TaxSlayer Bowl 2016, Penn State vs Georgia full highlights, final score and more

The Georgia Bulldogs enter Kirby Smart’s tenure on a high note with a bowl win over the Penn State Nittany Lions.

The Georgia Bulldogs held off a late Penn State Nittany Lions comeback attempt to win the TaxSlayer Bowl 24-17 on Saturday afternoon at EverBank Field.

Both Penn State and Georgia won behind their strong defenses in the regular season, and that was reflected in the first quarter that resulted in just a Bulldogs’ field goal. The Nittany Lions’ promising opening drive was ended by a Dominick Sanders interception, giving Georgia good enough field position to go up on Marshall Morgan’s 44-yard field goal. Morgan would leave the game with an ankle injury, which would come into play later.

That 3-0 margin would hold all the way until just under nine minutes were remaining in the second quarter, as both defensive lines caused problems for the opposing offenses. Hackenberg found Chris Godwin on a 51-yard pass to set up a Nittany Lions field goal. However, Hackenberg suffered an apparent shoulder injury early in the drive and was out for the rest of the game, leaving Penn State with backup Trace McSorley.

Georgia countered with a big play of its own on the next drive on Isaiah McKenzie’s 26-yard run on a reverse. The Bulldogs would score the first touchdown on the game two plays later on a 44-yard touchdown pass from receiver Terry Godwin to Malcolm Mitchell out of the Wildcat formation.

Godwin would add a touchdown catch just before half to give the Bulldogs a commanding 17-3 lead at the break with a backup quarterback in for the Nittany Lions. While Penn State was only outgained 198-179 in the half, its inability to get star running back Saquon Barkley going made it difficult to sustain drives.

That continued into the second half, as Penn State simply couldn’t find any room on the ground against the Georgia defensive line. After a fourth downs top around midfield, Georgia pushed the lead to 24-3 on Sony Michel’s 21-yard touchdown run with under five minutes remaining in the third.

McSorley then put together a nice drive, aided by Barkley’s first long run of the day, and connected Geno Lewis on a 17-yard strike for Penn State’s first touchdown seconds into the fourth quarter. After a Bulldogs’ three-and-out, Penn State had all the momentum and a chance to get back in the game, but could only manage one first down before punting.

The Penn State defense came up with another quick stop to get good starting field position for a crucial drive. McSorley converted a fourth down throw before connecting on a 20-yard touchdown to DaeSean Hamilton to get Penn State within 24-17 with six minutes to go.

Keith Marshall then broke off a long run for Georgia’s first first down of the quarter, and a critical Austin Johnson unsportsmanlike conduct penalty cost Penn State a couple more minutes. Down to its backup kicker, Georgia was forced to go for it on fourth down in field goal range and field, giving McSorley two minutes for a potential game-tying drive.

Penn State made it down to the Georgia 40 but ran out of time as the Bulldogs sealed a 24-17 win. McSorley did a very nice job in relief of Hackenberg, but Penn State’s inability to run the ball and Georgia’s domination of the line of scrimmage was too much to overcome

Three Stars

Malcolm Mitchell, WR, Georgia. Pulled in five catches for 114 yards and totaled two touchdowns to help Georgia scratch out enough offense to win.

Leonard Floyd, LB, Georgia. Disrupted Penn State backfield consistently, helping limit Barkley to just 69 yards.

Dominick Sanders, S, Georgia. Recorded early interception and made plays in both pass and run defense throughout the game.

Full Highlights

"🎮◀️🔽▶️▶️ #TaxSlayerBowl https://t.co/WhR6tR1Mg3— ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) January 2, 2016"

Odds

Georgia closed as a 6.5 point favorite and was able to cover by the narrowest of margins. The two teams fell just short of the over/under of 44.5

Up Next

Penn State needs to do better than 7-6 in James Franklin’s first year, but appears to have a solid replacement for Hackenberg in McSorley. Georgia quietly reached the 10-win plateau this season, a good building block heading into the Kirby Smart era.