There were some who tried to make a big deal about Kirby Smart’s critical comments about quarterback Stetson Bennett following Georgia’s win over Ohio State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

By his own admission, Bennett did not play his best until putting it together in the fourth quarter to lead the Bulldogs back from a 14-point deficit to win 42-41.

“I didn't play well. Kind of forced me to play as well as I did in the fourth. But if we don't play in the second and third quarter, if we don't have that little stretch, then maybe we don't have to. So I agree with him,” Bennett said. “Who knows what the reason was, but it does have to be fixed. We're trying to be perfect. And we're trying to do everything we can to make every play perfect. When it's not, then win or lose, we're not happy with it. That's my coach, and he's been my coach for several years now. I trust him. He’s right, I do need to play better.”

Fortunately for Bennett and the Bulldogs, the fourth quarter was a different story. Perhaps it should have come as no surprise.

In the fourth quarter of three CFP games that he’s played, Bennett is a combined 15 of 17 for 313 yards with five touchdowns.

Smart was asked why Bennett’s been able to shine in the fourth quarter in the manner that he has.

“I think it's his mental disposition. I think he doesn't think of the moment any different than the first quarter from the fourth quarter. He doesn't feel that. He's a processor, he's a deep thinker. He just goes through the process of what he's going to do and doesn't let it affect him,” Smart said. “He's never real, real high or real, real low, which I think is a great trait for a quarterback. And I think that helps him in the fourth quarter to be able to go execute. He has a lot of confidence. I think his coaching staff does a great job preparing him to be in those moments.”

With Ladd McConkey not yet 100 percent, Georgia needed someone else to step up at wide receiver and Arian Smith was there to answer the call.

Smith caught three passes for 129 and a huge 76-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to cut Ohio State’s lead to three.

“He has grown and developed and gotten better and better and better,” Smart said. “He really just got more opportunity to do what he's been doing. I wouldn't call it a redefined role. It would be an opportunity because of Ladd's injury, and we didn't know how long or how hard Ladd would be able to go.”

Smith has caught six passes for 191 yards and the one touchdown.

“Ladd looked good, looked good in warmups, and was able to go and play. We're hoping he's even better this week. But we had to have somebody ready,” Smart said. “You can imagine over 28 days of preparation, there are a lot of days that Arian was repping and doing things, because Ladd wasn't able to. As we got closer and closer to the game, Ladd was doing more and more. It was a balance between the two.”

Bulldog safety Javon Bullard said he was watching the Monday night game between Cincinnati and Buffalo when defensive back Daran Hamlin went into cardiac arrest after making a tackle.

It was something he never dreamed could happen.

“As far as me just watching it, you always think just like … as far as sports, I've never seen anything like that, as far as like a dude's heart stopping,” Bullard said. “I didn't even know that was possible in football, to be honest with you. But my prayers go out to him and his family and the Bills organization.”

… On TCU quarterback Max Duggan: “He understands defenses. I think he's very smart. There's no defense he's going to see that he hasn't seen before. You're not tricking an experienced quarterback, very similar to Stetson,” Smart said. “You've got to do it better than they do it. You've got to out-execute them. There's no tricking them. And he does a tremendous job of that. They have a system to allow him to manage that, and to get back to third downs where you've got a shot to convert them.”

…On the overall message and how he felt about the team’s effort in the Peach Bowl: “Yeah, I think there were, you know, stretches where we didn't play well. But then there were also stretches where we played really, really well,” Bennett said. “And no matter … that all happened within the game. It’s not like we get less credit, because it happened in a certain situation or what. But we've just got to clean up those areas where we didn't play as cleanly for a little bit. And not have to play basically perfectly like we did in the fourth quarter.

So, can the Bulldogs play better?

“I mean, I think it's pretty apparent that we can. We opened up the second half with two three-and-outs,” Bennett said. “Now, part of that is Ohio State is an unbelievable team and they played really well. But, yeah, I definitely feel like we can clean things up and play better than we did.”

…What Kirby Smart has brought to the defense: “As far as what he brought to the defense Coach Smart always had that sort of swagger about him that just screamed out ‘defense.’ Along with what Stetson said, he continues to learn his players. He wants to know what we're thinking, what we see out there,” Bullard said. “And just the energy that he brings throughout practice, and the preparation through the week allows us to go out there and play free on Saturdays.”