South Dakota State and Georgia capture college football national titles

January 9, 2023

The national titles games for the FCS and FBS took place on Sunday afternoon and Monday night. In the FCS, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits won their first national championship in any sport at the school with a 45-21 victory over powerhouse North Dakota State. Georgia made it back to back FBS titles by thrashing TCU 65-7.

In the FCS game in Frisco, Texas on Sunday- South Dakota State (14-1) got three touchdowns passes and a touchdown run from quarterback Mark Gronowski and outscored North Dakota State 24-7 in the second quarter to take the title. Amar Johnson and Isaiah Davis both rushed for over 100 yards and a touchdown each for the Jackrabbits. Cam Miller threw for 260 yards in the loss for North Dakota State (12-3) with two touchdowns but also threw two interceptions. Zach Mathis also had seven receptions for 123 yards, while Eli Green and Joe Stoffel caught the scoring passes from Miller. The Bison, who won the final last season over Montana State, has won nine of the last 12 championship games.

In the FBS game at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Monday night- The #1 Georgia Bulldogs never trailed, building a 38-7 halftime lead and crushing the #3 TCU Horned Frogs in winning their second straight championship. Senior quarterback Stetson Bennett passed for 304 yards and four touchdowns and ran for two more, as UGA capped off a perfect 15-0 season in impressive fashion. Brock Bowers caught seven passes for 152 yards and a touchdown, and Ladd McConkey had five more for 88 yards and two scores. TCU quarterback Max Duggan, who accounted for four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing) in the Frogs 51-45 upset win over #2 Michigan in the semifinals, passed for 152 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions in the loss as they end their season at 13-2. He did score the only touchdown for his team with a rushing score, but overall lost 38 yards on 10 carries. The final total yardage in the game was 590-188 Georgia (32-9 on first downs on the night). The Bulldogs have now won 29 of their last 30 games between the 2021 and 2022 season.

Recaps by Chris LessnerÂ