Playoff bound
Georgia’s pathway to the Natty
Olivia Sayer
Georgia football’s path to the national championship is set. After beating Texas on Saturday night in the SEC championship, the Bulldogs will face the winner of the Indiana-Notre Dame game on Jan. 1 at 8:45 p.m. EST in the Sugar Bowl.
Georgia received arguably the most favorable path to the national championship, as it avoids playing Texas — for a third time — Ohio State, Oregon, Tennessee and Clemson, until the final game. The Bulldogs also received a first round bye as one of the top-four highest seeded conference champions.
“We’ve got a lot of time to work on ourselves and try to get better,” head coach Kirby Smart told the media on Sunday. “And that’s the biggest thing right now, is what’s important now, and what’s important now is for us to keep trying to challenge ourselves and find ways to get better.”
The Bulldogs, who lost both quarterback Carson Beck to an elbow injury and punter Brett Thorson on Saturday, could use the time off. Beck and his family are exploring tratement options and there is no timetable on his return, at the time of publication. Thorson suffered a season-ending knee injury to his non-kicking leg
“There’s no good script for losing a quarterback or having to go to your backup,” Smart said. “But this situation does give you time if that’s what has to happen. There is time there, but experience is so valuable, and you can’t really get experience in this amount of time.”
Georgia is 3-0 against Notre Dame, with its biggest win coming in the 1980 Sugar Bowl. There, the Bulldogs beat the Fighting Irish 17-0 to complete a perfect 12-0 season and win their second national championship in program history. The last time Georgia played Notre Dame was in 2019, winning 23-17.
Georgia has never faced Indiana. The Hoosiers are 11-1 under first year head coach Curt Cignetti this season with their lone loss coming to Ohio State 38-15. Smart coached with Cignetti at Alabama from 2007-2010, and said he “enjoyed being around him.”
“I thought it was awesome to see some of [Indiana’s] games on a national stage this year and their team transform the whole campus and energy around their program,” Smart said.
Should Georgia win its quarterfinal matchup, it will play No. 3 Boise State, No. 6 Penn State or No. 11 SMU on Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m. EST in the Orange Bowl.
GRAPHIC/LIBBY HOBBS
So nice they did it twice
Georgia knocks off Texas for second time this season
Defense dominates again
Bo Underwood
Georgia football has had a flair for the dramatic in overtime lately.
Just one week after they defeated Georgia Tech in an eight-overtime thriller, the Bulldogs knocked off No. 2 Texas 22-19 in overtime to claim the SEC title and their second win over the Longhorns this season.
Georgia has now clinched a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff and a trip to the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day. But at halftime of the SEC Championship, things appeared bleak. Georgia had not converted a third down all game, and quarterback Carson Beck was on the ground writhing in pain following a hard hit on a Hail Mary attempt on the half’s final play. The second half would fall on backup Gunner Stockton.
“This team never ever says no [and has a] never-die attitude, man,” head coach Kirby Smart said. “They were so fired up at halftime. The offense was in there, pumped out. ... Gunner was coming out, them guys were fired up and ready to go, man.”
Etienne the engine
The Bulldogs came out rejuvenated after trailing 6-3 at the half. Stockton led them on a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to begin the third quarter where running back Trevor Etienne ran through defenders for a 10-yard score.
Etienne missed Georgia’s last three games with a rib injury but didn’t miss a beat in his return. He finished the game with 16 carries for 94 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner in overtime. Smart said Etienne told the team before the game that a big reason he transferred to Georgia from Florida was to compete for championships.
“He spoke from the heart,” Smart said. “I knew right then, this dude is going to play if he can. He plays physical. He’s got cuts. We’ve got good backs, but he made some special runs tonight that gave us some juice and energy. He took some pressure off of Gunner.”
Etienne set up more points in the third quarter when he made a lethal jump-cut to break free for a 48-yard run that later led to a field goal. He was the driving force behind Georgia’s offense all night.
The right bounces
There were multiple plays where the Bulldogs avoided disaster, and one where they stared it in the face without blinking. Stockton lost the ball on a strip-sack in the third
quarter, but the ball rolled out of bounds before Texas could pounce on it. Wide receiver Anthony Evans III fumbled the ball on a rush attempt two drives later, but fell on it himself, just like he did last week when he muffed a punt against Georgia Tech.
Two plays later, freshman running back Nate Frazier coughed it up too after a hit from Andrew Mukuba, but Arian Smith came out of nowhere to recover it and save the Bulldogs from a potentially catastrophic mistake. It wasn’t Smith’s only game-swinging play.
They just keep coming and keep coming. They never say ‘die.’ I have a lot of respect for the leaders in that room because of what they’ve been through. Probably the hardest schedule in history that we’ve ever had. They endured it, they came out on top and they fought their way through.
KIRBY SMART | GEORGIA HEAD COACH
Earlier that drive, the Bulldogs were facing a fourthand-5 from their own 30-yard line with the punt team on the field. However, the ball was snapped directly to lineman Drew Bobo, who flipped it forward to Smith for a first down that fired up the Georgia sideline. It was Georgia’s first fake punt attempt since its ill-fated try in the 2018 SEC Championship.
“I felt we were losing momentum,” Smart said. “We needed a spark. That gave us one. You’re playing with your backup quarterback. You’ve got to be willing to take some risks at that point and get some things going.”
In the two teams’ regular season matchup, Georgia’s defense was the driving force behind the 30-15 Bulldogs victory. They had seven sacks and collected four turnovers, allowing Georgia to overcome a shaky offensive showing that produced three turnovers of its own.
It was more of the same from the defense in this one.
The Bulldogs sacked quarterback Quinn Ewers six times and held the Longhorns’ resurgent rushing attack to just 31 yards. After recording an interception, forced fumble and fumble recovery in the first meeting, Daylen Everette broke Texas’ heart again with two interceptions.
“I was part of the team last year that we came up short [in the SEC Championship],” Everette said. “This one, it was a little more personal this time.”
The Bulldogs had a chance to end the game after Everette’s second interception gave them the ball up 19-16, deep in Texas territory with three and a half minutes left.
But Stockton threw an ugly interception of his own and the defense was forced to come back out and hold on.
A pass interference call on Everette put Texas on the Georgia 14 with under 30 seconds to play, before Mykel Williams brought Ewers down for his second sack of the day and his fourth against Texas this year.
Only one overtime needed Georgia fans had every reason to hold their breath entering overtime after how the last game went. Texas got the ball first and converted its first third down before KJ Bolden chopped down Quintrevion Wisner on the next one to force a field goal. Georgia could win it with a touchdown.
The Bulldogs picked up a huge third-down conversion after a well-designed play-action pass from Stockton to Oscar Delp. Stockton had to leave the game after a huge hit on a designed run, but not before holding on to the ball and getting the first down. On the next play, Beck returned to hand it to Etienne, and that was it. “I’ve had more physically tough, more physically talented. I don’t know that I’ve had a more mentally tough team,” Smart said. “They just keep coming and keep coming. They never say ‘die.’
The Georgia sideline celebrates after Daylen Everette intercepts a pass in the fourth quarter of the SEC Championship against Texas on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. Georgia won 22-19. PHOTO/AVNI TRIVEDI
Gunner Stockton stiff arms a defender during the SEC Championship against Texas on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. Stockton entered the game following an injury to starting quarterback Carson Beck. Georgia won 2219. PHOTO/LANEY MARTIN
Oscar Delp (4) celebrates with Trevor Etienne (1) after Etienne makes the game winning touchdown in overtime of the SEC Championship against Texas on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. Georgia won 22-19. PHOTO/LANEY MARTIN
