CFP CHAMPIONSHIP: Bennett breaks through to lead Georgia to national title
The Georgia Bulldogs won the 2021 national championship with a win over Alabama on Monday. (UA Media Relations)
By GRAHAM DUNN
It seemed as though every time Stetson Bennett, IV was mentioned prior to the College Football Playoff National Championship game on Monday, the idea was he wasn’t capable of leading the Georgia Bulldogs to a championship.
No one is saying that now.
The senior walk-on quarterback connected on what will long be considered his biggest pass of his career, hitting Adonai Mitchell with a 40-yard touchdown strike with just over eight minutes left in the game to give the Bulldogs a lead they would not relinquish in a 33-18 win over the Crimson Tide, ending a 40-year national championship drought for the program.
“Five years ago he was delivering passes like Baker Mayfield against the scout team,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said about his quarterback . “There's a lot of guys that saw him on that scout team make plays with his feet, his arm whip and decision making, and we were very impressed.
“But again, to think that it would come this far from that National Championship he was a part of there to this one, man, what a story.
There's so many guys on this team that – I want to single him out. William Poole, guys, this guy made a lot of plays tonight on the ball and he was not even playing three, four weeks ago. Jalen Carter, there's a lot of guys – A. D. Mitchell, a lot of guys made plays. That's what this team has been, a collective group of people stepping up when they're needed.”
It was a first for Smart, who finally defeated his mentor for the first time in five tries.
“Well, I would open with a lot of respect for the Alabama football team, the Alabama football program,” he said. “I have an immense amount of respect for them, and they fought and battled and lost one of their best players in the game and continued to battle. A lot of respect for Coach Saban, and he was very complimentary after the game.”
Stetson finished with 224 yards and two TD passes on 17 of 26 attempts and was named MVP of the game but was quick to credit his teammates.
“First of all, it was the defense who kept us in this game,” he said. “While we were stumbling over our own feet the entire first half and then starting out in the second half. They won this game for us. We executed a few drives. We could have done so much better.
But we got the job done whenever we needed to.
“It hadn't hit me yet. I guess it hit me a little bit on the sideline. But no, I can't articulate it. I'm not that smart.”
The Bulldogs scored 20 unanswered points in the final frame finishing the game off with a Kelee Ringo 70-yard interception return for a score in the final minute.
Prior to the fourth quarter, the two teams fought back and fourth with Alabama taking advantage of Bennett’s fumble inside the Georgia 20-yard line. Cam Latu scored the Tide’s lone touchdown of the night on a 3-yard pass from Bryce Young with 10:14 left to play in the game.
The lead would be short lived as the Bulldogs drove 75 yards in four plays, aided by a pass interference call on Khyree Jackson. It was one of four penalties against the Tide in the fourth period.
Although the two teams were battling back and forth for most of the first half, the game seemed to take a major upheaval when Tide receiver Jameson Williams went down with an injury on a big 40-yard pass reception in the early portion of the second quarter. The apparent knee injury ended his night and, for the most part, the Tide’s ability to go deep as they did against the Dogs in the SEC Championship game.
“Losing someone like J-Mo is tough,” Young said. “But that's been a theme for us is overcoming adversity. A lot of guys stepped up in a big moment, and those guys that we were used to.
“And I'm tremendously proud of how we played offensively, how people stepped up. I'm tremendously proud of how everyone around me played. And it's on me to perform better. People stepped up in big moments when they were supposed to. And we had chances, had opportunities. And at the end of the day I didn't get the ball into the end zone. And that's on me.”
The combination of replacements Agiye Hall, Traeshon Holden and Ja’Corey Brooks had 14 catches but also had several drops, creating the idea of what might have been had Williams finished the game.
“I think these kinds of experiences are invaluable in terms of – the thing that's tough about it is we played some guys tonight that didn't get to play much during the season. So they didn't have much experience going in,” Saban said.
“And they had some opportunities and they made some plays. And I'm sure that will help their confidence. And they'll grow and learn from this. And it will be a positive experience for them and their development in the future.”
With the loss, Alabama fell to 9-4 all time in playoff games, dating back to 2014. Georgia also became the first third seed to win the national title since the CFP began in 2014.