On a cloudy, rainy day here in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the 8th ranked University of Cincinnati Bearcats faced off against the 9th ranked University of Georgia Bulldogs in the 2021 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
In a close, wild game near the end, Georgia defeated Cincinnati 24-21 to close out a memorable 2020 season, to say the least. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart spoke after the game about the victory and what it means to win the Peach Bowl after such a crazy, stressful, weird season during the COVID pandemic.
“Well, I’m certainly proud of our team,” said Smart. “I’m proud of the adversity we went through throughout the year with the pandemic. I don’t think we played our best game today. My hat is off to Cincinnati. They did a really good job of defensively controlling our run game, and offensively keeping us off balance enough with their quarterback run game, which we knew he was a good athlete, a good runner.” Smart added “I’m really proud of these guys, how hard they fought. I don’t think anybody really truly understands, not just Georgia, but how hard it was on entire college football to be persistent, to go this long, practice this long. My hat goes off to the guys in the room.”
It was a game of runs or flash in the pan drives for both teams. Georgia would have success for a drive, then they’d struggle. Cincinnati would have success for a drive, then they’d fall apart and not be able to get anything going. There were times when it felt like this game was going to be a track meet and other times where one wondered if either team would be able to score again. Then the final two drives of the game, what an ending.
With 2:54 left in the game, after both teams had exchanged punts, Cincinnati was leading 21-19 and had gotten the ball back with the potential to close out and win the game. All they needed was to drain the clock and get a first down to win the game. Unfortunately, like throughout most of the second half, the Bearcats were unable to get anything going offensively. Facing a 3rd & 2, Cincinnati elected to roll quarterback Desmond Ridder out to the right and attempt a pass down the field. His pass sailed high over his intended receiver and fell incomplete and the Bearcats were forced to punt the ball to Georgia with 1:28 left in the fourth quarter.
With 1:25 left to play and no timeouts, Georgia started their drive at their 20-yard line. Quarterback JT Daniels rattled off five straight completions to get Georgia to the Cincinnati 36-yard line with 15 seconds left. It looked like Georgia would need to pick up at least a few more yards as they were right on the edge of field goal range for kicker Jack Podlesny and if they were forced to attempt a field goal, it’d be a bit risky. On the next two plays, Daniels’s passes fell incomplete, which was probably a good thing because had either of them been completed, Georgia might’ve run out of time.
With no more options, Georgia sent out Podlesny to attempt a potential game-winning 53-yard field goal with seven seconds left in the game. Podlesny came on to the field and with an air of routine calmness and coolness, drilled the 53-yard field goal to take a 22-21 lead. Probably would’ve been good from 54 or 55 yards. The Georgia sideline erupted with excitement and euphoria and players ran onto the field to celebrate but there were still three seconds left on the clock. In the end, that didn’t matter.
Cincinnati got the ball back backed up on their own 2-yard line and the Georgia defense swarmed Ridder and sacked him in the end zone for a safety to end the game. After the game, Smart spoke about Podlesny’s game-winning kick.
“I don’t mess with Jack,” said Smart. “I don’t mess with kickers. I let them do their thing. I don’t want to mess with their mojo, their rhythm. I don’t say anything to them. I messed with him a few days in practice, but I didn’t mess with him here today. I felt comfortable with where he was that he would have the leg strength to get there. That’s about the spot that we work on it every week during two minute, that I say, Hey if we get to that spot, we’re going to be able to make the field goal.”
Podlesny spoke after about the kick and what went through his head during the entire process.
“I just had faith in our defense and offense that they would stop the other team,” said Podlesny. “I told coach before the game, I was good inside 55, 54 yards. Our offense drove. Once we kind of got there, I tried to slow my breathing because I didn’t want to rush anything, I didn’t want to overcompensate for anything. Snap from Payne Walker and hold from Jake, unbelievable. I tried to follow through with the kick and it went in.”
In the first quarter, it definitely seemed like this game was going to be a high scoring affair. Cincinnati struck first with a seven-play, 42-yard drive, culminated by a 12-yard touchdown pass from Ridder to wide receiver Alec Pierce. Georgia followed that drive up with a five-play, 44-yard drive ending with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Daniels to wide receiver George Pickens. Georgia also added a 37-yard field goal from Podlesny and took a 10-7 lead with 3:46 left to play in the second quarter. That left a bit too much time on the clock for the Cincinnati offense.
Cincinnati went on a nine-play, 75-yard drive that drained 3:40 off the clock and ended in an 11-yard touchdown pass from Ridder to tight end Josh Whyle with six seconds left. This gave the Bearcats a 14-10 lead headed into halftime and the opportunity to double up coming out of halftime into the third quarter, as they would start the quarter on offense. And did they ever.
On Cincinnati’s first offensive play to start the third quarter, Ridder completed a pass to running back Ryan Montgomery for a four-yard loss, putting them in 2nd & 14. On second down, running back Jerome Ford took the handoff up the middle, off the left side and burst through the Georgia defense and sprinted down the field for a 79-yard touchdown. This gave Cincinnati a 21-10 lead and it really felt like Georgia was going to be blown out. In reality, though, that was not the case.
After that score, both teams tightened up defensively and made self-inflicted mistakes offensively to go scoreless for the rest of the third quarter. It wasn’t until Georgia forced and recovered a fumble deep in Cincinnati territory at their 25-yard line. Two plays later, Georgia running back Zamir White ran in for a nine-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 21-16, after the failed two-point conversion attempt. That score was the first of the 14-0 run Georgia went on to close out and win the game.
Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell spoke after the game about the loss and the overall emotions surrounding it.
“Obviously like I told our guys, very disappointing when you come out so close, but it’s not — we’re not disappointed,” said Fickell. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of — I say the seniors all the time, but how proud I am of all these guys and all the different circumstances and all the things that have gone on not just this year but especially in the last probably month and a half, and how these guys have handled it and continued to move forward and take care of one another is what this game is really all about. It hurts. Every one of those guys in there hurts because they care so much and they have worked so hard and sacrificed, and it is what it is. We’ll be better because of it.”
Cincinnati ends a successful regular season on a bit of a down note with this loss, after a season filled with them trying to show the power brokers that be that they deserve to be in the College Football Playoff conversation. Unfortunately, with this loss, the Bearcats are likely headed back to the drawing board and will start at square one next season.
With this win, Georgia closes out an odd, stressful and difficult 2020 college football season, a season unlike any other, on a high note. They’ll hopefully be able to take this momentum and all the work they’ve put into next season, to get themselves back in the College Football Playoff Championship.
