SPORTS
Bill Murphy Sports Editor | 770-718-3415 | sports@gainesvilletimes.com
Unties
gainesvilletimes.com
Monday, December 3, 2018
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
■
JEFFREY MCWHORTER I Associated Press
Oklahoma wide receiver Nick Basquine (83) celebrates
after his team’s scored touchdown during the Big 12
Conference championship game against Texas on
Saturday, Dec. 1, in Arlington, Texas.
Oklahoma
chosen as 4th
playoff team
BY RALPH D. RUSSO
Associated Press
Faced with a tricky choice, the College Football Play
off selection committee fell back on some simple crite
ria: One loss is better than two. Winning a conference
championship is better than not. Go with the team that
didn’t get blown out.
Oklahoma is in the playoff over
Georgia, moving into the fourth and
final spot Sunday after the Sooners
avenged their only loss by winning the
Big 12 championship against Texas.
“I feel like we have a team worthy
of it, a team that can go make a run,”
Sooners coach Lincoln Riley said on
ESPN.
The Sooners (12-1) will face No. 1 Riley
Alabama (13-0) in the Orange Bowl on
Dec. 29 in a matchup of Heisman Trophy front-runner
quarterbacks — Kyler Murray of Oklahoma and the
Tide’s Tua Tagovailoa, who sprained his ankle in the
Southeastern Conference championship game Satur
day and is expected to miss at least two weeks.
No. 2 Clemson (13-0) plays No. 3 Notre Dame (12-0)
in the Cotton Bowl on the same day. The winners meet
in the championship game on Jan. 7 in Santa Clara,
California.
The rest of the New Year’s Six bowl matchups are
UCF vs. LSU in the Fiesta Bowl; Florida vs. Michigan in
the Peach Bowl; Ohio State vs. Washington in the Rose
Bowl; and Texas vs. Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.
Georgia (11-2) dropped a spot to fifth and Ohio State
(12-1) remained sixth in the selection committee’s final
top 25 released Sunday. The Bulldogs lost to Alabama in
the Southeastern Conference championship game Sat
urday while the Buckeyes won the Big Ten champion
ship against Northwestern.
“In the end, one-loss conference champion with their
only loss being on a neutral field to a ranked team,
which they avenged in their conference champion
ship,” selection committee chairman Rob Mullens said
on ESPN. “Every combination was vetted, looking at
their full body of work, their resumes side-by-side. In
the end, what we decided was amongst the group of
three, Oklahoma, Georgia, Ohio State, the committee
voted that no one was unequivocally better than the
other so then we leaned on the protocol. So we went
with the one-loss conference champion.”
Selection committee protocol states conference
championships work as a virtual tiebreaker when
teams are close. The Sooners beat Texas for the Big 12
■ Please see PLAYOFF, 3B
NFL
Ravens 26, Falcons 16
Losing skid continues
JOHN BAZEMORE I Associated Press
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) runs into the end zone for a touchdown against Atlanta Falcons
defensive tackle Grady Jarrett (97) Sunday in Atlanta.
Falcons held to just 131 total yards in fourth straight loss
BY PAUL NEWBERRY
Associated Press
ATLANTA — The Baltimore
defense made life miserable for Matt
Ryan and the Falcons’ offense —
and gave rookie quarterback Lamar
Jackson plenty of room for error.
The Ravens turned in a dominat
ing defensive performance, limiting
Atlanta to its fewest yards in almost
two decades while Jackson guided
Baltimore to its third straight victory,
26-16 on Sunday.
The 2016 Heisman Trophy winner,
making his third straight start and
first on the road, completed only 12 of
21 passes for 125 yards but did plenty
of damage with his legs. He carried
17 times for 75 yards, including a
13-yard scoring run in the first quar
ter that turned out to be the Ravens’
lone offensive touchdown.
Not much offense was needed.
Not the way the Ravens played on
the other side of the line.
Baltimore held the Falcons to 131
total yards — Atlanta’s worst showing
since a 105-yard effort against San
Francisco on Dec. 12,1999.
“Our defense, they’re roll
ing,” Jackson said.
