The tale of two halves narrative has become a tired one for Georgia this season. Regardless, it was a necessary one for the Bulldogs today.

Georgia's second half play featured many of the things that Kirby Smart-led teams have been known for in Athens. The defense created havoc. The special teams did their part and more. The only major difference is Georgia's relatively new ability to take over games with the pass. J.T. Daniels' 163 second-half passing yards were enough to put his team in position to score and ultimately win.

Aside from allowing Cincinnati a 79-yard touchdown run to open the second half, the Georgia defense flipped the switch in the second half. The unit allowed just 36 passing yards after the break, after giving up 170 in the first half.

With Richard LeCounte still injured and Eric Stokes opting out, Georgia's secondary was forced to rely on multiple players to step into bigger roles. Junior defensive back Chris Smith, who filled in for LeCounte yet again, spoke as to what made the difference in the play of the secondary during the second half.

"A lot of it in the first half was just communication and anticipation," said Smith. "In the second half we came out, we made sure we were talking to each other, calling plays out early—just taking stuff we learned from the film room to the field."

Smith continued:

"The message was to keep chopping and not give up. There were a lot of opportunities we missed in the first half that we capitalized on in the second half. Obviously, they got that long run. After that, we looked at each other and told each other we got to buckle it down if we're going to win this game. That's what we did."

The Bulldogs' secondary was aided by the stellar play of the pass-rushing unit. Georgia ended the game with eight sacks, including three by Azeez Ojulari and two by Adam Anderson.

Smith noted the importance that getting after the quarterback had on the team's success.

"That was the focal point at halftime: getting pressure on the quarterback and things like that," said Smith. "We have full belief in our D-line, that they could do it. We just didn't capitalize in the first half like we did in the second half. Azeez's performance, he puts in the work every day. It was expected. It was great to see him go out there and make a lot of plays for us."

Ojulari chimed in as well.

"I mean, we just stayed within the game plan, executed, did everything the coaches wanted us to do," he said. "Made sure we had to get this win for the team. The momentum, we just used it."

Sophomore linebacker Nakobe Dean has progressively become a more integral part of Georgia's defense. He finished as the team's leading tackler yet again. Dean was able to use what was a tumultuous 2020 to his advantage on the first day of 2021.

"At halftime we came in, we looked at what we had to fix and everything, basically all our mistakes and everything. Basically we had to buckle down, fight through adversity," said Dean. "It's something we've been doing this whole pandemic, doing that the past four or five months. It wasn't much, just keep fighting and persevere."

If not for Jack Podlesny's game-winning field goal, the feeling around Athens may be a little different. No matter, though. The man they call "Pod" delivered on what he says was his first-ever game-winner and was able to provide one final win for Georgia's senior class.

"I just think our team, we came back at halftime, we knew we hadn't given enough effort, that we needed to give more," said Podlesny. "It was honestly, like, we wanted to just send the seniors out with one more win. As Coach Smart said, they're the most winning senior team there's been in the program. So I'm happy to help with that in any way."