Senior running back Sony Michel kept Georgia in the Rose Bowl for three quarters as they trailed Oklahoma, got the Bulldogs back to a tie at the end of the third quarter, and got them into the national title game in double overtime Monday night.
He covered 222 total yards doing it, including touchdown runs of 75, 38 and 27 yards. Senior running back Nick Chubb added 145 yards and two touchdowns, one of them on a 50-yard run.
The Bulldogs needed every inch of it in the 54-48 win, as Oklahoma's Heisman-winning quarterback, Baker Mayfield, and sophomore running back Rodney Anderson sprinted the Sooners down the field again and again. Anderson finished with 201 yards rushing, while Mayfield threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns — and even caught a touchdown himself.
But Mayfield was also sacked five times by the Georgia defense, and wasn't able to get much going once the Sooners got to overtime. Oklahoma matched Georgia's field goal in the first OT, but kicker Austin Seibert's second attempt was deflected by senior linebacker Lorenzo Carter.
That meant all Georgia needed was a field goal of their own in double overtime. With a start at the Oklahoma 25 in the college OT format and kicker Rodrigo Blankenship nailing a Rose Bowl-record 55-yarder earlier in the game, that seemed likely.
But as he had all game, Michel broke free. His nearly untouched run up the left sideline ended the game and put Georgia in the Jan. 8 national title game, against the winner of Monday night's Alabama-Clemson game (in progress on ESPN). The Sugar Bowl will be broadcast from Atlanta by ESPN at 8 p.m. ET.
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