Bennett: 'You’re either the hero or the zero'
Bennett: 'You’re either the hero or the zero'
INDIANAPOLIS, IN. — Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett does his best to block out all the noise on social media.
In fact, the Bulldog senior quarterback doesn’t even actively check his Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. He currently uses a flip phone to stay in touch with friends and family.
Bennett explained that its a decision he made before the start of the season to stay focused on football.
"I still have a laptop and a tablet for e-mail and anything important like that I can use," he said. "And I will just use my cell phone for texting and calls. One pain in the butt is I have to carry a notepad to write down stuff because I used my notes app a lot back in the day a lot."
Bennett’s ability to stay concentrated throughout the season has helped him lead Georgia to its second national title berth in the past five years. However, this time, the Bulldogs are hoping for a different result and win their first national championship since 1980.
Senior inside linebacker Quay Walker likes Bennett’s approach to handling his critics.
“Stetson doesn’t really pay too much attention to what's being said of him, but we don’t either,” Walker said. “The main thing is for us to worry about all the guys that's there because nobody else matters and their opinion. At the end of the day, whether you're doing good or bad, somebody is going to have something bad to say about you anyway regardless. I think it's the main focus, the way he approaches that, is to just cancel out the outside noise, major props to him for that.”
The road Bennett has taken to becoming Georgia’s starting quarterback in the national title game has been a long one.
Nevertheless, it all started five years ago when he was a freshman backing up starter Jake Fromm as a walk-on. Bennett then transferred to Jones Community College in 2018 and returned to Georgia the next season. In 2020, he was the fifth option on the depth chart, but ended up saving the Bulldogs’ season against Arkansas in the season opener.
He proceeded the start the first six games last year until JT Daniels was healthy enough to play. Also, the addition of five-star Brock Vandagriff coupled with the progression of Carson Beck didn’t help his chances of earning playing time entering this season. Still, somehow Bennett has persevered and is now leading Georgia into a national title against No. 1 Alabama.
The former Pierce County signal-caller doesn’t really get why people love his story, although accepts it.
"People like to make such a hoopla about my journey," Bennett said. "I didn't freaking hitchhike anywhere. That's just what you want to do if you want to play football. It’s as simple as that."
Bennett is coming off an Orange Bowl performance where he threw for 313 yards and three scores against Michigan, which ranks 16th nationally in team passing efficiency defense. Now, he will have to face his Achilles heel in Alabama on Monday night in Indianapolis.
Despite throwing for a career-high 340 yards against the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship Game, Bennett struggled in the second half where he tossed two interceptions that proved to be costly. Bennett also had three picks in the 41=24 loss in Tuscaloosa last season. It’s something that’s plagued him and the Bulldogs against the Crimson Tide in the last two meetings.
So, he needs to have a flawless performance in Lucas Oil Stadium for Georgia to have a chance.
Senior nose tackle Jordan Davis mentioned that Bennett has the full support of his teammates.
"He never gets too high, never gets too low,” Davis explained. “We just need that even-keeled Stetson. I definitely think there was definitely a lot of trash talk about him after the SEC [Championship] game that we all saw. But we are always are tenfold behind him."
This is a moment that Bennett has been dreaming of since he was a kid. With the help of former teammate Richard LeCounte, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart took a chance on him, and now the South Georgia native is going to get live out that dream as it becomes a reality on Monday.
Bennett said he understands the magnitude of the weight on his shoulders.
“It’s the nature of the beast,” he said. “You’re either the hero or the zero. I’m glad it was me instead of anybody else because I can handle it.”