With a Heisman winner leading the offense and a 14-point lead at the half, Stephen A. Smith said the Rose Bowl outcome comes down to an Oklahoma collapse.

On ESPN’s “First Take” on Tuesday, Smith argued that when the time came for Oklahoma to shut down Georgia and walk away with the win, they choked.

“I’m sorry, as much props as I want to give to Georiga, and it’s not like they don’t deserve it, but if you have to pick between the two, it comes down to that. Oklahoma blew this game because you were playing for a national championship, you had a 14-point cushion, you had the lead, you had a high powered offense, Georgia seemed ill equipped to stop them then all of a sudden… you couldn’t handle the pressure when it counted most,” Smith said.

After defeating Oklahoma 54-48 in double-overtime, Georgia advances to the College Football Playoff title game on Monday at 8 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

About the Author

Keep Reading

The city of Atlanta gave Georgia State University the green light to start construction on a new baseball facility. (Courtesy of Georgia State University Athletics)

Credit: Georgia State University Athletics

Featured

Waymo autonomous vehicles operate across 65 square miles inside I-285 and have been involved in six incidents with Atlanta Public School buses since May. Waymo issued a recall because of their cars briefly stopping or slowing down before continuing forward while a bus was stopped and flashing its lights. (Courtesy of Atlanta Public Schools)

Credit: Courtesy of Atlanta Public Schools