Former AJC Player of the Year among 14 players from Georgia on CFP semifinals rosters

Fourteen former Georgia high school players — including four starters and one All-American — are members of College Football Playoff semifinal teams Texas, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Penn State.

Notre Dame defeated Penn State Thursday night in the Orange Bowl in Miami. Texas plays Ohio State on Friday night in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

The best Georgia player is Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, a consensus All-American. Downs was the AJC’s all-classification player of the year in 2022 after leading for Mill Creek to a state championship.

Also playing prominently in Ohio State’s secondary will be Jordan Hancock, a nickel back from North Gwinnett. Hancock was a first-team all-state player in 2019.

Two other Georgia players are playoff semifinal starters. One is a true freshman, Roswell’s Anthonie Knapp, who is Notre Dame’s left tackle. Knapp was a first-team all-state player in 2023, but he was only a three-star recruit. It is rare for true freshmen to start on the offensive line for national-title contenders.

“There are suddenly a lot of Irish fans in Roswell,” said Chris Prewett, Knapp’s coach at Roswell. “Everybody has asked me this all season: Did I expect him to play (this early)? And I say yes, I thought he’d find a way somehow. He has the best work ethic and mentality. If you tell him he can’t, he’ll prove you wrong.”

The other Georgia starter is Texas wide receiver Isaiah Bond of Buford. Bond is Texas’ third-leading receiver with 33 receptions for 532 yards. Bond was a top-100 national recruit who played two seasons at Alabama before transferring this season.

Here are the 14 Georgia players on semifinal rosters:

Notre Dame

WR Deion Colzie, Athens Academy

OL Anthonie Knapp, Roswell

DL Cole Mullins, Mill Creek

WR Jayden Thomas, Pace Academy

Ohio State

WR Kojo Antwi, Lambert

TE Bennett Christian, Allatoona

S Caleb Downs, Mill Creek

CB Jordan Hancock, North Gwinnett

DE Eddrick Houston, Buford

DL Kayden McDonald, North Gwinnett

OL Seth McLaughlin, Buford (injured)

Note: QB Air Noland and TE Jelani Thurman were Ohio State team members this season but entered the transfer portal last month.

Penn State