Correction: A prior version of this article incorrectly reported the University of Georgia’s enrollment.
The very stroke of midnight.
It was 12:00:00 a.m. Sunday when a failed field-goal attempt hit the turf at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The University of Georgia football team had a hard-fought victory to celebrate the moment when balls dropped all over the East Coast to ring in 2023. Potential agony of a last-second loss instantly became ecstasy. The new year rang in with confetti raining inside the stadium. It fell in euphoria on Georgia and in misery on Ohio State.
For it was exactly then that Georgia secured a return trip to the College Football Playoff Championship game with a dramatic 42-41 victory over Ohio State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Georgia has a chance to defend its national title, something few teams have done in college football history.
Take a deep breath Georgia. That’s only one down. There is, however, still one more to go.
No. 1 Georgia will play No. 3 TCU for the national title on Jan. 9 at SoFi Stadium in California. The Horned Frogs upset No. 2 Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl, a 51-45 winner in the other national semifinal.
Just after the clock struck midnight, Georgia coach Kirby Smart wanted his team to celebrate, if only for a little while. There is more work to be done.
“Our players have had a long season and a long week of practice this week,” Smart said after the victory. “I want them to get away, remember what they’re fighting for and come back rejuvenated and ready to go because this is what you do it for.”
Let that dramatic victory be cause for celebration if only for a short time.
Georgia trailed by 14 points in both the first and the second half. The Bulldogs scored touchdowns on their final two possessions, the last on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Stetson Bennett to Adonai Mitchell with 54 seconds remaining. The game-winner was set up by a 35-yard pass from Bennett to Kearis Jackson.
With just less than a minute to play, Ohio State drove to the Georgia 32-yard line. With eight seconds left, they attempted a 50-yard field goal. It was never close, sailing well wide left of the uprights. Georgia had three seconds left to take a knee in victory formation before the confetti storm.
Bennet doesn’t remember what he said in the huddle before the game-winning drive, only that Georgia hadn’t played its best and there was still time to make it right.
“Just looking at everybody and saying, all right, hey, we haven’t played our best, and we haven’t done our jobs to the best of our ability, but we’re here now. It’s in our hands now. Defense stood up whenever we needed them to. Where else would you rather be? Having the ball with two minutes left, and if you score a touchdown, you win the game. I looked around, and there was just a whole bunch of just determined, strong stares from all the dudes. It gave me confidence, and everybody else had confidence when we went down the field.”
If only it were that simple.
Georgia has won 16 consecutive games, beginning with last season’s CFP semifinal win over Michigan. In its next game, Georgia would avenge its SEC Championship game loss to Alabama the game to win its first national championship since 1980. Now, there is a chance to go back-to-back.
“Really, I know you don’t believe it, my heart goes out to those guys because they played well enough to win,” Smart said of Ohio State. “That’s not my concern. My concern is the men in our locker room. We played well enough to win, too – just well enough to win.”
That’s all Georgia needed.
With the national championship game set, here is what you need to know:
Georgia vs. TCU
What: College Football Playoff Championship game
Date: Jan. 9 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California
Time: Kickoff is 8:15 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Opening line: The early betting line has Georgia as a 13.5-point favorite. Don’t tell Kirby Smart.
Georgia: The Bulldogs are 14-0 this season, including a victory in the SEC Championship game. They are the No. 1 seed in the CFP. A public university located in Athens with a student enrollment of 40,607. They have been ranked all season long.
TCU: The Horned Frogs are 13-1 this season, with their lone loss coming to Kansas State in the Big 12 championship game. They are the No. 3 seed in the CFP. A private university located in Fort Worth, Texas, with a student enrollment of about 10,500. They weren’t ranked until the sixth week of the season.
Head-to-head: Georgia and TCU have been four times with the Bulldogs winning all previous matchups. Georgia won 40-26 in the 1942 Orange Bowl, 34-3 in 1980 in Athens, 38-10 in 1988 in Athens and 31-23 in the 2016 Liberty Bowl.
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