2003 Game Recap / Allstate Sugar Bowl

69th Annual Sugar Bowl Classic ~ January 1, 2003
#4 Georgia 26 (Final: 13-1, #3)
#16 Florida State 13 (Final: 9-5, #21)

Musa Smith rushed for 145 yards and Billy Bennett kicked four field goals to lead Georgia to a 26-13 win over Florida State.

Georgia's defense forced three turnovers by the ACC champ Seminoles, including cornerback Bruce Thornton's 71-yard interception return for a touchdown. Nose tackle Ken Veal's fumble recovery led to one of Bennett's field goals. Smith for his effort on the ground attack was selected the Bowl's Most Outstanding Player.

UGA, the SEC champ, jumped out to a 3-0 lead with a first quarter field goal by Bennett. FSU took its only lead of the game when Fabian Walker connected with Anquan Boldin on a 5-yard scoring toss in the second quarter. Georgia got back on the scoreboard and never looked back with Thornton's 71-yard interception for a score, and a 37-yard touchdown strike from D.J. Shockley to Terrence Edwards. The rest of the scoring came on behalf of Bennett's leg.

Boldin hit Craphonso Thorpe on a 40-yard touchdown pass with the time expired in the third quarter to give the Seminoles their only other points.

Louisiana Superdome
Att: 74,269
ABC Rating: 9.2

Florida State   0   7   6   0   -   13
Georgia   3   17   6   3   -   26

SCORING SUMMARY
UGA: Bennett 23 yd field goal, 4:19 (1st)
FSU: Boldin 5 yard pass from Walker (Beitia kick), 13:41 (1st)
UGA: Thornton 71 yd interception return (Bennett kick), 6:24 (1st)
UGA: Edwards 37 yd pass from Shockley (Bennett kick), 3:43 (1st)
UGA: Bennett, 42 yd field goal, 11:06 (3rd)
UGA: Bennett 25 yd field goal, 8:49 (3rd)
FSU: Thorpe 40 yd pass from Boldin ( Boldin rush failed), 0:00 (3rd)
UGA: Bennett 35 yd field goal, 10:17 (4th)

   Florida State   Team Statistics   Georgia
   18   First downs   11
   115   Rushing yards   151
   147   Passing    125
   13-26-2   Comp-Att-Int   10-15-0
   125   Return yards   113
   5-40.4   Punts-Avg.   4-48.2
   2-1   Fumbles-Lost   1-1
   5-37   Penalties   6-59
   33:51   Time of Possession   26:09

Rushing
FSU: Washington 10-48, Boldin 13-34, Maddox 9-32, Dean 1-5, Reid 1-2,
Walker 7-(-10).
UGA: Smith 23-145, Milton 5-13, Shockley 3-10, Wall 1-0,
Team 2-(-2), Greene 2-(-7).

Passing
FSU: Boldin 6-14-0, 78 yards, 1 TD; Walker 7-12-2, 69 yards, 1 TD.
UGA: Greene 9-14-0, 88 yards; Shockley 1-1-0, 37 yards, 1 TD.

Receiving
FSU: Maddox 4-24, Boldin 3-34, Sam 2-11, Thorpe 1-40, Morgan 1-18, Hughes 1-14, Gardner 1-6.
UGA: Edwards 3-60, Gibson 2-12, Johnson 1-34, Brown 1-11,
Watson 1-5, Wall 1-3, Smith 1-0.

Miller-Digby Award recipient: Musa Smith, Georgia running back