a loss have to happen for you to learn?” Smart said. “Like, why?” With 10:52 left in the third quarter, Bennett hit Bowers for a 22-yard touchdown pass, making the score 45-7.
While lying on the ground at Sofi Stadium, the Northern California sophomore signaled touchdown. Bennett smiled as he tapped one of his linemen’s helmets.
Smart said, “He has GOAT status and will always be in Athens, Georgia.” Georgia’s famous bulldog mascot, UGA, couldn’t make the cross-country trip to cheer on his team, but it still felt a little bit like Sanford Stadium in SoCal.
Many TCU fans left with more than half of the fourth quarter still to go because they didn’t want to watch any more of the terrible game in the cold and rain. “I’m sorry we didn’t put on a better show tonight because that’s not who we are. “But we’ll look back on the season and build on it from here,” said the team’s first-year coach, Sonny Dykes. “It will take a while for the pain to go away, but I can promise you that it will.”
Runner-up for the Heisman Trophy In the last game of his wild TCU career, Max Duggan threw two interceptions in the first half. Duggan was a four-year starter who had never been to a bowl game before this season.
He led TCU on one of the most unlikely runs in college football history. After a losing season in 2021, TCU was tabbed as the Big 12’s seventh-best team, while the Frogs were unranked.
They were only one win away from the first national title for the program since 1938. But there was a monster in the way. Smart said, “You have a chance as long as your program doesn’t include any kind of entitlement.” “And we don’t have that right now.”
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