CITRUS : Georgia’s Stars Outshine Ohio State

Georgia’s three key players came through, and it gave the Bulldogs their first 10-victory season since 1983.

Garrison Hearst ran for 163 yards and two touchdowns Friday as Georgia beat No. 15 Ohio State, 21-14, in the Florida Citrus Bowl.

Eric Zeier passed for 242 yards. Andre Hastings had eight receptions for 113 yards and returned a kickoff 49 yards to set up a scoring drive at the start of the third quarter.

“Great players make great plays,” Georgia Coach Ray Goff said. “All three of those guys came through for us today.”

The 15th-ranked Buckeyes (8-3-1) lost their fourth consecutive bowl game, all under Coach John Cooper. But they had chances during the fourth quarter.

“Hastings was great and Hearst was every bit as good as advertised,” Cooper said. “He’s probably the difference in the game today. Zeier did an outstanding job.”

Hearst, third in the Heisman Trophy voting behind Miami’s Gino Torretta and San Diego State’s Marshall Faulk, scored the Bulldogs’ first two touchdowns--from a yard out during the first quarter and on a five-yard run during the third. He set up the game-winner.

“If it wouldn’t have been for a few bad plays, we would have been able to score a few more points,” Hearst said. “But we won the game, and that’s all that matters.”

Frank Harvey’s one-yard run with 4:32 left broke a 14-14 tie and sent the eighth-ranked Bulldogs (10-2) to victory. Hearst had runs of 13 and 11 yards and Zeier completed a 21-yard pass to Shannon Mitchell before Harvey scored.

Ohio State used Robert Smith’s 45-yard run on a screen pass to reach the Bulldogs’ 15 early in the fourth quarter. But three plays later, Kirk Herbstreit and Jeff Cothran collided on a handoff, causing a fumble that Georgia’s Travis Jones recovered.

“Had we scored there, we had a chance to go on top of them for the first time,” Cooper said. “We seemed to be playing catch-up all day.”

On the game’s last play, Herbstreit’s pass into the end zone was intercepted by Mike Jones. Earlier in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs reached Ohio State’s 28 before Zeier lost a fumble on a snap.

Ohio State’s Smith finished with 112 yards in 25 carries and scored on plays of one and five yards.