Welcome to Before The Snap, For The Win’s college football series where we’ll break down the sport’s trending storylines, examine each week’s biggest matchups and track the College Football Playoff and Heisman Trophy races.
The second College Football Playoff semifinal this season pits No. 1 Georgia against No. 4 Ohio State in the Peach Bowl on New Year’s Eve (8 p.m. ET, ESPN), and unsurprisingly, the Bulldogs enter as solid favorites over the Buckeyes — though both teams have Heisman Trophy finalist quarterbacks.
As we explain on the latest Before The Snap, for Georgia to win, it simply has to keep doing what it’s been doing as the clear top team this season. The Bulldogs’ defense doesn’t give up much on the ground (77 yards per game), and if it can force Buckeyes quarterback C.J. Stroud into making some mistakes, their offense could run away with this game.
On the other side, Ohio State needs to score early and often, and Stroud needs to connect with Marvin Harrison Jr. as much as possible. If the Buckeyes fall into an early deficit, against Georgia’s defense, they probably will struggle to catch back up.
