Georgia 24 Cincinnati 21. 10 thoughts on the Georgia win over Cincinnati in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
Georgia 24 Cincinnati 21: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
10. Of course Georgia cared.
The whole “SEC team doesn’t care” narrative when it comes to bowl games outside of the College Football Playoff is misguided. Remember, the SEC is going to make up about 25% of the NFL Draft, like it always does.
Of course there are going to be more key players ready to move on to the next level – or at least thinking about it – and of course that makes a difference in a non-CFP bowl game.
Also, yeah, SEC teams that lose the conference championship game – those teams really do think College Football Playoff or bust – don’t play as well when their hearts get ripped out.
That wasn’t the case in this for Georgia, and while there were opt-outs, there weren’t enough to make a massive difference – at least compared to Florida’s issues vs. Oklahoma. Georgia cared, and Cincinnati was just that good.
𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙋𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙮 🍑🍑🍑#ATD | #GoDawgs | #CFAPeachBowl pic.twitter.com/FXp7mYHHao
— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) January 1, 2021
9. Don’t read anything more into the performance by Cincinnati than what it was.
Of course this Bearcat team can play with and hang around with the top teams, but that was never the point. As always, it’s about the long haul of a Power Five conference schedule against Power Five conference talent.
Again, though, don’t make too much more out of this than the 2021 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl being a blast. Once you start trying to take it into something else, it’s all disappointing.
8. Not having Gerrid Doaks mattered.
The Cincinnati running game had one big 79-yard Jerome Ford touchdown run to open up the second half, and that was about it. QB Desmond Ridder couldn’t get free, and there weren’t any big runs outside of the Ford dash, especially in the second half.
Doaks was UC’s best back and leading rusher, and while Ford is more than fine, the team needed another option for the ground attack.
7. Not having James Cook didn’t matter, because …
The Cincinnati run defense was amazing. Georgia second-leading rusher James Cook didn’t play after the loss of his father a few days before, but that wasn’t the issue.
The Georgia offensive front couldn’t generate anything of a push, there were problems keeping JT Daniels from getting hit, and the Bulldogs only ran for 45 yards averaging fewer than two yards per carry. Georgia’s offense was all about …
NEXT: Top Six Thoughts From The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
6. JT Daniels is just that good.
He was under pressure way too often and had to do way too much to try carrying the offense, and yet he still pulled it off.
He completed 26-of-38 passes for 392 yards with a touchdown, an interception, and a fumble. With no running game to rely on, and with the deep ball not really working, this was a grind of a performance for Daniels and the Georgia offense, but when he had to look and play like an NFL quarterback with fewer than two minutes to go and needing to drive for the win, he did it.
5. THAT was a big-time defensive performance by the Bearcats.
The defense was able to do a little of everything as defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman threw everything at the Bulldogs. There were different formations, different parts flying at JT Daniels, and the team simply held up against the big, bad SEC offensive line.
The Bearcats weren’t missing tackles, they were always a step ahead, and they kept bringing the heat right up until the very end. Unfortunately …
4. Cincinnati clock management at the end wasn’t a plus.
It was a tough situation with a whole lot of crazy things happening, but Cincinnati got the ball back up two with about four minutes to play. It came up with a first down, and it had a third-and-short to end the game, but the O seemed more focused on making the play happen than it was about grinding down the clock.
There were two instances when the clock could’ve wound down at least another ten seconds. None of it would’ve mattered if Desmond Ridder had put just a little more air under the key third down pass that was broken up, but Georgia was given just a little extra time.
NEXT: Top Three Thoughts From The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
3. The kick …
How do you replace a legend like Rodrigo Blankenship? How about you calmly blast a 53-yard field goal straight and true to win the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl?
Jack Podlesny hit three field goals, but in as pressure-packed a moment as possible, he walked up, drove through it, and boom – he came through to save the Georgia season narrative and get the win in a tough, tough game. The sophomore hit 10-of-13 field goal on the year and all 37 of his extra points before this game. Now he’s had a moment every kicker dreams of.
DAWGS ON TOP 🔥
Jack Podlesny hits a career-long 53-yard FG to cap the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl comeback for Georgia! pic.twitter.com/eMPZjKbW3f
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 1, 2021
2. Georgia went 8-2
It was a tough fight against a strong Cincinnati team that brought everything it had to this bowl. It was a tough day for the Georgia running game, it was a tough game to fight back, and it was a tough performance to end the season on a high note.
It wasn’t a College Football Playoff season, and Georgia has the talent and ability to be national title good every year, but the losses to Alabama and Florida were before JT Daniels took over and six of the final seven games were away from Athens – but, of course, this was in Atlanta.
In a year when LSU was lousy, big name programs like Michigan and Penn State were lousy, and nothing seemed to quite work right overall, 8-2 with a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl win? That’s just fine. It’s not where Georgia could or should be, but it was solid.
1. There’s one narrative here from the 2021 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl …
It was a blast.
It’s the job of dopey people like me to take games like this and come up with a whole “But what does it MEAN?” thing. For this, it was this simple.
It was a whale of a game.
Cincinnati proved it could hang with a team loaded with NFL talent, and even in a loss proved it was really, really good.
Georgia showed the type of defense in the second half and the hope in JT Daniels to get fired up for what could happen in 2021.
In a miserable bowl season, this new year started out with a thriller that came down to the final seconds and a bomb of a field goal to win. The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl did what it was supposed to.