The Ravens sacked Matt
Ryan three times — one
of which forced a fumble
that Tavon Young returned
11 yards for a touchdown
to seal the victory midway
through the fourth quarter.
Baltimore held a nearly
2-to-l edge in time of posses
sion (39:39-20:21) and limited
the Falcons to 2 of 9 on third-down
conversions.
When the Falcons went for it on
fourth-and-1 at midfield, Ito Smith
had barely taken the handoff when
he was swarmed over by the Ravens
for a 1-yard loss. Atlanta finished with
just 34 yards rushing on 15 carries.
“The defensive line did a great job
of containing the run,” linebacker
C.J. Mosley said. “Once a defense gets
a team one-dimensional, that’s when
you can definitely go to work on their
offense.”
For Ryan, it was the few
est passing yards in a game
he played from start to fin
ish in his 11-year career. The
only times he threw for fewer
yards were in 2009, when he
passed for 15 yards against
Tampa Bay before being
knocked out of the game with
a toe injury , and a 106-yard
performance in the 2011
regular-season finale, also against the
Buccaneers, when the Falcons built
a big lead and rested their starters
heading into the playoffs.
“We never really got anything
going,” Ryan said. “That makes it
■ Please see FALCONS, 4B
Ryan
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Georgia chosen for Sugar Bowl after missing playoff
BY DAVID BRANDT
Associated Press
Georgia was oh-so-close to
knocking off top-ranked Ala
bama in the Southeastern Con
ference championship game
and earning a spot in the Col
lege Football Playoff.
Instead, the Bulldogs
must settle for an intriguing
matchup against Texas in the
Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day
in New Orleans. It’s the first
time the powerhouse programs
have played since squaring off
in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 2,
1984.
Georgia (11-2, 7-1 SEC) is
led by D’Andre Swift and Eli
jah Holyfield, an impressive
tandem of running backs who
have combined for nearly
2,000 yards on the ground this
season.
The Bulldogs’ only two losses
were to LSU during the regular
season, and the 35-28 loss to the
Tide on Saturday.
Texas (9-4, 7-2) enjoyed a
breakout regular season and
has a chance to win 10 games
for the first time since 2009.
The Longhorns lost to Okla
homa on Saturday in the
Big 12 championship game.
Here are some other things to
know about the Georgia-Texas
matchup in the Sugar Bowl:
EHLINGER’S BIG
TARGETS
Texas sophomore Sam
Ehlinger has had an excellent
year, throwing for 3,123 yards,
25 touchdowns and just five
interceptions. His two favorite
targets are Lil’Jordan Hum
phrey (6-foot-4, 225 pounds)
and Collin Johnson (6-6, 220),
who have the size and speed
to potentially give Georgia
problems.
WATCH FOR 0MENIHU
Georgia’s defense will need
to keep its eyes on defensive
lineman Charles Omenihu,
who was an All-Big 12 selection
after making 16 tackles for a
loss, including 9 sacks.
The 6-6, 275-pound junior
could create issues for Geor
gia quarterback Jake Fromm,
who does many things well but
is not considered a particularly
mobile quarterback.
FABULOUS FROMM
Fromm isn’t often men
tioned among the nation’s elite
quarterbacks, but against Ala
bama in the SEC championship
he showed he can put up big
numbers against an excellent
defense.
Fromm completed 25 of 39
passes for 301 yards and three
touchdowns against the Tide.
SMART VS. HERMAN
Georgia’s Kirby Smart
and Texas’ Tom Herman are
widely considered some of the
nation’s top young coaches.
Smart has a 32-9 overall record
during his three seasons at
Georgia, including back-to-
back appearances in the SEC
championship game and an
appearance in last year’s Col
lege Football Playoff title
game. Herman is 16-10 in his
second season with the Long
horns, including a 12-6 mark in
Big 12 regular season games.
IN THE SUGAR BOWL
This is the 10th time Geor
gia has played in the Sugar
Bowl and the first appearance
since 2008, when it beat Hawaii
41-10.
JOHN AMIS I Associated Press
Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm (11) works
against Alabama during the SEC championship
game, Saturday, in Atlanta.
