FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Everyone talks about Georgia's defense, considered historically dominant until Alabama dinged it. Everyone talks about Michigan's dynamic defensive bookends, Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo. Everyone talks about Kirby Smart, still chasing the big one. Everyone talks about Jim Harbaugh, who won a big one just in time for bigger ones.
You talk long enough about these punishing teams that meet in the CFP semifinal Friday night at the Orange Bowl, you might eventually get to two guys accustomed to being overlooked, both here by unconventional means. Cade McNamara has found his place as Michigan's quarterback, the feisty leader he knew he could become, even if others didn't. Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett has grown beyond a place-holder, a plucky former walk-on who displaced five-star JT Daniels and led the Bulldogs to the No. 1 ranking most of the season.
If it seems like an unusual matchup, it is. The college football playoff has become a showcase for quarterback stars and future No. 1 picks. Recent championships generally have been won by whoever throws it better, from Alabama's Mac Jones to LSU's Joe Burrow to Clemson's Trevor Lawrence to Alabama's Jalen Hurts (and Tua Tagovailoa) to Clemson's Deshaun Watson. In the other semifinal in the Cotton Bowl Friday, two more likely first-round picks will lead Alabama (Heisman winner Bryce Young) and Cincinnati (Desmond Ridder).
The last time a non-starry "game-manager" quarterback won the national title was Alabama's Jake Coker in 2015, and we assume Nick Saban did that just to prove he could. If "game-manager" wasn't considered an insulting term, it's what you'd call McNamara and Bennett. McNamara steps aside a few times per game for five-star freshman J.J. McCarthy, then steps right back in. Bennett played so poorly in the 41-24 SEC championship loss to Alabama, there are suggestions he could be replaced by Daniels.
Strength on strength: UM's power run game collides with Georgia's stingy defense
Smart is resisting that suggestion, although if the Bulldogs reach halftime Friday night without much production, you can bet he'll pull the trigger. You also can bet Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Josh Gattis will let McNamara pull the trigger when necessary. Whatever he may lack in arm strength, he compensates with cleverness.
"They're a dominant defense, but we ourselves have a really good offense — physical physicality is the brand of football we play here," receiver Mike Sainristill said Monday. "Cade might not be as mobile as A-Rodg (Aaron Rodgers), but sometimes I joke around and call him Baby A-Rodg because of the way he moves around in the pocket."
If there's a secret sauce to Michigan's 12-1 renaissance, it's a cohesiveness that engenders selflessness, allowing the offense to use three running backs — Hassan Haskins, Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards — and multiple tight ends and receivers. When leading receiver Ronnie Bell went down with a knee injury in the opener, everyone wondered how the unranked Wolverines would break big plays. Well, they lead the nation in plays of 50-plus yards (17) and seven players have multiple touchdown receptions.
The offensive line has been powerful and McNamara has thrown four interceptions in 308 attempts. He's topped 200 yards passing only four times in 13 games, generally by design, not deficiency.
Game-manager? More like a game-choreographer.
"Cade's leadership skills are phenomenal, a guy that really makes everyone around him better because they have tremendous faith and belief in him," Gattis said. "When you have two players like Cade and J.J., just the unselfishness has allowed us to be where we are today. When you're playing multiple quarterbacks, that can either make or break your team. Cade specifically, that's really kind of his DNA. He's the old-school junkyard dog. He's going to scrap for everything."
Similar things have been said about Bennett, who rarely was called upon for clutch throws as Georgia won 11 of its first 12 games by 17 or more. Then came the Alabama clash, where Bennett was 29-for-48 with two interceptions. He had thrown only 11 fourth-quarter passes all season before firing 19 times in the final quarter against the Crimson Tide. Smart noted a couple "bonehead" decisions, and also noted he has full confidence in Bennett.
For the record, Bennett is fourth in the nation in passing efficiency and McNamara is 54th. And yet when anyone suggests Georgia is vulnerable, it inevitably comes down to the quarterback, and McNamara has been scorching down the stretch.
Bennett was fourth string in the spring and kept rising. When he replaced the injured Daniels in week four, the Bulldogs were rolling behind their defense, so there wasn't reason to shake up the offense. Bennett does have a running dimension (251 yards rushing) that complements backs Zamir White and James Cook.
But Bennett tends to be shaky against a strong pass rush, which makes Hutchinson and Ojabo hungry, and Bulldogs fans nervous. At least until they go back to counting up their stars and stats — No. 1 in the country in scoring defense (9.5 ppg), No. 1 in total defense (254.4).
If Michigan is to prevail, it'll take more than slugging it out. The Bulldogs have a massive front seven, anchored by 6-6 Jordan Davis, and by one estimate have 17 future NFL picks on their roster. But the Wolverines' offense has grown and evolved, partly because it was forced to. They run more misdirection and flea-flickers and can throw to every corner of the field, which is key because the secondary is the purported weak link on Georgia's defense.
"They're very creative on offense and they do a great job attacking poor eye discipline," said Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning, who will become Oregon's head coach after the season. "There's multiple plays they use to set up the next play whether it be play-action runs, whether it be their misdirection game with reverses. They do a great job utilizing trick plays to get the ball down the field."
That goes back to McNamara, who earned Gattis' trust, who earned Harbaugh's trust. The molding and melding of styles by Harbaugh and Gattis has been fascinating. It's not all smashmouth, that's for sure. Michigan is 12th in the nation in scoring, 18th in total offense. Georgia is seventh and 27th.
This won't be a 10-3 fistfight. (Maybe a 23-20 fistfight.) ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit wonders if all the talk of power and punch will be overshadowed by quarterbacks not expected to be here.
"Cade McNamara, I tip my cap to the guy," Herbstreit said. "There's probably a lot of people who don't follow the Big Ten or Michigan who didn't know anything about Cade McNamara. Nobody nationally talks about the job he has done, the leadership he's displayed."
Nationally, nobody talks much about Bennett either. Unless, of course, they're fans talking (loudly) about replacing him.
"I remember when (Bennett) came in for (D'Wan Mathis last year) and I didn't know who he was, and respectfully, he looked like just a little guy," Herbstreit said. "I think people have doubted him. His whole time he's been there, it's provided this chip that we've learned to love about his game."
Bennett (5-11) is undersized and perhaps underappreciated, same as McNamara (6-1). Michigan and Georgia have similar identities and similar strengths that are easy to notice. But when the big fellas are done mashing and cancelling each other out, it just might be the relatively unnoticed doing the most notable.
