This game stunk, but there were still a lot of important (and not important) conclusions to be taken from Georgia’s beatdown of the Horned Frogs. Let’s check them out.
Winner: Georgia
Yeah okay dude…they obviously won the game. Yes, but this beatdown showed more than that. With this game, Georgia has become the gold standard of College Football, unseating Alabama and putting an end to their nearly decade-long reign. Kirby Smart has turned his program into an NFL draft pick factory and it’s been clear all season that they play the game of college football at a different level than everyone else. Last night’s defensive drubbing was evidence of this; the Bulldogs lost five defensive first-rounders from last year’s championship team, and just simply reloaded. Also, as much as the boring sports media people will slobber over Stetson Bennett’s story, it remains crazy that Georgia could dominate teams the way they did without an elite talent at the quarterback position. If there was any doubt that Georgia is now at the top of the college football mountain, just check out this interaction:
Loser: Max Duggan
Duggan was nails all year as TCU played a bunch of close games that required gutsy performances from their orange-haired quarterback, but it just wasn’t there in this one. He’s certainly not the reason the Frogs lost this game—Georgia was stronger, bigger, and faster just about everywhere—but in games where your team is undermanned, you have to be perfect. The two first half picks were bad and just can’t happen against this type of team.
Winner: The Lad(d)s
On a team where all the offensive weapons seem to be the biggest and most athletic humans of all time, a guy that’s probably not six feet tall and definitely isn’t 200 pounds going for five catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns kinda rocks. Also his name is Ladd McConkey, which super rocks. The wee little Ladd just kept popping up with big catches and touchdowns all game long. Sure, Brock Bowers had a better day, but he’s massive and his name could be that of an action hero so he basically has to.
Loser: Michigan
The consensus following TCU’s victory of Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl was that TCU was “for real” because they were able to physically handle and even dominate the Wolverines in the trenches. We just watched that same Horned Frog team get completely and definitively mauled in those same trenches. What does that say about Michigan? Right now, it seems like they had one incredible performance against Ohio State and then shriveled against an inferior opponent when the lights were shining the brightest. Not a good look for Harbaugh’s guys.
Winner: Stetson Bennett
Okay, so I know I just said it was boring to go on and on about Bennett’s journey, but I guess I’m about to add to the slobbering. Just over a year ago, before this Georgia squad’s first playoff appearance, we were all questioning whether Steston would be the piece that let that team of monsters down. He made enough big throws in that title run and was a Heisman finalist after a great season this year. Then, over the past two weeks he’s been dynamic and excellent, proving pretty convincingly that he’s not just a Make-a-Wish kid given the keys to a Ferrari for a day. He’s not C.J. Stroud and he’s not Bryce Young and we won’t have the pro careers that they will. But, he’s now proven that these titles were won in part because of him and not in spite of him, which seemed unlikely prior to last year’s playoffs.
Loser: Overnight Fame
The TikTok For You pages of males 18-25 were inundated with videos of Peach Bowl girl and Cotton Bowl girl after they popped up on the ESPN broadcasts over the New Year’s weekend. Well I’ve had my ear to the TikTok ground over the past 24 hours and there doesn’t seem to be any sequel. Check back in March Madness.
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