Georgia storms back, edges Ohio State to make CFP title game

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Georgia was not going to get to defend its national championship in the second half of the College Football Playoff semifinal against Ohio State.

Another play by Stetson Bennett was just what the doctor ordered. Bennett threw a 10-yard pass to Adonai Mitchell with 54 seconds left to give Georgia a 42-41 victory over Ohio State and a spot in the national championship game.

The Buckeyes had one last chance to win the game, but Noah Ruggles missed the field goal.

The largest fourth-quarter comeback in a CFP game took place in Georgia's game.

Kirby Smart said in his postgame interview that he had great resilience, a never-say-die attitude and great toughness. We didn't play well. Ohio State was the better team. We never stopped.

The team made some big plays. These kids are awesome. This is a group of people.

The largest point spread for a College Football Playoff game is 13 points for Georgia over TCU. Ohio State was a 12 point favorite over Miami in the 2002 Bowl Championship Series title game.

A defense that had dominated up front for most of the game appeared to be in complete control in the fourth.

Bennett was a key part of the team that won the national title last year. Bennett delivered when he had to most. His 76-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Arian Smith after safety Lathan Ransom fell down on the play trimmed an 11 point Ohio State lead down to three.

Georgia regained possession of the ball after Ohio State kicked a field goal. Bennett calmly and efficiently led Georgia down the field to win the game.

Bennett said that the final drive was in his hands. I was scared to death when we scored because Ohio State played a great game. I said, "We scored too quickly." Our D stood up. It was a game.

Georgia will be the first team to defend its national title since Alabama in 2011.

Bennett said that if he were told that they were down in the fourth, he would be crazy. We will see you there.

Emeka Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr. were both 100 yards away from the ball.

After Harrison left the game in the third quarter with a head injury, the game changed for Ohio State. Ohio State didn't score a field goal the rest of the game.

Harrison's absence was large and so was the fact that Ohio State had a makeshift backfield because of injuries.

Until that moment, he was a master. While Ohio State might have felt good about the advantage it had with Harrison and Egbuka on the Georgia defensive backs, Stroud showed patience and a scrambling ability that turned mundane plays into unforgettable ones.

On his second touchdown pass of the night, Stroud escaped two Georgia linemen who were close to him, ran to his right and threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Harrison in the corner of the goal line. By the time the first half ended, Ohio State had a 28-24 lead and was led by Stroud, who was 15-of-19 for 238 yards and three touchdown.

In the second half, that continued as well. After forcing a three-and-out on Georgia's opening series of the third quarter, Ohio State marched down the field and threw a 10-yard pass to Egbuka.

They have done it many times with Bennett behind center. Bennett played well in the fourth quarter. Bennett was 4 of 4 for 152 yards and two touchdown on passes thrown 15-plus yards downfield.

Bennett was named the game's Most Valuable Player after he went 23 of 34 for 398 yards and three touchdown.

Georgia did not allow Ohio State to get any closer after they got the ball back. The kick Ruggles was going to take was not going to have much of a chance.

The jubilation for Georgia was offset by the fact that Ohio State had played well enough to win.

They're an amazing team. Bennett said wow. It seems like the whole game was fought by us. We made a few plays and it was amazing.