ATlanTA – The Art of Survival on the Rope is back on Saturday night – and then early Sunday morning – with the semi-finals of the College Rugby Qualifier.
No. 1 Georgia, consistently trailing 14 points, got ahead and scored in the last minute of the Peach Bowl to overtake fourth seed Ohio State, 42-41. 3 Texas Christian, the Fiesta Bowl’s start-to-finish lead, who took 96 points in total and was only slightly apart at the end of time, overthrow number 2 Michigan.
Ohio State’s free kicker, Noah Ruggles, missed a final goal attempt at 50 yards shortly after midnight, ushering in 2023 and effectively ending the Buckeyes’ season.
The semi-finals, after years of games in which tension was uncomfortably short, was a dizzying prelude to the January 9 championship game near Los Angeles, where Georgia, however uncertain after Saturday’s seesaw, will be looking for a second consecutive title. This time, the Bulldogs will not face Alabama, as they did last January, but a lucky new TCU program that was 5-7 seasons ago.
Both teams have plenty to ponder between now and their meeting in California. TCU will need a sharper defense. Georgia, which went to the Peach Bowl 13-0 and as champions of the Southeast Conference, will need to rediscover the form that has carried them through much of this season.
For days, the Bulldogs have stated that they are well aware of the onslaught that Ohio State, despite its shortcomings this season, can impose. It didn’t take long for them to study their movies to come to life.
Georgia’s vaunted defensive torment began in earnest in Ohio State’s second possession, after the Bulldogs missed goal at 47 yards.
CJ Stroud took the opportunity, kept the ball, galloped with his feet to the right, towards the Georgia touchline. Harrison swept – no, high – across the field, racing against the Malaki Starks defense. The ball landed neatly in his hand, a 31-yard touch that put Ohio State on the first scoreboard. Another touch from Harrison gave Ohio State a 14-point lead with about 11 minutes left in the second half.
Profits, a tough profit for a Bulldog team not accustomed to following any profit, much less than a double-digit figure, did not last.
Georgia, coming back quickly from Ohio State’s three wins and losses, closed the gap with a three-turn in all plays that ended the game. A goal gave Georgia the lead for 55 seconds, before Stroud connected with Xavier Johnson, whose touch gave the Buckeyes the advantage at halftime.
Ohio State strangled Georgia in the Bulldogs’ first possession after the break. Georgia, meanwhile, surrendered to an encounter as it let the Buckeyes face third and second. Ohio State scored one more goal late in the third quarter to reclaim its 14-point lead.
Georgia kicked a goal at 31 yards with about 10 minutes left in the fourth half. Not wanting to disappear completely, the Bulldogs revived once again with a 76-yard pass from Bennett to Arian Smith less than two minutes later. The conversion to 2 points was successful, giving Georgia the lead in a game with many twists and turns.
Ohio State defended itself with a goal 48 yards from the field with less than three minutes of play time. However, Bennett started passing early enough, including a 35-yard pass for Kearis Jackson that edged the Bulldogs past Ohio State’s 15. The lap, which lasted only five innings, ended with a pass. spectacular for Adonai Mitchell, who landed in the final area with the ball, meters away from Georgia’s marching band.
Ohio State plunged to the field shortly after, leading by one point. Soon, the Buckeyes had no choice but to try to score at 50 yards.
They miss, wide left.
