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Georgia football winners and losers after Orange Bowl triumph over Michigan
Winner: Offensive coordinator Todd Monken
Running back James Cook was stunned at the play call. It hadn’t worked all week in practice and the senior running back didn’t believe that Todd Monken was actually going to follow through with it.
But then Georgia handed the ball off to Kenny McIntosh. He ran parallel to the line of scrimmage before cocking back and dropping a dime to Adonai Mitchell in the endzone.
Mitchell ran a perfect route to get open and the play resulted gave Georgia a 14-0 lead.
“I mean, this whole week he didn’t throw a good pass this whole week, so when it came to the game and Coach Monken called that, I was like, hold on, I know he ain’t going to call this and he didn’t throw a good pass all week,” Cook said. “And he threw it. I give it up to him. Great throw.”
The trick play showed Monken was deep in his bag, as the Georgia offensive coordinator pushed all the right buttons for the Bulldogs. Georgia scored on its first five possessions on Friday to jump out to a 27-3 lead.
When not having to play from behind, as Georgia did against Alabama, Monken was able to use Georgia’s full arsenal of playmakers to toy with Mike MacDonald’s Michigan defense. Cook himself had a stellar game, racking up 144 total yards and a touchdown catch.
Jermaine Burton hauled in a 57-yard touchdown catch to end any hope Michigan. Brock Bowers got things started by catching 3 passes for 51 yards on the opening drive of the game, including a 9-yard touchdown catch.
The execution wasn’t great in the second half for Georgia, but thanks to what Monken and the Georgia offense did in the first half, it didn’t matter.
Loser: Entertaining semifinals
If you’re a Georgia fan, you’re probably thrilled the game against Michigan wasn’t competitive. It likely helped your blood pressure.
But if you’re a neutral fan, you’d probably like to see some more entertaining games than what we saw on Friday. Alabama won by 21 points with Georgia coasting by 23.
Cincinnati and Michigan were clearly deserving to make the College Football Playoff. Beyond that though, they weren’t good enough to hang with either team.
With the looming possibility of playoff expansion, people for and against a larger field will dig in their heels on the matter as a solution to what is a clear college football problem. The sport has the best regular season and the worst postseason.
The other concerning aspect is that the big reason for these uncompetitive College Football Playoff games — the talent gap — is only getting wider. The teams at the top of the sport are only getting more and more of the best talent.
Consider that the top four recruiting teams in the 2022 cycle have already signed 48 of the top 100 players in the class. That number is going to grow by National Signing Day in February, meaning half of the top 100 players in this recruiting cycle will be at four schools. In the 2015 class, the first after the inaugural playoff, only 35 of the top 100 prospects went to the top four ranked recruiting schools.
Georgia has recruited at a top 3 level in recent seasons. Michigan has recruited at a top 10 level. The gap in recruiting points between No. 3 ranked Georgia and No. 9 Michigan in the 2022 recruiting cycle is greater than the gap between Michigan and the No. 31 ranked recruiting class.
Until teams like Michigan, Oklahoma, Clemson, Texas, Florida, USC and Oregon start recruiting at the same level as Georgia, Ohio State and Alabama, we’re going to continue to see these types of games in the semifinals.
Winner: The Georgia defense
Georgia’s starting defense spent four quarters beating up on Michigan. It was mean. It was violent. If you’re a Georgia fan, it was fun to watch.
Nakobe Dean was all over the field, finishing with seven tackles a sack and a force fumble. We can put any Roquan Smith comparisons to bed after that performance. Nolan Smith similarly terrorized the Michigan offensive line and quarterbacks.
Travon Walker and Jordan Davis punished Michigan’s Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line, holding the Wolverines to just 88 yards rushing.
Michigan’s two quarterbacks were hit all night, getting sacked four times. After being unable to get a hand on Bryce Young, that was big for Georgia and its confidence.
