For much of the 2021 college football season, the Georgia quarterback situation has been a hot topic.
USC transfer JT Daniels began the year under center for the Bulldogs, but backup Stetson Bennett played for an injured Daniels in Georgia’s week two win over UAB, throwing for five touchdowns. Daniels returned the following week for the South Carolina game, but a lat injury gave Bennett an opportunity to win the job in the following weeks.
Bennett played mistake-free football in wins over No. 8 Arkansas and No. 18 Auburn, cementing his status as starting quarterback for the remainder of the season. But with a five-star quarterback riding the pine, the question of whether Daniels gave Georgia the better chance to be successful always remained.
With Georgia suffering its first loss of the season to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, Bennett’s seat appeared to grow warmer, with some calling for Daniels to get the start in Georgia’s semifinal matchup against Michigan on Friday, December 31st.
Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken put any doubt as to who will be the Bulldogs starting quarterback to rest on Tuesday.
“If you look at the plays he’s made, he’s made national championship plays. He has,” Monken said of Bennett. “You turn on the film and look at some of the throws he makes, the decisions he makes, the things he does with his feet. There’s no doubt in my mind we can win the national championship. There’s no doubt in my mind we can win it with Stetson Bennett.”
Monken praised Bennett for taking advantage of his opportunity when Daniels went down with injuries early in the season, saying that Bennett gives the Bulldogs the best chance to win.
“It wasn’t really anything JT did, it was more along the lines of what Stetson did that we thought gave us the best chance to win,” Monken said. “His mobility in the run game and the pass game when things break down, we believe give us the best chance to win. It just happened where Stetson got an opportunity, took advantage of that opportunity, we continued to win. It never really ended up flipping the other way.”
Georgia has arrived in Miami ahead of the Orange Bowl, and is making sure to take precautions as COVID-19 continues to impact the college football bowl season.
“Definitely excited to be in Miami, but as we all know, it’s a hot spot for COVID,” defensive tackle Jordan Davis said. “We just have to make sure that we protect ourselves and wear our masks, and just enjoy the moment. Obviously, bowl week is a great time for team chemistry and getting to know each other a little bit better than we already do. We’re just excited to be here and have fun in Miami.”
Last week, the College Football Playoff Management Committee announced their COVID-19 postseason policies, including the actions that will be taken if a playoff team has an “insufficient number of athletes” to field a team due to COVID-19 issues for the two semifinals games and the national championship matchup.
According to the CFP committee, the two semifinal games will not be rescheduled if one or both teams are unable to play due to COVID-19. If one team cannot play, “the unavailable team shall forfeit the game and its opponent would advance to the national championship game.”
In the event that neither team is able to field a team, the game will be ruled a “no contest” and the winner of the other semifinal matchup will be declared the college football national champion.
For the national championship game, the committee has allowed for the game to be rescheduled, but it cannot be played later than January 14.
Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].
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