Anyone who thought the Georgia Bulldogs weren’t serious about taking their Orange Bowl appearance seriously would have to think again tonight.
The Dawgs took no prisoners against the depleted Florida State Seminoles Saturday Afternoon at the Capital One Orange Bowl and smashed them 63-3. A second quarter field goal was all the Seminoles could muster against the Dawgs. UGA on the other hand, unleashed nine touchdowns against their opponents.
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To say the Bulldogs imposed its will on the Seminoles was an understatement. FSU could mount practically no offense against UGA’s consistent onslaught at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. The second quarter was the Bulldog’s most active, with 32 unanswered points scored by the team which was denied entry into the college football championship playoffs due to a loss to Alabama in the SEC championship game.
FSU itself had an axe to grind, being an undefeated team that was also turned away by the playoff selection committee. But if FSU had a chip on its shoulder, the Bulldogs apparently were carrying a boulder!
Florida State’s problem was that many of its key players opted out of the game, many going into the Transfer Portal (Many UGA players also went into the Portal as well.) FSU clearly had the most outraged fanbase, but Georgia won the Dissed Bowl because they wanted to show the committee what the championship game would be missing without their participation, rather than complaining about it on sports talk radio or to sic lawmakers on the committee.
Georgia’s rout set a record for margin of victory in a bowl game. At last year’s championship that earned the Bulldogs their second straight Natty, the team bombarded TCU 65-7 at SoFi Stadium. Counting their 42-41 defeat of Ohio State in last year’s Peach Bowl, that’s 170 points Georgia has amassed in their last three Bowl appearances. Coach Kirby Smart and his Dawgs take Bowls seriously. All of them.
Coach Smart would later tell Dawgs 247 that FSU’s no-shows had some effect on the game.
“I can say we had our guys and they didn’t have their guys…college football has got to decide what they want,” said Smart. “I know things are changing. Things are going to change next year, but you know what? There’s going to still be bowl games outside of those.”
Smart said the character of the game was being affected by athlete transfers that gave players a reason to ditch bowl games.
“It’s really unfortunate for those kids on that sideline that had to play in that game that didn’t have their full arsenal,” Smart said, seemingly talking about FSU’s Portal seekers. “It affected the game, 100 percent.”
Kendal Milton was named the Orange Bowl’s Most Valuable Player. He ran 104 yards from 9 carries and 2 touchdowns.
Make no mistake. Coach Smart would rather be getting ready to get his team’s third consecutive national title rather than tossing oranges into the crowd at the Orange Bowl. But this decisive win caps a 13-1 season that could be a springboard for an equally successful, maybe even national championship-winning season.
Momentum building. Coach Smart and his team apparently understood that is why these bowl games matter.
By Brian Allen, Editor and Founder, Sports in the ATL
| KEY PLAYERS | Georgia Bulldogs | Florida State Seminoles |
| Passing | Carson Beck (13-18; 203 yds; 2 TDs) | Brock Glenn (9-26; 139 yds; 2 int) |
| Rushing | Kendall Milton (9 cars; 104 yds; 2 TDs) | Ja’Khi Douglas (8 cars; 46 yds) |
| Receiving | Dillon Bell (5 recs; 86 yds) | Kentron Poitier (4 recs, 84 yds) |
| BY THE NUMBERS | Georgia Bulldogs (13-1) 63✅ | Florida State Seminoles (13-1) 3 |
| Score trend | 7-35-14-7 | 0-3-0-0 |
| Total Yards | 673 | 209 |
| Pass Yards | 301 | 146 |
| Rush Yards | 372 | 63 |
| Yards per Play | 8.9 | 3.9 |
| First Downs | 36 | 11 |
| Third Down Conversions | 5/9 | 2/12 |
| Penalties/Yards | 5/55 | 3/44 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 4 (2 fum.; 2 int.) |
| Time Possession | 35.31 | 24:29 |
Social media credit: Orange Bowl, Georgia Bulldogs/Instagram