“We generated some better rush, and again, we have to be able to do that to be successful,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “Was it a magic potion? I don’t think it was a magic potion. We called a lot of the same calls we called against Alabama. But the quarterback probably didn’t escape as good as Alabama’s did, and we finished a little better.”
The secondary stepped up as well, with Derion Kendrick coming down with two interceptions. The Wolverines were able to hit on some explosive plays, but Georgia’s starting defense played at its best when it needed to.
Alabama and Young await this talented group in the national championship game. Young torched Georgia the first time. This defense is going to do everything it can to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Loser: Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard
Maybe it was because they were jetlagged after flying from Miami to Los Angeles. Perhaps it was because they really do believe that college football players don’t love the game as much they do.
But what the two ESPN commentators said on Saturday morning about the modern college football player not loving college football as much just seems so out of touch and off base.
Both openly questioned the desire of modern college athletes to play in exhibition bowl games when generational wealth awaits them. And then on Saturday night, Ole Miss’ Matt Corral showed exactly why top draft prospects elect not to play in bowl games.
Corral is a potential first-round draft pick but still wanted to play once more for his Ole Miss team. The star quarterback suffered an ankle injury in the opening quarter of the game. It stinks for Corral, a great player who hopefully doesn’t have a serious injury.
The sport has changed a lot in recent years, with good reason. With all that student-athletes bring into these schools and all the sacrifices they make, they should be afforded more liberties. It’s up to the coaches, who have seen their salaries explode, to adjust to things like the transfer portal, NIL and the occasional bowl opt-out.
Georgia had a handful of key players opt out of last year’s game against Cincinnati. It also saw several draft prospects play in the game. That result meant a lot to those that played in the game, including some who got their first significant playing time in that game.
Herbstreit and Howard are entitled to their opinions. They’re not alone in them. It’s also fair to point out why so many of these top players make the decisions that they do.
Winner: Stetson Bennett
Not much more needs to be said about the Georgia quarterback. After a month of heavy criticism, Bennett came out and played the best game of his Georgia career.
Bennett didn’t do it alone, but for him to deliver such a strong performance is huge going into the rematch against Alabama. Hopefully, he’s able to save a few highlights from the game on his flip phone.
He, like the Georgia team, will get the chance to reset the narrative around Georgia but also himself. No person in the Georgia program has had been so defined by not being as good as Alabama as Bennett has.
Perhaps the biggest thing that Bennett did against Michigan that he must replicate is that he didn’t turn the ball over. He did have one disaster of an attempt that fell incomplete in the third quarter. But if he avoids throwing the ball to Alabama, that will go a long way in helping Georgia win.
Related: Georgia QB Stetson Bennett delivers MVP performance in 34-11 Orange Bowl win over Michigan
Much has been made about Bennett and whether or not he was a good enough quarterback to win Georgia a national championship. The senior quarterback though got Georgia back to the national championship game and he deserves credit for doing so.
“It’s been a long journey,” Bennett said. “Me, just like every player in this room or on our team, we love the University of Georgia, and we wear the G with pride. For us to come together after all the hours and all the off-season work and fall camp and just the grind of the season and be able to give ourselves a chance to go to a National Championship, it’s pretty special.”
More Georgia football stories from around DawgNation
- Jamaree Salyer after his matchup against Michigan pass rush: ‘I’m always excited to rise to the occasion’
- ‘A physical, more dominant front’: Social media enjoys punishing Georgia football win over Michigan
- Jim Harbaugh: Georgia gave Michigan ‘heckuva football fight’ in Orange Bowl CFP Semifinal
- Report card: Georgia delivers sweet performance in Orange Bowl 34-11 win over Michigan
- Kirby Smart stiff arms Gatorade bath because Alabama is next
- Derion Kendrick, Georgia defense find redemption against Michigan: ‘This is what it led to’
- Georgia puts squeeze on Michigan in Orange Bowl CFP Semifinal, 34-11
- Georgia football instant observations as Bulldogs crush Michigan, advance to national championship game
