Stetson Bennett delivered the biggest throws of his storybook career and sealed the sweetest victory in Georgia’s defense history, beating rivals Alabama Monday night in the college football playoff title 33-18 for the first national title in 41 years.
Bennett finished 3rd in the 40-yard touchdown with Adonai Mitchell Georgia He left 8:09 with a 19-18 lead and then combined with the Brock Powers to put the Bulldogs on the screen for a 15-yard TD with a 3:33 remaining eight.
The final blow came from Georgia’s dominant defense. Kelly Ringo intercepts a deep ball from Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young.
“I saw the ball in his hands and that’s all she wrote,” said Louise Cini, the game’s defensive MVP defender.
Instead of going down with just one more minute to go, Ringo set off behind a convoy of blockers and made a 79-yard touchdown, which caused a great deal of celebration by the packed Georgia fans at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“Some property in Indianapolis is going to be torn down tonight,” said Georgia coach Kirby Smart, explaining the late Georgia play-by-playman Larry Munson.
The Bulldogs (14-1) have never won a national title since newcomer Herschel Walker led them there in the 1980s. If drought snooping isn’t enough, No. 1 should realize what it did against Alabama (13-2). Even better.
“I cried, it was so good,” Bennett said when asked how he felt.
Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide has won seven times against the Bulldogs, including the last four against Saban’s longtime assistant Smart.
Smart returned to his alma mater as a coach in 2016 and has been chasing his mentor ever since. The Bulldogs lost two SEC Championship games, one of which took place five weeks ago and the 2018 CFP title game Smart Under the Title.
“I told them we burned the boats. The only way home was through them, ”Smart told his team about the Crimson Tight.
The goal has been achieved.
Bennett, a former walk-on opener, scored 17 for 26 off 224 yards and had no interruptions.
For the first three quarters, the first CFP title game was a rematch of the regular season game.
The first touchdown of the game came with 1:20 remaining in the third quarter. After James Cook broke the 67-half run to take the Bulldogs to the red zone, three more running plays – Alabama’s mask penalty – put them in the final zone. Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis stood up from one side with great defensive players and Jameer White went inside. The Bulldogs took a 13-9 lead for the first time.
After Alabama added another field goal, Tide took a break in the Bulldogs’ weird look.
When Bennett was lowered deep into the Georgia territory, he tried to throw the ball. The ball slipped loosely, bounced sideways, and was seemingly harmless. Drew Sanders of Alabama casually caught the ball jogging outside the boundary.
Surprisingly, the rule on the field was a stumble, Tidal recovered and raised the replay call, giving Tide the ball in the red zone. After a few plays, Young avoided the rush and found Cameron Lott in a three-yard touchdown, which put Alabama 18-13 at 10:14 in fourth.
In Bulldogs it was once again realized that no matter what magic Alabama had, it could not be broken by Georgia.
At the start of the next drive Bennett scored 13 for 22 off 141 yards, and you can practically hear all Georgia fans wondering why Smart did not turn his four-star back-up QB, Jedi Daniels into a spark.
When he started scouting and took a detour through Junior College in Mississippi, he nicknamed the small town Georgia Child Mailman, as he had done many times.
Bennett completed all three of his passes for 68 yards, with Mitchell striking out a touchdown to touchdown at 8:09, giving the Bulldogs a 19-18 lead after a two-point conversion.
The Bulldogs’ defense controlled the youngster, forcing three outs on Tito’s next drive, and then Georgia embarked on the task of sealing the long-awaited championship.
Young finished with 57 runs for 359 with two interceptions and was eliminated three times as Georgia failed to beat him once in the SEC title match.
Saban said he has rejected the seventh and eighth national titles with Alabama in the last 13 years. “No one can take the SEC championship from this team, the Cotton Bowl Championship.
“We have not finished the way we should have finished.”
