Stetson Bennett waved his cigar like a conductor’s baton as he made his means by way of the confetti and cameras to the SoFi Stadium stage to rejoice his second straight nationwide championship at Georgia.
The highest participant in Bennett’s orchestra Monday night time was Brock Bowers, and the California-born tight finish made candy music together with his oh-so-Georgia quarterback to grab one other title for these magnificent Bulldogs.
Bennett’s outstanding reference to Bowers was on show throughout the Dawgs’ 65-7 demolition of TCU, and that chemistry performed a serious position in ensuring the Bulldogs turned champions once more.
“It’s particular,” Bennett stated. “It looks as if for the previous three or 4 months we’ve been seeking to see if somebody may beat us, and we simply ran out of video games. No person may.”
Bowers completed with seven catches for 152 yards and a landing from Bennett, together with a 22-yard TD catch that firmly shut the door on the Horned Frogs within the third quarter of this epic blowout. Bennett handed for 304 yards and 4 touchdowns whereas working for 2 extra scores.
Bennett walked on at Georgia almost six years in the past on the beginning of its progress into faculty soccer’s most dominant program. He walked away early within the fourth quarter to a standing ovation from 1000’s of grateful Bulldogs followers throughout a timeout.
“In all probability had the perfect recreation of his profession, for my part,” Georgia coach Kirby Sensible stated. “With among the checks he made, among the decisions he made, simply actually elite.”
Whereas Bennett’s unlikely journey traces the trail of the Bulldogs’ latest previous, Bowers epitomizes Georgia’s current and future as a powerhouse group stacked with very good abilities who’ve identified nothing however championships for 2 unbelievable years.
Bennett is greater than 5 years older than Bowers, however the quarterback has bridged that modest technology hole to type a partnership that acquired one final national showcase in Inglewood.
Within the first half, Bennett turned the primary participant in Georgia’s prolonged historical past to rack up 4,000 complete yards of offense over his profession with loads of assist from Bowers. He additionally broke Aaron Murray’s single-season yards passing file for the Bulldogs within the first half, an acceptable punctuation to a season wherein the Bulldogs broke open offenses early with passing earlier than working their strategy to victories.
“For Stetson, for it to be his second yr and persons are nonetheless doubting him? For individuals to be doubting the Mailman? I don’t see why,” Georgia defensive lineman Zion Logue stated. “He’s a hell of a quarterback. He’s taking place in Georgia historical past as among the finest quarterbacks to ever do it.”
Bennett is older than 5 beginning quarterbacks for present NFL playoff groups and he completed 29-3 as a starter at Georgia. Bennett joined Matt Leinart and A.J. McCarron as the one quarterbacks to steer their groups to back-to-back nationwide championships within the twenty first century when Georgia turned simply the fourth group to repeat since 1980.
Bennett’s teammates and coaches have been already weighing his place in Georgia’s historical past moments after the ultimate whistle.
“I feel he goes down as the highest,” stated receiver Ladd McConkey, who had 5 catches for 88 yards and two TDs. “Two nationwide championships again to again. Confirmed up in each means potential. Yeah, he’s accomplished a lot for this program. I feel he ought to exit on high.”
Bowers’ choice to maneuver from Northern California to Athens and his subsequent progress right into a soccer juggernaut inspiring comparisons to Travis Kelce is a chief illustration of what Georgia has turn into up to now few seasons — a nationwide powerhouse that may snare gamers from each nook of the map and switch all of them into stars.
Bowers, a 6-foot-4 multi-sport athlete with freakish pace for his dimension, has been a spectacular success since arriving at Georgia in 2021. He has led the Bulldogs in receiving for 2 straight years, taking part in a number of roles and inflicting innumerable complications for opposing defenses together with his energy, pace and flexibility.
Till late within the third quarter of the title recreation, Bowers had extra yards receiving than TCU’s offense had complete yards.