The Baylor Bears came within a play of winning the Big 12 championship game and reaching the College Football Playoff.
They were no match, however, for a Georgia team missing several prominent pieces during Wednesday night’s Sugar Bowl. Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs built a 19-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 26-14 triumph, avenging their disappointing performance in last season’s 28-21 upset loss to Texas in the same bowl.
True freshman receiver George Pickens was the MVP and redshirt freshman running back Zamir White rushed for 92 yards, 5.1 yards per carry and a touchdown, leading that next wave of talent moving through Georgia’s program. That returning talent also includes two of Georgia’s top defenders Wednesday, freshman safety Lewis Cine and redshirt freshman outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari.
Such a youth movement should provide excitement for the Bulldogs in 2020, but Smart was a bit more cautious when asked about the months ahead.
“To be honest, the future is only bright if these guys continue to work,” Smart said in a news conference. “There is a disease that creeps in at Georgia to where kids believe they’re better than they are, and they read their own press clippings. We’ll only be as good as we can be if we stay hungry.