Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Stetson Bennett.Photo: Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
After four quarters of total domination on the field, the Georgia Bulldogs won their second consecutive national title.
The No. 1 Bulldogs — along with theirindomitable quarterback Stetson Bennett— routed No. 3 TCU in a 65-7 win.
Georgia is the first team to win consecutive national titles since Alabama did it in 2011 and 2012.
The game started off lopsided with Georgia up 17-7 after the first quarter. TCU never scored again as the Bulldogs just kept gaining, ending the first half 38-7.
Smart continued: “He probably had his best game of his career, in my opinion, with some of the checks he made, some of the decisions he made. It was really elite.”
Smart believes this team was even more prepared than in 2022. “If the team last year played this year’s team, last year’s team probably had more talent on it,” he said post-game. “But this year’s team was different. They just had this eye of the tiger; they weren’t going to lose.”
After an unexpected, yet enormously successful season, TCU had high hopes going into the game. And even after going down early, fans still prayed for a fairytale ending. The Horned Frogs, which won five games during the season after trailing at halftime, never got the chance.
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“It will take some time forthe sting to go away,I assure you,” TCU coach Sonny Dykes told ESPN after the game. “We will look back on this season and build on it from here.”
“This doesn’t take away from the season we had coming from a year ago,” TCU running back Emari Demercado told the outlet. “Being in the national championship, that’s like something nobody would’ve ever thought would happen here.”
Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
With back-to-back championships under their belt, Georgia has made it clear they’re a force to be reckoned with in the future.
“We’ll have a lot of guys coming back,” Smart said after the game. “We’ll lose some really talented guys, probably lose some juniors. But the disease that creeps into your program is called entitlement. I’ve seen it firsthand.”
The coach continued: “If you can stomp it out with leadership, then you can stay hungry. And we have a saying around our place: We eat off the floor. And if you’re willing to eat off the floor, you can be special.”
Georgia fans were ecstatic after the win, flooding the streets in Athens dressed in black and red andcelebrating the historic win. Videos from the celebration show fans jumping through fire and screaming happily.
source: people.com
