The Heisman Trophy winner meets the SEC champs in Pasadena, with a National Championship bid on the line. ESPN (live stream)

First Quarter

6:56. OKLAHOMA 14, GEORGIA 7. A nine-yard pass to Brown and a three-yard rush by Anderson move the chains for OU, and after an incomplete deep shot toward Brown, it’s the Rodney Anderson show. He bolts 45 yards down the left sideline, gains nine, then gains nine again for a touchdown. OU has gained 140 yards in 12 plays. Goodness.

8:27. GEORGIA 7, OKLAHOMA 7. Exactly what Georgia needed. Chubb hits the corner on the first play of the Dawgs second drive and rumbles for 25 yards. Two plays later, Sony Michel races off right tackle for 20 more to the OU 29. Fromm fires high again to Woerner, who reels the ball in for a short gain, then the freshman makes a nice pass to Wims for 14 yards. From there, he finds Michel out of the backfield for a 13-yard score.

Not sure they even needed to throw the ball on that drive, but it worked.

11:31. OKLAHOMA 7, GEORGIA 0. After Jonathan Ledbetter eats up Rodney Anderson for no gain on OU’s first play, Baker Mayfield rolls right and hits H-back Dimitri Flowers wide open over the middle on back-to-back passes for 16 and 26 yards. After a hands-to-the-face penalty on a short Mark Andrews catch, OU is already inside the UGA red zone.

From the 15, Mayfield flips to Anderson for a two-yard gain, then hits Marquise Brown in the end zone off of play-action.

That was easy. Georgia will adjust, but it better happen pretty quickly.

13:37. Georgia comes out throwing, trying to get Jake Fromm in an early rhythm. He hits Javon Wims, who cuts upfield for 21 yards, but Wims drops a second pass. After a three-yard Nick Chubb run, it’s the first third-and-long of the game: Fromm has time but throws off-target on a pretty easy pass to tight end Charlie Woerner. Cameron Nizialek’s first punt is boomed into the end zone.

Guess we didn’t learn just a ton about OU’s defense there, but you’ll take a four-and-out on every possession.

15:00. Oklahoma wins the toss and defers to the second half. Really curious about how both of these defenses will handle the unique tests ahead of them. We’ll find out something about OU’s D first.

Preview by Christian D’Andrea

The Rose Bowl has traditionally been a showdown between the West Coast and Middle America as the Pac-12 and Big Ten champions have gone to battle in sunny Los Angeles. But in 2018, thanks to the College Football Playoff, it will give two of the nation’s top four teams a rare opportunity to watch the Parade of the Roses live. Kickoff in the semifinal game between the No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners and No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on ESPN (live stream).

It’s the Bulldogs’ first Rose Bowl since the 1942 season when they beat UCLA in a 9-0 barnburner. For the Sooners, it’s their first postseason trip to the City of Angels since the 2002 season, when Nate Hybl led the team to a big win over Washington State.

2017 Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield will try to outgun a Bulldogs offense led by a potent three-headed rushing attack. Georgia ran for an impressive 5.8 yards per carry this fall. The Bulldogs need to be just as productive to keep up with the Sooners’ third-ranked passing offense on Monday.

Time, TV channel, and streaming info

• Time: 5 p.m. ET
• Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif.
• TV: ESPN
• Streaming: WatchESPN
• Odds: Georgia is favored by 2.5 points

Georgia vs. Oklahoma news:

• Can Oklahoma’s defense slow down Georgia’s devastating running game?

OU heads in ranked a paltry 95th in Def. S&P+. The Sooners are the only CFP team without a top-10 defense, and they’re not even close to that mark. They’ve gotten away with it because of their absurdly good offense, but it’s safe to assume that Mayfield and company aren’t going to put up 50 points on UGA. The Sooner D is going to need to make some stops.

Despite the overall numbers, OU has spent half the season playing solid defense. The other half, not so much.

• Opposite that, here are three questions UGA must answer to stop Baker Mayfield.

Question 1: What kind of personnel package allows you to matchup?

Oklahoma’s base “21 personnel” grouping (two RBs, one TE, two WRs) is difficult to match up against. A head coach from the Mike Leach tree who also regularly trots out a TE and FB is pretty unique, but the way the Sooners do it really complements the air raid elements.

• Georgia’s having a great December, both on the field and on the recruiting trail.

Miami safety Nadab Joseph visited Georgia late in the recruiting process but appeared set to stick with his commitment to the Alabama Crimson Tide this morning. But it was not to be, and the Bulldog coaching staff landed one nationally ranked recruit on the day. Joseph is tabbed the #18 cornerback in the nation and the #161 prospect overall by 247Sports. Joseph was an LSU commit prior to his Tide pledge, but had been on the UGA staff’s radar for quite a while.

• Which school has produced the better running back talent in its history — Oklahoma or Georgia?

A laundry list of big-time ball-carriers is the foundation of any RBU argument. For Georgia, guys like Frank Sinkwich, Charley Trippi, Willie McClendon, Rodney Hampton, Lars Tate, Garrison Hearst, Terrell Davis, Knowshon Moreno, Todd Gurley, and even current Bulldog Nick Chubbreinforce any RBU claims in Athens. You may have noticed how I didn’t even mention the legendary Herschel Walker, who is arguably the greatest college football player, regardless of position, in history:

• A vengeance win over Auburn was a massive boost for Georgia’s confidence heading into bowl season.

Back on point - the great thing (and there were many great things) about this game is the redemption and the fact that we will not have to hear about the November 11 loss ever again. Ever. Yeah, we might get to see a highlight whenever someone features Auburn in the future. But that game was nothing but a bad memory that has been instantly erased. We had the last laugh and they don’t get a mulligan. That must burn.

Can Jake Fromm live up to the pressure of his first bowl game?

Fromm usurped Jacob Eason’s starting role as a true freshman this year, and while he shined in the SEC title game, the young passer will face more pressure than ever before to perform in the biggest game of UGA’s season to date. Fortunately, the Bulldogs don’t need him to be prolific in order to win. Fromm only has three games this season in which he’s thrown for 200-plus yards. If the Sooners can’t stop the Georgia running game, Eason could have all the latitude he needs to pick the Oklahoma secondary apart.

Georgia vs. Oklahoma prediction:

Mayfield’s singular talent could be enough to push the Sooners to victory, but a more balanced Georgia team takes this one in a high-scoring affair.

Be sure to check out all our bowl predictions here.