ShareLOS ANGELES: The University of Georgia Bulldogs won a second straight US collegiate football crown in crushing style on Monday, routing Texas Christian University 65-7 in the championship game. The historic rout marked the first time in school history that Georgia repeated as national champions and they are the first team to repeat in the College Football Playoff era. The last team to win back-to-back titles was the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2011 and 2012.
The 58-point victory at SoFi Stadium, home of the NFL's Los Angeles Rams and Chargers, shattered the previous record for largest margin of victory in a national championship game-Nebraska's 38-point triumph over Florida to cap the 1995 season. TCU's Horned Frogs were seeking to cap an unlikely season with a first national title since 1938.
The team from the Fort Worth, Texas, university were 12-0 in the regular season and knocked out the second-seeded Michigan Wolverines in the Fiesta Bowl. But TCU were no match for the Bulldogs, who scored on all six of their first-half possessions to take a 38-7 halftime lead. Quarterback Stetson Bennett launched Georgia's offensive outburst with a 21-yard touchdown run on his team's opening drive. Georgia then parlayed a fumble from TCU receiver Derius Davis into a field goal from Jack Podlesny.
On their next possession, Horned Frogs quarterback Max Duggan hit Davis with a 60-yard pass, then ran two yards for a touchdown. But Georgia closed the first half with four more touchdowns - on a 37-yard Bennett pass to Ladd McConkey, a six-yard run by Bennett, a one-yard TD plunge by Kendall Milton and a 22-yard pass from Bennett to Adonai Mitchell.
The Bulldogs continued to run riot in the second half. They led 52-7 with 13:25 remaining when Bennett departed the contest to a massive ovation. He connected on 18 of 25 passes for 304 yards, rushed for 39 yards on three carries. After he left, second-year quarterback Carson Beck led Georgia on one last scoring drive. - AFP
