The excitement from Georgia’s first Southeastern Conference championship in a dozen seasons was enhanced Sunday afternoon when the Bulldogs were seeded No. 3 in college football’s four-team playoff and received an invitation to the hallowed Rose Bowl to face No. 2 Oklahoma on New Year’s Day in the first of two national semifinals.
No. 1 Clemson will face No. 4 Alabama in the second semifinal at the Sugar Bowl.
Georgia’s jubilation was also tempered by the arrests of junior inside linebacker Natrez Patrick and junior receiver Jayson Stanley, who both started in Saturday’s 28-7 downing of Auburn in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The two were arrested late Saturday night in Barrow County after returning from Atlanta, with Stanley charged with DUI and both players receiving misdemeanor marijuana possession charges.
Patrick already has been suspended twice for marijuana, and this third incident could result in his dismissal.
“With Natrez and Jayson, I’m obviously disappointed in some of the actions,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said Sunday afternoon on a Rose Bowl teleconference, “but we still don’t have all the information completely in from that. Their discipline will be handled internally.”