College Football

College Football Playoff highlights: Georgia comes back to win Peach Bowl

Updated Jan. 1, 2023 4:56 p.m. ET

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The 2022 College Football Playoff semifinals were unlike any other. Following a thrilling Fiesta Bowl, the Peach Bowl more than lived up to the hype with No. 1 Georgia coming back from a 14-point deficit to beat Ohio State, 42-41.

Stetson Bennett added to his legendary Georgia career by leading the Bulldogs on a five-play, 72-yard touchdown drive to put his team up by one with 54 seconds left. C.J. Stroud made plays with his legs to get the Buckeyes into field-goal territory, but a 50-yard attempt to win the game went wide left. 

Georgia will move on to face TCU in the national championship game on Jan. 9 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

Here are the highlights from the Peach Bowl.

Peach Bowl: Georgia 42, Ohio State 41

Ohio State on the board first

After Georgia missed a field goal on its opening drive of the game, the Buckeyes went to work 

Ohio State marched down the field before C.J. Stroud found Marvin Harrison Jr. on a rollout for a 31-yard touchdown pass. 

Money Mac

After getting off to a slow start, Georgia's offense came to life on its second possession. Running back Kenny McIntosh lined up as a receiver and caught a screen pass, which he took 25 yards to the house. The touchdown tied the game at 7-7.

Hold on, Harrison!

The Buckeyes got away with one when Harrison made some moves to get the YAC, but got the ball punched out of his arm while he was still running. Luckily for Harrison, the ball rolled out of bounds and the Buckeyes kept the ball in the red zone.

Make 'em miss, Miyan

Miyan Williams returned in a big way for the Buckeyes. Battling an ankle injury, Williams pounded the ball in for a 1-yard score to give the Buckeyes the lead back.

Marvin, Marvin

Ohio State capitalized on an interception by Steele Chambers, as Stroud escaped the pressure on the blitz before throwing off balance to Harrison in the end zone.

Shopping for TDs at Milton's

Bennett made up for the interception on the following drive by launching a deep completion to Arian Smith for a 47-yard gain to get the Bulldogs into Buckeyes territory.

Right after Bennett's deep strike to Smith, Kendall Milton fought and reached his way into the end zone for an 11-yard score to make it a 21-14 game in the second quarter.

He's gonna score a touchdo-wait, what?

McIntosh had one man to beat, and junked him out. So, he was on his way for six, right? Wrong. The Georgia star tripped up at the 10-yard line, confusing even Chris Fowler who already said he scored a touchdown. 

Scoring Stetson

It's OK McIntosh, Bennett's got you. The Georgia QB ran for a 3-yard score to even the game up at 21-21 midway through the second quarter.

X-man, spin man

Ohio State made easy work of its two-minute drill. On the fourth play of the drive, Xavier Johnson caught a pass down the middle of the field and took it in for a 37-yard touchdown. The Buckeyes went 75 yards on the drive to take a 28-24 lead going into halftime.

Four for C.J.

Stroud continued his first-half groove into Ohio State's opening drive of the second half, leading the Buckeye down the field before lightly tossing a touchdown to Emeka Egbuka to make it 35-21.

Scary hit on Harrison

On third-and-goal, Stroud threw a prayer into the end zone that originally looked like it was going to sail into the stands. But it somehow stayed in play, allowing Harrison to try and make a play to get a huge touchdown reception. As Harrison was about to secure the catch, he was hit by Georgia defensive back Javon Bullard. The play was originally ruled as targeting, but because Bullard led with the shoulder, it was taken back and Ohio State kicked a field goal to go up 38-24 in the final minute of the third quarter.

Harrison remained on the turf for a few moments before going back to the sideline on his own power. He reportedly told his teammates he was fine after being evaluated, but his coaches wouldn't give him his helmet back.

How'd he do that?

Brock Bowers was ruled 1-yard short initially on Georgia's fourth-down try. But a review showed that the star tight end was able to stay in bounds for just long enough to get the first down for the Bulldogs.

Georgia wasn't able to fully capitalize off the second chance though with Bennett throwing a backward pass that went for a loss on second down. The Bulldogs settled for three to make it a 38-27 game with just over 10 minutes remaining.

Is there such a thing as a clutch timeout?

Ohio State was set to punt the ball after a Stroud scramble left the Buckeyes a yard short on third down. But OSU ran a fake punt and got more than the yard needed to pick up the first down. However, Kirby Smart and Georgia's coaching staff sniffed out its team's alignment issue and called a timeout right before Ohio State's snap.

Airing it out to Arian for six!

After the timeout that made Ohio State punt the ball, Georgia swung for the fences and hit a home run on its first play with the ball back. Smith got wide open because a Buckeyes defender slipped in coverage, allowing the Bulldogs receiver to score a 76-yard touchdown. A successful two-point try cut the Buckeyes' lead to 38-35 with 8:41 to go.

Stellar Stetson!

After an Ohio State field goal made it 41-35 with 2:43 left, Georgia needed a touchdown. That wasn't a problem for Bennett and the Bulldogs. They went on a five-play, 72-yard drive in 1:49 with Bennett connecting with Adonai Mitchell on a 10-yard touchdown pass to put them up 42-41 with 54 seconds remaining.

Scrambling Stroud!

The Ohio State quarterback had a big run in the final minute, going for a 27-yard gain to get the Buckeyes into field goal range with 24 seconds left.

No good and Georgia wins it!

Right as the clock struck midnight, Ohio State's year ended. Noah Ruggles' 50-yard kick to send the Buckeyes to the national championship game went wide left, keeping the Bulldogs' hopes of going back-to-back alive. 

Read more:

• Everything to know about the College Football Playoff semifinals
• Ohio State finds itself in the unusual role of underdog
• Sonny Dykes: From college baseball player to coaching in CFP
• Michigan seeds shades of Cade McNamara in TCU's Max Duggan
• C.J. Stroud is still writing his Ohio State legacy
• NFL size, Olympic speed: Meet a most unique recruit
• Bowl games 2022: Schedule, picks, results for all 43 games

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CFB - Peach Bowl - 01/01/2023

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