Peach Bowl Bound
To the surprise of few, No. 9 Georgia (7-2) will take on American Athletic Conference champion No. 8 Cincinnati (9-0) in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, the College Football Playoff committee determined Sunday.
Kickoff is set for New Years Day at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta at 12:30 p.m.
“The challenges of this season have been many for every team and I’m certainly excited for our team and especially our seniors to have the opportunity to play in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl which is annually one of the premier New Year’s Six games during the holiday season,” said UGA head coach Kirby Smart. “This is close to home and a venue we are very familiar with; however, none of our players and only a couple of our coaches have had the opportunity to participate in this game. We’re also looking forward to the challenge of playing a quality opponent in Cincinnati. Coach Fickell has done a remarkable job with two 11-win seasons the last two years and a perfect season this year.”
Earlier this week, Peach Bowl CEO Gary Stokan spoke with UGASports and said his committee would love to host the Bulldogs, who were scheduled to open the season at Mercedes-Benz against Virginia before the game was cancelled.
“I find it probably appropriate in a Covid-19, 2020 year. We were going to start the season with our Chick-fil-A kickoff game, and it was cancelled—but to start 2021 on Jan. 1, we'd have the opportunity to host Georgia,” Stokan said. “It would be a fitting way to begin the 2021 year, and we’d be excited, obviously.”
Stokan also said his event would be willing to honor Georgia’s 23 seniors—whose scheduled Senior Day game against Vanderbilt was twice cancelled.
The question for Georgia is how many players the Bulldogs will have available to play, and how many seniors will be in Atlanta to take part.
Sources told UGASports last week that six players set to play in the Senior Bowl on Jan. 30—Ben Cleveland, Monty Rice, Mark Webb, Tre’ McKitty, D.J. Daniels, and Richard LeCounte—all intend to opt out, to start preparing for the NFL Draft.
Junior cornerback Eric Stokes is also thought to be opting out of the game, with more possibly to come.
The Bearcats opened the season by beating Austin Peay 55-20, before a victory over Army, 24-10.
Other wins include South Florida (28-7), SMU (42-13), Memphis (49-10), Houston (38-10), ECU (55-17), and Central Florida (36-33), before taking down Tulsa Saturday night in the AAC Championship, 27-24.
Coached by former Ohio State defensive coordinator Luke Fickell, Bearcat offensive coordinator Dan Enos should be a familiar name to Georgia fans after serving in that role at Arkansas. He was once thought to be a candidate to come to Georgia for the same role when Kirby Smart was first hired as Georgia’s head coach.
But it's what the Bearcats have been able to do on the field that makes them one of just two teams (Clemson was the other) currently in the top 20 in total offense (19th, 467.2 yards) and total defense (13th, 314.4 yards).
The Bearcats will be making their first appearance in a New Year’s Six bowl since 2010 and are balanced on both sides of the ball. Defensively, the Bearcats are second in the country in both passes intercepted (15) and team passing efficiency defense, 21st in passing yards allowed (192.3 yards per game), 18th in red zone defense, 14th in turnovers gained (19), 20th in rushing defense (122.1 yards allowed per game), and seventh in scoring defense, only yielding 16 points a game.
Offensively, Cincinnati is 14th in rushing offense (225 yards per game) and 15th in scoring offense (39.3 points per game).
Desmond Ridder is one of the better dual-threat quarterbacks in the country.
In nine games, Ridder has completed 162 of 244 passes (66.4 percent) for 2,090 yards and 17 touchdowns, with just 6 interceptions. Ridder is also the team’s second-leading rusher with 83 carries for 609 yards and a team-best 12 scores.
Running back Gerrid Doaks has rushed for 673 yards and seven touchdowns. The Bearcats feature eight receivers with at least 12 catches, with Josh Whyle and Michael Young leading the way with 25 receptions apiece.
Defensively, Myjai Sanders is the Bearcats’ top pass rusher, with seven sacks, with Jarrell White boasting a team-best 74 tackles.
NOTE: Cincinnati boasts five players from Georgia, defensive tackle Elijah Ponder (Atlanta), tight end Peyton Singletary (Thomasville), offensive lineman Koby McAllister (Ringgold), linebacker Michael Pitts (Stone Mountain) and running back Charles McClelland (Homerville).
