Following a nail-biter between Michigan and TCU, Ohio State and the defending national champion in Georgia were set to do battle in the Peach Bowl. Both quarterbacks dueled in another high-scoring affair, but Georgia did just enough to get a 42-41 win.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Buckeyes Drew first blood in this game when CJ Stroud found Marvin Harrison Jr in the endzone for a 34-yard touchdown pass to take an early 7-0 lead following a Georgia missed field goal.
Later, Georgia got on the board with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Stetson Bennett to Kenny McIntosh to tie the game at 7-7.
Ohio State answered quickly, going 75 yards on 11 yards before a one-yard touchdown run from Miyan Williams to make it 14-7 in favor of the Buckeyes. Shortly after, Bennett made his first big mistake of the game when he underthrew a wheel route and it was picked off by Steel Chambers to give the ball right back to Ohio State.
Three plays later, Stroud found Harrison Jr for the second time in the game for a 16-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 21-7 with 10:56 left in the first half.
Georgia answered four plays later when Kendall Milton ran it from 11 yards out to cut into the Buckeye lead at 21-14. The play was set up by a 47-yard pass from Bennett to Arian Smith.
On the next Georgia drive, McIntosh took the first down handoff and ran 52 yards toward the endzone before getting caught by the turf monster. Two plays later, Bennett scampered in for the touchdown to tie the game at 21 with 6:07 left in the half.
After a long drive by the Bulldogs, Jack Podlesny connected on a 32-yard field goal to take a 24-21 lead with 1:44 left before the half. 55 seconds later, Ohio State answered right back with Stroud orchestrating an incredible drive, capped off by a 37-yard pass to Xavier Johnson for the touchdown and a 28-24 lead.
Early in the second half, Stroud and the Buckeyes went on another scoring drive, going 70 yards in six plays before Stroud hit Emeka Egbuka from 10 yards out to increase the lead to 35-24.
At the end of the quarter, the Buckeyes tacked on three more on a Noah Ruggles 25-yard field goal to make it a 38-24 lead after three quarters.
Early in the fourth, Georgia answered with a field goal of their own, this time from Jack Podlesny from 31 yards out to make it 38-27 with 10:14 left in the game.
The Bulldogs closed the gap more on their next possession when Bennett found Smith after a double move left the track star wide open down the sideline for a 76-yard touchdown pass. After a successful two-point try, it was 38-35 Ohio State with 8:41 remaining.
Ohio State made it a touchdown game with a 48-yard field goal by Ruggles again. However, the Bulldogs came back with a 72-yard touchdown drive capped off by a 10-yard pass to Adonai Mitchell to give the Bulldogs a one-point lead with 54 seconds left.
Noah Ruggles lined up for the game-winning kick from 50 yards out but missed it to the right to set up a Georgia-TCU national championship game.
BIG NUMBER: 83
83 total points were scored in the contest, with this being the second of two high-scoring semifinals.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Stetson Bennett
The senior quarterback threw for nearly 400 yards with three touchdowns and only one interception en route to leading his childhood team to their second straight national title appearance.