Despite 2nd Half Effort, No. 7 Baylor Bears Fall To Georgia In Sugar Bowl

NEW ORLEANS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — Giving every indication he will be an exceedingly tough cover in 2020, freshman wide receiver George Pickens helped lead the Georgia Bulldogs to a 26-14 win over No. 7 Baylor.

Pickens caught 12 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown, and No. 5 Georgia defeated the Bears in the Sugar Bowl on Wednesday night.

"I've still got growing to do, but I can kind of tell myself I'm improving every day," said the 6-foot-3 Pickens, who was suspended for the first half of Georgia's SEC title game loss to LSU because of his fight with a Georgia Tech player in the Bulldogs' regular-season finale. "It was a great season to me. You win some, you lose some."

Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer, coming back from a concussion in the Big 12 title game on Dec. 7, was sidelined again in the fourth quarter when the back of his head appeared to hit the turf hard as he was taken down by two defenders while going out of bounds.

Baylor coach Matt Rhule said Brewer did not appear concussed this time. Medical staff was concerned about possible spinal and neck injuries. Rhule expected Brewer to be monitored overnight, but added that early indications were the injuries were not career threatening.

"It's scary when they were holding his head and stabilize his neck and he's yelling at them to let go of him and let him go back in the game," Rhule said. "He's a great player whose best football is in front of him."

Travon Walker was penalized for a late hit, giving Baylor a first down, but the drive stalled on a sack of backup Jacob Zeno on fourth down with five minutes to go and Baylor down 12.

Jake Fromm completed 20 of 30 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns without an interception for Georgia (12-2), which lost the Sugar Bowl to Texas last season.

Zamir White carried 18 times for 92 yards and a touchdown, and Matt Landers caught his first career TD on a 16-yard pass.

Georgia defensive back Richard LeCounte intercepted two passes, the second sealing the victory in the final minutes.

Pickens was selected the game's most outstanding player.

"Seeing him do something like he did today — no surprise to us," Fromm said. "He's just going out and playing the game he loves."

Brewer completed 21 of 41 passes for 211 yards and one touchdown to Denzel Mims.

As Baylor headed into the locker room at halftime trailing Georgia 19-0, the team showed signs of mounting a comeback on the opening series of the second half with a scoring drive dominated by Mims. He had catches of 40 and 8 yards before his 12-yard touchdown grab trimmed the Bulldogs' lead to 19-7. Mims also surpassed 1,000 yards receiving for the season on the drive.

The Bears quickly forced a Georgia punt and moved back across midfield when momentum suddenly changed. Linebacker Azeez Ojulari sacked and stripped Brewer on fourth-and-4 and Walker recovered on the Baylor 47.

"I really, really regret my decision to go for it on the one fourth down," Rhule said. "That was a bad coaching moment on my end. It quickly led to points. So that goes against me."

The Bulldogs capitalized with a touchdown drive extended by a fake field goal in which holder Jake Camarda ran off tackle for 6 yards on fourth-and-2. White finished the series with a tackle-breaking 13-yard run to the pylon to make it 26-7.

Brewer's short, second-effort TD run late in the third quarter trimmed Georgia's lead, but Baylor got no closer.

(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)