Rose Bowl 2018: Georgia vs. Oklahoma: TV Schedule, Time and Odds
The No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners and No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs are separated by 925 miles, but they'll both have to travel thousands of miles for their first-ever meeting in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.
Oklahoma is making its second trip to Pasadena, California, for the Rose Bowl. The Sooners previously played in the contest in 2003 against Washington State.
Georgia is making a return trip to the Rose Bowl after 74 years. The Bulldogs won as the No. 2 team in the country in the 1943 Rose Bowl over UCLA.
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The traditional powers playing in an unconventional landscape will be squaring off for the first berth in the national championship.
Date: Monday, January 1, 2018
Time: 5 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: Watch ESPN
Odds: Georgia (-2.5); Over/Under: 60
How Oklahoma Will Win
As much as we want to focus on Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield, the Sooners have plenty of other weapons that could bruise the morale of the Georgia defense.
The running back pairing of Rodney Anderson and Trey Sermon provide a nice complement to Mayfield, who is the second-best passer in the FBS.
Anderson experienced an incredible second half of the season, as he reached the 100-yard mark in five of his last seven games. The sophomore also gained 93 yards on 24 carries in the Big 12 Championship.
Sermon, a freshman from Marietta, Georgia, may not have seen the number of carries Anderson did during the stretch run, but he's still had an impact on the game when he's touched the ball.
In the last five games of the regular season, Sermon averaged 6.5 yards per carry, and he averaged over eight yards per rush against Oklahoma State and West Virginia in that sequence of games.
There's little doubt that Mayfield will show up when it's time for the big plays to be made, but the life of the senior signal-caller will be made easier if the running backs keep the Georgia defense honest with a handful of successful scampers in the first half.
What might hurt the Sooners the most is their run defense. Oklahoma comes into the Rose Bowl ranked 40th in the nation at 144.2 yards conceded per game, and it has given up four yards per carry.
No matter how well Mayfield plays, the Oklahoma defense will have to hold Sony Michel and Nick Chubb under that four-yards-per-carry average. If Georgia is able to have its way with the Oklahoma run defense, it could end up forcing the Sooners to commit too many numbers in the box, which would lead to quarterback Jake Fromm opening up the secondary.
How Georgia Will Win
We all know what Chubb and Michel are capable of, but the question mark on the Georgia offense is freshman quarterback Fromm.
Unlike his counterpart Mayfield, Fromm doesn't have a wealth of experience in big games and the concerns surrounding his play will continue to swirl from now until the Rose Bowl kicks off.
Regardless of what outsiders think of his performance, Fromm and his coaches are more than confident he'll get the job done on New Year's Day.
Fromm may encounter some nerves given his lack of experience, but he's confident in his preparation for the Rose Bowl, per Seth Emerson of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
"I think for me when I get the most nervous is when I know I don't prepare," Fromm said. "And for me this year and this season, I think I've prepared more than any freshman quarterback or any quarterback out there in the country could have prepared."
One of Fromm's strengths is the deep ball, as he had the highest passer rating of any FBS quarterback when throwing passes 20 yards or further, per Pro Football Focus College Football on Twitter:
Fromm will be assisted by the rushing attack of Chubb and Michel, who have rarely failed to show up this season.
As long as the running back duo can challenge the Oklahoma front seven and gain three to four yards per carry, it will allow Fromm to throw a good amount of short passes mixed in with the deep balls he tries to utilize to open up the Oklahoma secondary.
Roquan Smith will be the focal point of Georgia's defensive game plan. Not only will he be tasked with closing up the gaps against the Oklahoma running backs, he'll also be asked to get pressure on Mayfield to make him feel uncomfortable from the opening drive.
If Georgia is able to put Mayfield under duress on multiple occasions in the first half, it will allow the offense to try to open up an insurmountable gap.
Prediction
It's tempting to go with Georgia as the favorite in the Rose Bowl after you take a deeper look at Fromm, but it's hard to pick against the Heisman Trophy winner playing on his biggest stage yet.
Expect the two teams to feel each other out in the first half before the playmakers take charge in the second half, with Mayfield making the most important plays.
Oklahoma 24, Georgia 16
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
All statistics obtained from ESPN.com and Sports Reference.
Odds obtained from Oddsshark.com.
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