ROWE: The Stetson Bennett story needs no more words

One of the greatest stories in College Football history isn’t quite finished but it doesn’t need another word. Stetson Bennett checked off the final box(s) on Saturday night in a come-from-behind, shootout victory over Ohio State.

Coming into the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, the sixth-year senior had accomplished pretty much everything. He had won MVPs, championships, awards, and got invited to the Heisman Trophy ceremony where he finished fourth. Now when Mailman naysayers ask, “when did he ever put the team on his back?” there’s a clear answer.

The funny thing is that it came with everything that Bennett has to offer. He made some big throws. He made some bone-headed throws. He did some good things with his legs. He took a sack in field goal range. He was red hot at times. He was ice cold for stretches. Bennett knows it, too.

“I just try to do my job,” Bennett said. “Got to go back and look at the tape and see what we could clean up because it felt like there was a 30-minute period there where I just played bad football.”

Kirby Smart critiqued him after the game, saying that Bennett has to play within the framework of the offense and make good decisions. That’ll roll right off Bennett’s back because, as Smart has said in the past, he’s the type of player who can be coached that way.

Looking at it from the offense’s standpoint, there’s a reason that Georgia wasn’t able to keep pace throughout. It trailed by 14 points on two separate occasions because the offense went stagnant. Bennett was off the mark or indecisive for periods in the first and third quarters.

He pulled the string on a probably-too-cute lateral play on 2nd and goal from the three-yard line, causing a 10-yard loss. Georgia had to settle for a field goal to cut the lead to 11 points at the time and it seemed to deliver a strike to the nail that had already been started in the corner of the Bulldogs’ coffin.

But he completed 68 percent of his passes for 398 yards, three touchdowns through the air, one on the ground, and an interception. Bennett was named offensive MVP of of the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, adding it to the same honor received at the Orange Bowl, the National Championship game, and the SEC Championship game.

No, he wasn’t perfect and it wasn’t pretty. If you’ve been along for the Stetson Bennett ride before, you know it will probably be wild and it won’t look the same way twice. Fourth quarter Stetson Bennett, however, that’s a guy you can rely on.

He’s going to be on time and on target. The things he didn’t see early in the game, he didn’t miss in the final period. When Arian Smith torched Lathan Ransom to get wide open behind the Buckeye secondary, Bennett didn’t miss. The two-point toss to Ladd McConkey that followed was on the money.

Then, on the game-winning touchdown drive, Bennett delivered a tight-window dart to Brock Bowers, a well-placed ball on the seam route to Kearis Jackson, and then, with perfect timing, found AD Mitchell for yet another go-ahead score.

If Bennett had been on fire from the jump, maybe Georgia wouldn’t have needed the comeback. The drama might not have been necessary. The Bulldogs didn’t execute well enough to get on the board first and grab the momentum. Bennett would probably take some, if not all, of the blame for that.

But if that had happened, Bennett wouldn’t have gotten the credit. You see, games where Georgia played well from start to finish and comfortable wins were knocks against him. The doubters said that UGA isn’t built to come from behind with Bennett at quarterback. Those same folks said the Bulldogs weren’t going to win a shootout with The Mailman behind center.

Many of those doubters were Georgia fans and they’re happy to be wrong today. The legacy checklist is complete. Bennett wants a second National Championship and that would be the ideal final chapter to his story. But it’s damn near perfect as is.