The Georiga Bulldogs football team has finally reached the top of the mountain. On Monday night, Georgia took on the Alabama Crimson Tide in the College Football Playoff National Championship game and came away with a 33-18 victory. The Bulldogs have won the national title for the first time since 1980. They also finish the season with a 14-1 record, making them the eighth team in the modern era (1937-on) to win 14 games in a season.
Georgia set a few records on Monday night. According to ESPN Stats and Info, Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett became the first former walk-on to defeat a team coached by Nick Sabam since 1997. ESPN Stats and Info also noted that Georgia is the second team in the AP Poll era (since 1936) to win 13 games by 15+points in a season. And the national title win on Monday night breaks a 40-year drought, which is the longest drought snapped by a national champion in the AP Poll era since Auburn ended a 52-year drought in 2010.
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“Just so proud of our players,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said during the press conference on Tuesday morning. “Somebody told me you’re not playing for the 41 years that we haven’t won a national title, you’re playing for the men in the room, and that really touched me, because that’s what it was all about was those guys in the room.”
Bennett was named offensive MVP of the game but gave a lot of credit to the defense which is the best in the country. “Well, I mean, first of all, it was the defense who kept us in this game,” Bennett said at the press conference. “While we were stumbling over our own feet the entire first half and then starting out in the second half. They won this game for us. We executed a few drives. We could have done so much better. But we got the job done whenever we needed to. It hadn’t hit me yet. I guess it hit me a little bit on the sideline. But no, I can’t articulate it. I’m not that smart.”
This is the second major sports championship for the state of Georgia in two months. Back in November, the Atlanta Braves defeated the Houston Astros in the World Series to claim their first title since 1995.
