Bennett takes responsibility for poor play in Peach Bowl, despite historic fourth-quarter performance
Bennett takes responsibility for poor play in Peach Bowl, despite historic fourth-quarter performance
ATLANTA — Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett knew he didn’t play well against No. 4 Ohio State in the 2022 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and he would be the first to say that.
However, he was able to come in clutch for the No. 1 Bulldogs when it mattered the most. They were able to escape the College Football Playoff semifinal with a 42-41 victory.
“It wasn't going well. They were beating us,” Bennett said after the game. “We had sucked on offense, and it was just, hey, play-by-play, do your job. It doesn't matter what happens on the other side of the ball, or another position, do your job. So, we had done our job and then we trusted the defense. Then at that point, it was up to the kicker.”
Ohio State led 41-35 with 2:36 remaining in the fourth quarter when it got the ball back.
The Bulldogs then put together a scoring drive that was capped off by Bennett tossing the go-ahead TD to wide receiver AD Mitchell with just under a minute left in the game.
The sophomore wide receiver missed a majority of the year with an injury, so the Bennett-Mitchell connection was special. It was reminiscent of Bennett’s scoring pass to Mitchell in the fourth quarter of last season’s national championship game against Alabama.
“Just because he was out, it doesn’t change who he was,” Bennett said. “We had to get back on the same page, but I knew at the time that at the top of that route, there are not many people that can stay with him quickness-wise. “I just trusted him, I put it up before he even came out and just threw it up softly, and he went and made a play. Wow.”
The super senior was solid in the fourth quarter, and his performance turned out to be historic.
On Georgia’s last two drives of the game, Bennett completed 5-of-5 passes for 148 yards and two TDs. He also passed for 190 yards in the fourth quarter, which is the most of any college football quarterback since the start of the CFP era, dating back to 2014.
“Yeah, we practice that all the time. I can’t say I always execute, but we practiced it a lot, where it's two minutes in the half or two minutes in the game,” Bennett said of Georgia’s two-minute scoring drive. “We needed it, we don't need it, or we need it, and we would like to have it. I can't put the ball in jeopardy like that before the half because we don't have to have it. You’ve just got to do it. Otherwise, we're going to lose.”
Despite Georgia’s offense not playing well through three quarters, Bennett still got the job done.
The Bulldogs got down by 14 points - at two different points in the game - but he was still able to rally the offense. They trailed 38-24 heading into the final quarter of action.
Bennett was named the Peach Bowl’s Offensive MVP for his performance against the Buckeyes.
The 5-foot-11, 190-pound signal-caller completed 23-of-34 passes for 398 yards, three TDs and an INT. He also had a rushing score for the Bulldogs in their victory on Saturday.
However, head coach Kirby Smart was critical of his quarterback’s performance after the game.
“He showed great competitive character, but he’s got to play within our system,” Smart said after the win. “He’s got to do what he’s coached to do, or you can’t win games. He didn’t get those opportunities until the defense stopped them, and we got fortunate to stop them a couple of times. He must play better if we expect to win the next one."
Georgia will next face No. 3 TCU in the CFP national title game on Jan. 9 in Los Angeles.
Bennett echoed his head coach’s sentiment after the game about having to play better.
“Now we've got to take care of business. We've got to prepare. We've got nine days or whatever to play a really good TCU team,” Bennett said. “So we've got to prepare our butts off. We didn't play our best game, starting with me. Coach Smart said in the locker room, we had two three-and-outs to start the second half. Like that doesn't happen, and that falls on me, and that falls on our offense. We've got to fix that. So we're going to go to work.”