Second-half Junkyard Dawgs? Georgia defense comes alive to bottle up Bearcats
Georgia’s defense came on strong in the second half as it helped the Bulldogs offense bounce back from a four-point halftime deficit, as Georgia got a late field goal to deliver a 24-21 victory in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta.
Georgia trailed 21-10 in the game, but got eight sacks in the game, and the defense made key sacks down the stretch to get the ball back to the offense, and then preserve the win with a sack for a safety with two seconds remaining. It also helped Georgia that Cincinnati had 11 penalties in the game. Georgia survived despite going 1-for-11 on third downs.
Called a measuring stick by Cincinnati, and plenty of fans of underdogs around college football liked Cincinnati pulling off the upset against blue blood Georgia, and the “vaunted” SEC. But a last-second game-winning kick squashed those hopes for the Bearcats.
Here’s a sampling of the reaction:
Exciting, tough win for Georgia against an excellent Cincinnati team. Glad seniors got the win to finish the season. Record (8-2) would have been a lot better had Vanderbilt not bailed out twice and had JT Daniels started at QB all season. #georgiabulldogs
— Mark Gruskin (@grudz2) January 1, 2021
@GoBearcatsFB Cincinnati just showed the worst clock management in the final three minutes that I have ever seen. Georgia did NOT deserve that win.
— Chris Balck (@chrisbalck) January 1, 2021
Cincinnati looking great in its College Football Playoff quarterfinal matchup with Georgia. If the Bearcats hold on they’ll head to the semifinals and play the winner of …
oh, damn. nevermind.
— Yahoo Sports College Football (@YahooSportsCFB) January 1, 2021
I’ll try to make this short and sweet about Cincinnati since they are playing so well today:
The Bearcats are a great team, and when the playoff eventually expands, the Group of 5 champ will get in, and they will be destroyed in a meaningful game. What will we say then?
— Owen (@Alakazam_428) January 1, 2021
Nothing makes me happier in this sport than watching the “vaunted SEC” getting beat by a group of 5 team. Go Bearcats!!!
— BourbondyandGold🥃🥃 (@OLineAdvocate73) January 1, 2021
Cincinnati going into the fourth quarter up 21-10 on UGA in Atlanta. If this keeps up, the CFP Committee might drop the Bearcats out of the Top 10 for this.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) January 1, 2021
(Another) big stop for the Dawgs’ defense. This time Cincy actually punts it.
HUGE possession for Georgia, starting at their own 25-yard line. Down 21-16, 8:59 remaining.
— 960 The Ref (@960theref) January 1, 2021
Big dawgs are huntin’ bearcats now, they have no answer for Georgia’s mean and big ass man defense.
— ARH (@ChiTownTiger) January 1, 2021
Dawgs Defense much more inspired in 2nd half. Got to give them credit!
— Michael S. Foster (@Foster_Football) January 1, 2021
When Georgia started to lose to the team from Group of 5, Bulldogs fans began to write that Georgia doesn’t care #PeachBowl
— Red Cloud (@RedCloud1988) January 1, 2021
Remember folks, if Georgia wins, the Group of 5 sucks and doesn’t deserve playoff consideration.
And if Cinci wins, Georgia didn’t want to be there anyway so it doesn’t count
— Eric Ault (@ctrlaultdelete1) January 1, 2021
the cfp committee while cincinnati dogs georgia: pic.twitter.com/bMenvdcIdH
— CJ Shaeffer 🇵🇭🇺🇸 (@cjshaeffer) January 1, 2021
Just spoke to a head coach who brought up a great point about Cincinnati. “You know what sucks about this system? Cincinnati has to win today in order to be considered for the College Football Playoff *next* year.”
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 1, 2021
The good thing is that we got this Peach Bowl instead of Cincinnati in a six or eight team playoff that would Ruin The Regular Season
— Steven Godfrey (@38Godfrey) January 1, 2021
The thing about people who always argue teams like Cincinnati would just get rolled if the Playoff let them in is most of them don’t actually watch Cincinnati.
Also, some P5 team gets rolled in the Playoff every year anyway.
— David Ubben (@davidubben) January 1, 2021
Azeez with the HUGE third down sack!!
Dawgs will get the ball back with under 5 mins, down by 2 points…
— 960 The Ref (@960theref) January 1, 2021