MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – It’s rare that Kirby Smart uses his position as Georgia’s head football coach as a bully pulpit.

But on the subject of opt-outs following Saturday’s 63-3 trouncing of Florida State, he made an exception.

“Maybe this will be a bad soundbite, but people need to see what happened tonight and fix this. It needs to be fixed,” Smart said in his postgame press conference. “It’s unfortunate that Florida State, which has a good football team and a good football program, are in the position they’re in.”

The Seminoles played the game without 20 of their players after opt-outs or skipping the game to start preparing for the NFL Draft.

“Everybody can say it’s their fault. Everybody can say we had our guys, and they didn’t have theirs,” Smart said. “I can listen to all that. But college football has to decide what it wants.”

At least the advent of the 12-team playoffs is expected to alleviate some of those concerns as most players should remain with their teams, but Smart said even that will not solve the entire problem.

"They’ve got to decide what they want and what they really want to get out of it," Smart said. "It’s really unfortunate for those kids on that sideline who had to play in that game when they didn’t have their full arsenal. It affected the game – 100 percent.”

After the game, defensive end Mykel Williams told the media he was returning for his junior year.

It was rumored that Williams might consider a transfer.

Other players had announcements of their own.

...Julian Humphrey took to Twitter to announce he's returning to Georgia next year.

...Fellow cornerback Daniel Harris, who earlier placed his name in the transfer portal, did the same, announcing he's coming back. Harris was inserted into the game during Georgia’s second defensive possession.

…Offensive lineman Tate Ratledge told UGASports that he has not thought yet about whether or not he might turn pro.

Defensive lineman Nazir Stackhouse, however, has given it some thought. Although he has not made up his mind, he said he expects to have a decision by January 3.

As expected, neither tight end Brock Bowers nor right tackle Amarius Mims dressed for the game. Both players were on the sideline during the game to support their teammates.

Also:

…Smael Mondon did not play due to what sources say was a foot injury

…Defensive lineman Christen Miller (undisclosed) and cornerback Julian Humphrey (shoulder) did not dress out.

The game was well in hand when one of the most rewarding events of the entire contest took place. Senior walk-on quarterbacks Collin Drake and Jackson Muschamp played in their first career game.

“It’s awesome. For me, it just showed a lot of respect for me that Coach Smart and Coach (Mike) Bobo have,” Drake said. “It was awesome.”

Muschamp felt the same.

“The end of the day, our starters took care of business,” Muschamp said. “We played, but it was due to all the hard work our starters put in.”

Still, both players had moments they will never forget.

Drake completed a pass, albeit for just two yards, while Muschamp picked up a first down on a 14-yard run.

“I told Coach (Will) Muschamp (Jackson’s father) that he’s a lot better athlete than Coach Muschamp ever was,” Smart said. “I told Coach Muschamp you might want to step up here. He was over with the defense, and I told him Jackson was going to sprint out, and he’s going to throw a pass. Coach Muschamp was like, ‘Oh God, oh God.’ (Jackson Muschamp) sprinted out, put his foot on the ground, and looked pretty good. He looked pretty good in that jersey (Smart’s old No. 16) that he had on, too.”

…Georgia had four plays of 15 or more yards during its first touchdown drive.

…Anthony Evans III served as Georgia’s top punt returner.

…Cash Jones forced a fumble on the kickoff following Georgia’s third touchdown, and the ball was recovered by Cole Speer. It was only the second recovered fumble by the Bulldogs this year.

…Georgia's 39-point halftime lead is an Orange Bowl record. The old record was West Virginia's 29-point lead over Clemson in 2012.

…With the rout of FSU, Georgia’s 2023 senior class set a school mark for career victories as they finish with a 50-4 mark, including two national championships. During their career, they beat three teams they faced in bowl games/CFP that were undefeated (2020 Peach-Cincinnati, 2021 CFP Semifinal/Orange-Michigan, 2023 Orange-FSU). The Bulldogs finish this year 13-1.

…Georgia’s 60-point win is the largest ever in a bowl game by any team. The old mark of 58 was set last year by UGA in a 65-7 win over TCU for the 2023 title.

…The Bulldogs in the Smart era are now 94-16 overall, including 46-2 in their last 48 games. The Bulldogs are now 9-2 in bowl games/CFP appearances under Smart, including winning the last seven contests.

…Georgia extended the nation’s longest active bowl streak to 27 seasons and now has won its last seven bowl/CFP appearances.

…The Bulldogs are now 4-1 in the Orange Bowl and improve to 38-21-3 in bowl games. The 38 wins and 62 games rank second nationally.

…Georgia finished with a season-high and Bulldog bowl record 673 yards of total offense (4th most overall in school history) on 76 plays in a record 63-3 victory in front of 63,324. Coming into this game, Georgia ranked ninth nationally in scoring offense at 38.4 points a game. Georgia’s 372 rushing yards was a Bulldog bowl record, too.

…After turning over the ball on downs on its first possession, Georgia scored TDs on its next nine possessions before having to punt in the 4th quarter.

…Georgia’s 39-point first half lead set an Orange Bowl record and also is a school bowl record.

…Georgia’s 35-point outburst in the second quarter tied an Orange Bowl record and was a Bulldog bowl record, the previous school mark was 21 twice (2006 Sugar Bowl vs West Virginia and 2023 CFP National Championship Game vs TCU. The 42 points in a half was a Bulldog bowl record.

…The Bulldogs were 8-for-8 in the red zone with eight touchdowns.

…Junior quarterback Carson Beck was 13-for-19 for 203 yards and two touchdowns in directing Georgia to a 42-3 halftime lead. With 203 yards, Beck moved up to second in single season history for passing yards with 3,941 yards, passing Aaron Murray (3,893 in 2012). Beck is 5-1 against Top 25 opponents.

…Sophomores Dillon Bell (five receptions, 86 yards) was the leading receiver. Georgia had touchdown catches from juniors Arian Smith, Dominic Lovett, Lawson Luckie, and Anthony Evans.

…Florida State finished with 209 yards of offense on 53 plays and just three points. FSU had 185 yards on 41 plays in the first half.

…The Seminoles were 2-for-12 on third down as the Bulldogs came in today leading the nation with opponents converting just 26 percent of the time on third down.

…Sophomore Mykel Williams registered a sack/forced fumble and fumble recovery with 49 seconds left in the first half. He now has 4.5 sacks on the year. It was his first career caused fumble and fumble recovery. It led to a touchdown. Also to end the first half, sophomore Malaki Starks had an interception, his third.

…Leading tacklers were freshman CJ Allen with six, while Jalon Walker and Mykel Williams had four apiece.

…Sophomore Daylen Everette registered an interception, the first of his career.

…Freshman kicker Peyton Woodring tallied nine points, going 9-for-9 on PATs, which is a bowl record. He now has 134 points this season, which ranks third in school history.

…Early in the second quarter, Georgia forced a fumble (Cash Jones) on a kickoff, and it was recovered by Cole Speer. It led to a touchdown one play later and a 28-3 edge. It was the fifth forced fumble and second recovered by the Bulldogs this year. The Bulldogs are plus-3 in turnover margin.

…Captains were senior Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint (WR) and juniors Sedrick Van Pran (C), Javon Bullard (S), and Kamari Lassiter (DB) served as the game captains. UGA won the toss and elected to defer. Van Pran made his team-leading 44th career start, while freshman Raylen Wilson (ILB) made his first career start. Georgia improves to 7-4-1 all-time against FSU and snapped the Seminoles' 19-game winning streak, which was the second longest active streak in the FBS.