Stetson Bennett is 'best closer in college football,' Paul Finebaum says

Georgia defeated Ohio State 42-41 to advance to the College Football Playoff national championship thanks in large part to Stetson Bennett. The Bulldogs quarterback saw this movie before after leading Georgia to a title last season.

ESPN’s Paul Finebaum had high praise for Bennett when he joined Get Up Monday morning. It came down to a missed field goal by Ohio State in the end, but Bennett showed poise in Georgia’s fourth quarter rally.

Leading the Bulldogs back from a 38-24 deficit caused Finebaum to put Bennett on a pedestal with, arguably, the greatest quarterback of all time.

“I was impressed with Stetson Bennett because he is the best closer I’ve seen in college football,” Finebaum said. “I mean, he is essentially Tom Brady, the fact that he’s almost as old as Tom Brady may help me come to that conclusion. When you look at the three playoff games in the second half and nobody has ever done it better.”

It was a close call for Georgia, but the Bulldogs are back in the title game. Now, the team has a date with TCU after the No. 3 Horned Frogs upset No. 2 Michigan 51-45 in the first semifinal game of the weekend.

But based on this last performance, Finebaum’s concerns about Georgia went by the wayside when he saw the matchup.

“The big concern I would have though is that Georgia looks like a team that has been holding this mantle of being the defending national champion on its back,” Finebaum said. “It seemed to have gotten to them and the second half of the LSU game in the SEC Championship and obviously got to them even before this game started. But they survived and the next game, we’ll talk about in a second, is going to be easier than the last.”

Trailing by 14, Georgia kicked a field goal and then forced a punt. When the Bulldogs got the ball back, Bennett found Arian Smith for a 76-yard touchdown to cut the lead to three.

Ohio State managed just another field goal on the ensuing drive and from there, it was Bennett’s time to shine.

Bennett led a five-play, 72-yard drive capped off with a touchdown pass to Adonai Mitchell to take a one-point lead. Georgia’s defense did enough on the next drive as Noah Ruggles missed a 50-yard field goal for Ohio State.

Bennett finished the game 23-of-34 passing for 398 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

Now, Bennett and Georgia take on TCU for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET.