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Stetson Bennett announces return for final year of eligibility

Palmber-Thombsby:Palmer Thombs•01/19/22•

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(Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett has announced his return for one more season at Georgia after leading the Bulldogs to their first National Championship since 1980. Bennett posted to his Instagram page a graphic reading, “One More Year.”

Bennett started the majority of games for Georgia in its run to the National Championship, however, it wasn’t without drama. After taking over the starting position in 2020, he lost the job to JT Daniels at the end of the season. Daniels entered 2021 as the starter after starting the final four games of the year going 4-0 with 1,231 yards and 10 touchdowns before Bennett took back over for an injured Daniels early in 2021.

Bennett’s story has been told a million times, so what damage could once more do. The Blackshear, Ga. native arrived in Athens in 2017 as a walk-on, transferred out for the 2018 season to Jones College in Ellisville, Miss., came back to Georgia on scholarship in 2019 and served as the backup to Jake Fromm. After Fromm left for the NFL Draft prior to the 2020 season, Bennett felt that he could compete for a starting job. However, the Bulldogs brought in a pair of transfers and Bennett once again fell down the depth chart.

Bennett entered the 2020 season-opener as the backup to D’Wan Mathis, entered against Arkansas to save the day and started the next five games before he lost his spot to JT Daniels. Then, after Daniels missed the UAB game in 2021, Bennett once again was Georgia’s starting quarterback. He threw for a school-record five touchdown passes all in the first half. But Bennett was back to the bench for the next two games until Daniels strained his lat muscle, allowing Bennett to start all of October and take hold of his destiny. Overall on the 2021 season, Bennett threw for 2,862 yards and 29 touchdown passes. He was named Offensive MVP in both of Georgia’s College Football Playoff wins, throwing for 313 yards and three touchdowns versus Michigan in the Orange Bowl and 224 yards and a pair of scores against Alabama in the National Championship Game.

With Bennett’s return, as well as Daniels’ entry into the transfer portal, the picture surrounding Georgia’s quarterback room entering 2022 is much clearer. Bennett returns as the obvious favorite to start the season-opener on September 3rd against Oregon, however, the likes of Carson Beck, Brock Vandagriff and Gunner Stockton will want to compete for that opportunity too.

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