No. 6 Georgia made a resounding statement for its excellence during the 2023 season with a 63-3 drubbing of No. 5 Florida State in the Orange Bowl. The 60-point margin is now the biggest in bowl game history. Georgia, in fact, broke its own record in this case, topping the 58-point win against TCU in last year's College Football Playoff National Championship. In addition to being the biggest win in bowl history, it has also etched itself in to the Orange Bowl record books for the same category.
In a game that was already predicted to be lopsided because of double-digit starters missing the game for Florida State due to opt-outs and injuries, Georgia became the real story for its excellence in efficiency even as they handed the reins over to the backups.
The Bulldogs have recruited so well over the last four years that even when the first-stringers left the game because of the blowout nature of the contest, the backups continued to operate at the same level as the game's starters -- many of whom had Georgia at No. 1 in the country heading into conference championship weekend.
Georgia turned the ball over on downs inside the Florida State 40-yard line on its first offensive possession of the game, then proceeded to score nine straight touchdowns on its next nine possessions. That included multiple touchdown passes from both Carson Beck and Gunner Stockton, as well as multiple touchdown runs from both Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards. Ten different players recorded receptions in the game and four different players caught touchdowns on a night that certainly cemented the argument that Georgia's 2023 team was among the best in the entire country.
For Florida State, the historic blowout loss adds insult to injury in the wake of a College Football Playoff snub that has had, and will have, a seismic impact on the program's future. Mike Norvell had the players who were available geared up to go in the first half, even making gains against this talented Georgia team in the opening possessions. But every step forward seemed to be met with a step back. Too often, good drives not only ended in turnovers, but with the Bulldogs then taking those turnovers and turning them into deflating touchdowns the other way. At one point, Georgia had three touchdowns across a run of seven offensive plays. That kind of momentum is hard to reverse when a team is already playing at a talent deficit.
A couple of other historical notes about Georgia's blowout win:
- According to CBS Sports research, this was the worst loss for Florida State, in any game, in program history. The previous mark for Florida State's worst loss was 49 points, which happened twice (1973 and 2018).
- Georgia had the game in the bag early. In fact, the Bulldogs' 39-point halftime lead was the largest by any team in a bowl game since Auburn's 49-point lead against Purdue at halftime in the 2018 Music City Bowl.
CBS Sports was with you throughout the game providing live updates, highlights and analysis from the 2023 Orange Bowl. Read below for takeaways from the game.
