3 takeaways from Georgia's historic rout of Florida State in the Orange Bowl
Georgia did not miss a chance to run all over Florida State on Saturday night in Miami at the Orange Bowl.
The Bulldogs turned to a dominant rushing attack and never looked back even though many of the pre-game storylines were about the nearly 30 players from Florida State who chose to sit out the game.
Georgia’s senior class secured a school-record 50th win and produced the third consecutive season of 13 or more wins for the program. Georgia also became the first program to score at least 56 points in back-to-back bowl games.
The 63-3 final score was the largest margin of victory in the history of bowl games and topped Georgia’s 65-7 national championship win over TCU. When Georgia reached 670 total yards, it was the most ever in an Orange Bowl game.
Here are our takeaways from the game:
Historic halftime
Georgia didn’t need long drives in the first half to build a 42-3 lead. That is the largest halftime lead in the history of the Orange Bowl, and Georgia’s largest lead at halftime this season. The previous Orange Bowl record was West Virginia’s 29-point lead over Clemson in 2012. It was also the most points Georgia’s ever scored in the first half of a bowl game.
The longest halftime drive was 2:40 as the Bulldogs benefitted from short fields and efficient running. All of the scoring drives were of 7 plays or less.
Carson Beck produces elite season
The Georgia quarterback, who announced he would return in 2024, finished his first season as the starter with 3,941 passing yards. In this game, Beck finished 13-for-18 passing for 203 yards and 2 touchdowns. And that all came in the first half, as Gunner Stockton came in at QB for Georgia to start the second half.
Beck needed 262 passing yards for 4,000 this season, but his decision to return for another season likely means he’ll start next fall near the top of the Heisman Trophy candidate conversation.
Run the ball, Bobo
It started early and Georgia didn’t look back. In fact, the fans didn’t have enough time to through a tantrum about Mike Bobo’s play-calling.
Georgia’s tailbacks Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards combined for 150 yards on just 12 carries, as Edwards scored the third TD after Milton had the first two. Georgia by that point had 272 total yards and there was still 10:38 left in the first half. Milton and Edwards finished with a combined 166 yards on 16 carries.
Besides Beck, Georgia had 7 players run the ball, and it finished with more than 350 yards on the ground.