Georgia football: Top performers from the Bulldogs win over Oklahoma

The defense in the second half

In the first half, Georgia’s defense was totally out of character. Oklahoma’s offense led by Heisman quarterback Baker Mayfield and head coach/play caller Lincoln Riley emasculated the Dawgs top-10 offense. Georgia allowed over 300 yards of offense in the first half. Including over 100 rushing yards to Rodney Anderson and over 200 passing yards by Mayfield.

But the difference in the second half was night and day. Georgia’s defensive line dominated. Gone were the gaps and broken tackles near the line of scrimmage and gone were the clean pockets for Mayfield. Georgia shut down the offense for the rest of the game besides just one drive.

Annalysts and talking heads like Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith have had much to say about Oklahoma’s play calling in the second half. They criticized the options, end around’s, reverse’s and every that took the ball from their play makers.

But a defense still has to make stops. if Georgia surrenders first downs to those plays, those talking heads are calling Riley a genius. But they didn’t work because Georgia was just more physical. Roquan Smith didn’t allow an inch after making contact with a ball carrier. The defensive line didn’t allow the offensive line to ever get to the second level.

And then in overtime, surely with a short field, Oklahoma’s offense can have some success. But Georgia still didn’t surrender anything and forced two field goal attempts. Then came the biggest play by a defensive player; the “Rose Block.”

In this era it’s so hard to block field goals because of the leaping penalty. The best way to block one these days is to do what Daquan Hawkins-Muggle did against Auburn; bull rush and then get your hands up. It seemed as though we’d never have another image like that of Boss Bailey’s field goal blocks from 2002.

But somehow, Carter found a gap in Oklahoma’s front, right on the line were their kicker was aiming. He leaped, cleanly because no one was under him, and got one hand on the ball. That gave Georgia a chance to win.

Defense wins championships, that’s what everyone says. While it may be hard to believe that by looking at the 54-48 scoreline, Georgia’s defense in the second half and overtime lead the Bulldogs to the National Championship Game.