ATLANTA — For the bulk of the second half of its College Football Playoff semifinal game against Ohio State, it appeared Georgia was not going to get the chance to defend its national championship.
Then Stetson Bennett delivered yet another play for the ages. Bennett threw a 10-yard pass to Adonai Mitchell with 54 seconds left, leading the Bulldogs to an improbable 42-41 comeback victory over Ohio State on Saturday in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl and a spot in the national title game against TCU on Jan. 9.
The Buckeyes had one final shot to win the game, but Noah Ruggles‘ 50-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left with 3 seconds left.
Georgia, which entered the fourth quarter trailing 38-24, completed the largest fourth-quarter comeback in a CFP game.
“Great resiliency, a never-say-die attitude and great toughness,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said in his postgame, on-field interview. “At the end of the day, we didn’t play real well. Ohio State probably deserved to win the game. But we never quit.
“We stayed in the game and made some big plays. I couldn’t be prouder of these kids. This is a special group.”
Georgia opened as a 13-point favorite over TCU at Caesars Sportsbook, the largest point spread for any College Football Playoff or BCS Championship Game. Miami (Florida) was a 12-point favorite over Ohio State in the 2002 BCS Championship Game.
The Buckeyes appeared to be in full control in the fourth behind C.J. Stroud and a defense that had dominated up front for a bulk of the game.
But Bennett showed the poise that led the Bulldogs to the national title a year ago. Though he had been pressured all night, Bennett delivered when he needed to most. His 76-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Arian Smith after safety Lathan Ransom fell down on the play with 8:41 to play trimmed an 11-point Ohio State lead down to three.
After Ohio State kicked a field goal to go up 6, Georgia got the ball back with 2:36 to go. Bennett calmly and efficiently led Georgia down the field — capping the drive with the game-winning score.
“It’s in our hands now,” Bennett said when asked about his mindset on the final drive. “And then, when we scored, I was scared to death because [Ohio State] played a hell of a game on offense. I was like, ‘We scored too quick.’ And then our D stepped up. What a game.”
Now, Georgia will have a chance to become the first team to defend its national title since Alabama in 2011-12.
“If you would have told me that when we were down whatever we were down in the fourth, I would have been like, ‘You are crazy’,” Bennett said when asked what being in another title game would be like. “But we’ll see you there.”
Stroud finished going 23-of-34 for 348 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions and added a career-high 66 yards on the ground. The Buckeyes had two 100-yard receivers in Emeka Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr.
But the game changed for Ohio State offensively after Harrison left the contest late in the third quarter after taking a hit to the head in the end zone. From that point forward, Ohio State scored only one field goal the rest of the game.
Harrison’s absence was large, and so was the fact Ohio State had a makeshift backfield thanks to injuries and depth concerns.
But until that moment, Stroud was masterful. While Ohio State might have felt good about the matchup advantage it had with Harrison and Egbuka on the Georgia cornerbacks, Stroud showed patience and a scrambling ability that turned mundane plays into memorable ones.
On his second touchdown pass of the night, Stroud escaped two Georgia linemen who nearly had him in their grasp, ran to his right and threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Harrison in the corner of the end zone. By the time the first half was over, Ohio State led 28-24 and Stroud was 15-of-19 for 238 yards and three touchdowns, while Harrison had five catches for 106 yards and two touchdowns.
That continued in the second half. After forcing a three-and-out on Georgia’s opening series of the third quarter, Ohio State marched down the field, and Stroud threw a 10-yard pass to Egbuka on a beautiful bit of misdirection as Egbuka ran behind the line and up an open seam for the score to give them an 11-point lead.
But as they have done so often with Bennett behind center, the Bulldogs found a way. Bennett made plays when he had to, especially in the fourth quarter. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Bennett went 4 of 4 for 152 yards and two touchdowns on passes thrown 15-plus yards downfield in that quarter alone.
Bennett won game MVP honors after going 23-of-34 for 398 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.
After Ohio State got the ball back with 54 seconds left, Stroud got Ohio State to the 31-yard line, but Georgia would not allow the Buckeyes to get any closer. Ruggles lined up for a shot to win the game, but his kick did not have much of a chance.
In the end, it was jubilation for Georgia, but a gut punch for an Ohio State team that had played well enough to win.
“They’re an unbelievable team, dude. Wow,” Bennett said. “We fought, we fought and they were beating us, it seems like the whole game. And then we made a few plays, and … unbelievable.”
Source:ESPN
