Georgia Bulldogs Capture Second Straight CFP Championship

INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- There was no epic comeback and no miraculous finish because there was no chance -- not when the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs asserted their sheer dominance from the onset and sucked the storybook ending right out from under No. 3 TCU with a 65-7 win in the College Football Playoff National Championship at SoFi Stadium on Monday night.

In a game that featured two Heisman Trophy finalist quarterbacks, Georgia's Stetson Bennett piled onto his legacy before an announced crowd of 72,628, leading the Bulldogs to back-to-back national titles for the first time since Alabama accomplished the feat following the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

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And they made it look so easy.

With 13:25 left in the game and Georgia sitting comfortably with a 52-7 lead, coach Kirby Smart called a timeout so the 25-year-old Bennett could walk off the field for the last time and soak in the moment after accounting for six total touchdowns (four passing and two rushing). His teammates in the huddle were wondering why they didn't have a play, and Bennett said he explained it to them. He unhooked his chin strap, pulled off his helmet with a smile and went to the sideline, where he was greeted with hugs and high-fives from coaches and teammates for capping his career with the sport's biggest prize.

Georgia, having the experience of winning it all just a year ago, looked comfortable and calm, while the Frogs, who finished 5-7 last season and were picked to finish seventh in the Big 12, appeared wide-eyed and out of sorts under first-year coach Sonny Dykes.

"We'll learn from it," Dykes said, "and next time we're on a stage like this, we'll handle it better."

Georgia closed as a 13.5-point favorite, the largest favorite in a national title game since 1998, but TCU, which defied the odds on a weekly basis, had won five games when trailing after halftime this season while capturing the nation's attention with its funky hypnotoad and underdog status along the way.

Not this time.

This wasn't about a fairy-tale ending. No, this was about what's beginning at Georgia under Smart.