By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken told Stetson Bennett IV that he wasn’t going to be in the Bulldogs’ plans for the starting quarterback in 2020.

He’s never entered any season as the guy. Georgia was supposed to lean on USC five-star transfer JT Daniels this year. 2021 was supposed to be Daniels’ season with Bennett in the rear-view mirror.

But football has a way of throwing well-laid plans out the window. Daniels’ lat injury opened the door for Bennett to take over, and “The Mailman” didn’t look back.

Even through rocky moments, Bennett had his gems. Bennett threw for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to rally Georgia for a 33-18 victory over Alabama in the National Championship Game.

Bennett shook off a gut-wrenching turnover that allowed Alabama to temporarily take the lead.

“I just knew there was going to be no way to let a turnover like that stop us from winning a National Championship,” Bennett said in his postgame interview. “No way that I was going to let that happen. I was not going to be the reason we lost.”

Here’s what we witnessed of Bennett’s heroic effort.

Bennett’s remarkable fourth-quarter performance will go down in Georgia Football lore. Bennett dreamed of playing quarterback for Georgia. His dream came true and he led the Bulldogs to a performance no one will ever forget.

But it wasn’t pretty. The Georgia offense went three-and-out in each of their first two drives. On Georgia’s third play of the game, Bennett scrambled for a 14-yard gain, but he fumbled. Thankfully for the Bulldogs, he was able to recover and avoid what could’ve been a champion-breaking early turnover. But with more and more struggles, the calls for Daniels grew louder.

But Bennett’s fumble early in the fourth quarter nearly spelled doom for Georgia. Alabama’s Christian Harris was a menace all night long, and he sacked Bennett on 3^rd and 8. Bennett tried to throw the ball away, but it was ruled a fumble. Alabama’s Brian Branch nonchalantly recovered the ball with his foot inbounds by mere millimeters.

With his back against the wall, Bennett responded with the drive of his life. He was determined not to be the reason that Georgia lost the national title. Is a not losing motivation stronger than a winning motivation?

Bennett marched Georgia down to the Alabama 40-yard line and then used a free play to take his shot. He delivered a gorgeous deep ball down the right sideline and Adonai Mitchell hauled it in for a majestic 40-yard touchdown to give Georgia a 19-18 lead with 8:09 left in the fourth quarter.

Bennett did what everyone told him he couldn’t do. He heard the noise. He heard the doubters. He heard the majority say that he wasn’t the best option to lead Georgia past Alabama. “Georgia can’t beat Alabama with Stetson Bennett at QB” was a widely-used narrative, and he conquered it head on.

Stetson Bennett was named the Offensive Player of the Game. He is a national champion and a Georgia Bulldog Football Legend!