A chilly day in Indianapolis greeted fans of #3 Georgia and #6 Ohio State as they lined up to enter Lucas Oil Stadium for the 2021-2022 national championship game. These two at-large teams have both been waiting for their time in the winner's circle. Ohio State was a popular pick to emerge from outside the top four, due to their match-up against Cincinnati, followed by a pairing against a top ranked Alabama team that was maybe a notch down than some of their predecessors. Could they run the SEC gauntlet and take out Georgia, taking advantage of a neighboring state locale?
But this title opportunity was also precious to Georgia, and after a Buckeye punt, the Bulldogs scored with six and and half minutes to go in the first, on a pass play from Stetson Bennett IV to tight end Brock Bowers from 10 yards out.
Eager to keep pace, Ohio State went for it on 4th and 7 from the UGA 36, but CJ Stroud's completion came up 4 yards short, to give the Bulldogs the ball. Eager to capitalize, two plays later, Georgia running back Zamir White ran 64-yards for a TD, giving them a first quarter 14-0 lead. Momentum, all Georgia's.
Ohio State was willing to put up a fight. They next drove to the Georgia 1-yard line, but penalties and sacks forced the Buckeyes to settle for a Noah Ruggles field goal. But the Buckeye defense held Georgia to a -4 yard three and out, followed by a OSU drive capped by wide-out Garrett Wilson's jet sweep TD from 2 yards out, and the Buckeye faithful cheered the reduction to a 14-10 score. But Georgia responded with a five minute drive, capped by a 23 yard TD pass from Bennett to Bowers, to extend the Bulldog lead to 21-10. Ohio State's 3-minute drive ended on an incomplete Stroud pass on 4th and 9 on the UGA 39, with 9 seconds left in the half.
The Buckeyes were still ready, and started the second half with a long TreVeyon Henderson scamper to set up another Ruggles field goal, and OSU was within 21-13. Bulldogs answered with a drive ending in a Jack Podlesny 38-yard field goal, and the stellar Georgia defense held OSU scoreless the rest of the way. Bennett finished the scoring in the fourth on a 14-yard pass to Ladd McConkey, putting the icing on a 31-13 Georgia win.
Confetti rained down on Georgia. The Bulldogs fans chanted "Kir-by, Kir-by!" Four decades of pent-up emotion were unleashed as the Bulldogs snapped a frustrating national championship drought. "I've never been around a group of players that really wanted it so bad and wouldn't be denied," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. "I told the guys in the locker room, just take a picture of this."
On the other hand, Ohio State, in their nation leading streaks of ninth straight tournament appearance, fourth straight Football's Final Four, and second straight championship game will look to end their own title drought as soon a possible.
