For the first time since the 1980 college football season, UGA Football has been crowned National Champion. The victory came over the Alabama Crimson Tide, who had beaten the Bulldogs soundly back in early December.
Despite the ugly SEC title game loss, though, Georgia was actually “expected” to get revenge this time around. Following a dominant semifinal performance, they were given a slim favoring in the point spread. Many thought that the Dawgs would defy such an expectation, and they were right. However, they were wrong as to exactly how they would do so.
In a game that failed to get cooking until the second half, neither team had been seeing a hefty lead. With under 10 minutes to go in the affair, UGA Football only held a 1-point advantage. It was at that moment that the Bulldogs remembered the true lethality of their defense.
The Defense Was the Main Thing for UGA Football All Season Long
For the entirety of the 2021-22 college football season, the Dawgs had been seen as a defensive bunch. While their offense under quarterback Stetson Bennett was decent, the defense was great.
However, the Bulldogs had really failed to make an impact with such a reputation. The reason for this was, despite the fact that Alabama had scored very little, viewers gave the Tide’s offensive play-calling more criticism than they gave UGA’s defensive prowess praise. But that all changed in Bama’s drive following Georgia’s go-ahead score.
Backed up some against the wall, the Crimson Tide laid one heck of an egg offensively. The best that they could do on their retaliating drive was lose two yards on a 3-and-out. And just like that, UGA Football had the ball back.
Stetson Bennett Silences the Critics
As previously established, the Georgia offense had failed to make a true impression all year long. Fans and pundits alike went as far as to say that the decision at QB was to blame for this. Again, Stetson Bennett led a good offense, but not a great one. It was to a degree where many thought that fellow UGA quarterback JT Daniels could lead a better one. But alas, against the better judgment of all the doubters, the Dawgs remained all in on Bennett.
Mere hours before the national championship game, Fox Sports 1 personality Colin Cowherd got one more jab in at Bennett. On his show The Herd, Cowherd questioned UGA’s ability to top Bama in their rematch. His reason? Stetson Bennett.
He dared his audience to name one time where an “average” quarterback beat Tide HC Nick Saban on a neutral field. He tied a bow on the challenge by saying that Bennett was average, so a Georgia win was not going to happen. Boy, was he wrong about that.
On the night, Stetson Bennett threw for 224 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. His first passing score was to make the score 19-18, the second was to make it 26-18 with under four minutes to spare. Not bad for an “average” quarterback.
The Dawgs Iced the Game in the Best Way Possible
With only a few minutes to go in the affair, Alabama fans nationwide felt the sweat begin to bead on the backs of their necks. However, if any team is going to perform well under pressure, it’s Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide.
The clock was ticking and the Tide offense was marching, as QB Bryce Young took the snap at Georgia’s 44-yard-line with just over a minute to go. Feeling the heat of the UGA defense, he threw an uncontested interception to Bulldogs defensive back Kelee Ringo. With a convoy of blockers at his aid, Ringo took the pick a whopping 79 yards to the house, handing the Tide a 2-score deficit with a mere 54 seconds to work with. That’s when America knew that the game was over.
A sloppy turnover on downs later, and the Georgia Bulldogs were officially college football’s 2022 National Champions, with the final score reading 33-18.
One Final Takeaway for UGA Football
What no one should be denying about the outcome of this college football season is that the best team won the title. Georgia looked like the best team throughout the entire regular-season stretch and even spent a good deal of it ranked No. 1 in the country. To combine that with two convincing wins over top-tier powers like Michigan and Alabama in the CFP (avenging their sole loss with the latter victory), the Bulldogs were far and away the most deserving of the sport’s highest honor.
With all of that said, congratulations to head coach Kirby Smart and the 2021-22 Georgia Bulldogs football team. It was an outstanding season, and their goal today should be to celebrate. Nevertheless, their goal tomorrow will be to start preparing to do it all again.
