TCU Horned Frogs were always the heavy underdogs against the Georgia Bulldogs in last night’s College Football Playoff Final National Championship.
And any hopes that they could produce another upset victory in what has been an unexpected season from start to finish were quickly extinguished by the mighty Bulldogs.
Leading 38-7 at the half, the Bulldogs added 27 more points while keeping TCU from troubling the scorer again as Kirby Smart’s team picked up their second consecutive National Title with a 65-7 victory.
In doing so, the Bulldogs become the first team to retain the National title since the first College Football Playoffs were played in 2014.
Rated as a -13 favourite and at odds of 1/5 on the moneyline with bet365 Sport before the game, the Bulldogs were simply too good, too strong, too quick and too classy for TCU to handle.
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In the end it proved to be a difficult night for TCU, whose fans had swarmed into Los Angeles in the days prior to the game, hoping the Frogs could pull off a huge upset.
However, just minutes into the contest, it was clear that there was a gulf in class between the two teams.
TCU received the kick off but the Bulldogs defense swarmed all over TCU and their offense to force the Texas team to go three-and-out on their first possession.
The Bulldogs got the ball back from the punt and 5 plays and 57 yards later, Stetson Bennett had his first touchdown of the day on a 21 yard run.
Jack Podlesny added a field goal on the next Bulldogs possession before TCU finally gave their fans something to cheer when Heisman Trophy runner up Max Duggan scampered over the line from 2-yards to cut the deficit to 10-7.
That was as good as it got for TCU as the Bulldogs then racked up 55 unanswered points over the rest of the game to clinch an easy victory.
It was another impressive night from 25-year-old Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett who passed for four touchdowns and rushed for two before he was withdrawn from the game early in the fourth quarter to take the acclaim of the Bulldogs fans in attendance.
Bennett’s performance earned him the CFP National Championship Offensive MVP award for the second year in succession.
He finished with 18 passes from 25 for 304 yards and four touchdowns, as well as rushing on three carries for 39 yards and two more touchdowns.
When withdrawn from the game in the fourth quarter as Kirby Smart elected to play his back-ups for most of the final quarter, he was hugged and congratulated by many of his team mates on his performance and his stellar final two years at Georgia.
Just how dominant the Bulldogs were in the game is clearly evidenced in the stats.
In addition to Bennett’s performance, No fewer than six Bulldogs rushed for 30 or more yards with Branson Robinson adding two touchdowns on the deck and Kendal Milton another.
2024 NFL Tight End prospect Brock Bowers caught 7 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown, while Wideout Ladd McConkey caught 5 passes for 88 yards and two touchdowns. Adonai Mitchell added another touchdown through the air on a single 22 yard catch.
Georgia amassed 32 first downs in the game, to TCU’s 9 and on third down, the Bulldogs were 9 from 13, while TCU could manage just 2 from 11.
From 51 total plays TCU managed a net yardage of 72 on offense, from 188 plays, the Bulldogs amassed 589.
They scored on all their first four plays of the opening quarter.
Add into that Max Duggan throwing two interceptions, being sacked five times plus TCU losing their only fumble of the game early in the first quarter and the level of dominance was such that even the Frogs head coach Sonny Dykes said after the game that “you’ve got to give Georgia a ton of credit…Those guys came out and played exceptionally well.”
The TCU head coach also praised QB Stetson Bennett and TE Brock Bowers labelling both “outstanding” in the game.
The Bulldogs 65-7 victory sets a new record for the largest winning margin in a Bowl Game (58 points), which eclipsed the 56-point defeats suffered by Purdue, Houston, Bowling Green and TCU in 2022, 2018, 2007 and 1920 respectively.
It is a record that TCU didn’t really deserve after their stellar year, where many experts had them as the 7th best team in the Big 12 before the season began.
In contrast, Georgia began the season ranked third in the nation, but after their opening week blowout win over Oregon, they moved up to the Number 1 spot in the rankings and have remained their since posting dominant win after dominant win.
After going 29-1 over the last two seasons, the bookmakers now have Georgia one of the favourites to win next year’s College Football Playoffs for a three-peat.
Jalen Carter, the hugely impressive Georgia defensive tackle is expected to declare for the NFL Draft and many experts see him as being the first defensive player taken in the draft, perhaps ahead of Alabama’s Willie Anderson Jr.
Other Georgia stars set to feature in the NFL Draft this year include Cornerback Kelee Ringo, Offensive Tackle Broderick Jones, Edge Rusher Nolan Smith, Centre Sedric Van Pran, Tight End Arik Gilbert,
Meanwhile from TCU, wide receiver Quentin Johnson, who has had an exceptional season in tandem with Max Duggan, is rated to be a first-round pick while Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, the star TCU cornerback is rated to go in the third round.
Duggan meanwhile is projected to be a third day (late round) pick by many mock draft experts, with some feeling the TCU quarterback could be drafted as high as the third round or as low as being undrafted and being picked up in Free Agency.
His chances of being picked higher have been stymied a little by a very talented QB draft class this year with many experts projecting as many as five QB’s going in the first round.
But for Kirby Smith and the Bulldogs, his focus will now turn towards the 2023/24 season and the chance for the Bulldogs to be three-time National College Football Champions.
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