Bennett, Bowers lead champion Bulldogs’ historic demolition of TCU
Stetson Bennett waved his cigar like a conductor’s baton as he made his way through the confetti and cameras to the SoFi Stadium stage to celebrate his second straight national championship at Georgia.
The top player in Bennett’s orchestra Monday night was Brock Bowers, and the California-born tight end made sweet music with his oh-so-Georgia quarterback to seize another title for these magnificent Bulldogs.
Bennett’s remarkable connection with Bowers was on display throughout the Dawgs’ 65-7 demolition of TCU, and that chemistry played a major role in making sure the Bulldogs became champions again.
“It’s special,” Bennett said. “It seems like for the past three or four months we’ve been looking to see if somebody could beat us, and we just ran
out of games. Nobody could.”
Bowers finished with seven catches for 152 yards and a touchdown from Bennett, including a 22-yard TD catch that firmly shut the door on the Horned Frogs in the third quarter of this epic blowout. The 58-point margin of victory is the largest in any bowl season game in college football history. Bennett, meanwhile, passed for 304 yards and four touchdowns while
running for two more scores.
Bennett walked on at Georgia nearly six years ago at the beginning of its growth into college football’s most dominant program. He walked away early in the fourth quarter to a standing ovation from thousands of grateful Bulldogs fans during a timeout.
“Probably had the best game of his career, in my opinion,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “With some of the checks he made, some of the decisions he made, just really elite.”
Bennett, who is older than five starting quarterbacks for current NFL playoff teams, finished 29-3 as a starter at Georgia. He joined Matt Leinart and A.J. McCarron as the only quarterbacks to lead their teams to back-to-back national championships in the 21st century when Georgia became just the fourth team to repeat since 1980.
While Bennett’s unlikely journey traces the path of the Bulldogs’ recent past, Bowers epitomizes Georgia’s present and future as a powerhouse team stacked with superb talents who have known nothing but championships for two incredible years.
Bennett is more than five years older than Bowers, but the quarterback has bridged that modest generation gap to form a partnership that got one last national showcase in Inglewood.