Georgia's Stetson Bennett Never Gave Up On His Dream And It Paid Off With A National Championship
INDIANAPOLIS -- Sometimes in life you see a story that is almost too hard to believe, and you wonder what kind of dedication it would take to lead someone to that reality. Well, look no further than Georgia starting quarterback Stetson Bennett, who wrote the final chapter of his own story on Monday night.
In college football, a walk-on rarely touches the field during the regular season, much less become the starting quarterback of his team. He's normally situated somewhere on the scout team, preparing his scholarship teammates for their next opponent. This was the case for Bennett, who played the role of Baker Mayfield in practices as the Bulldogs prepared to face Oklahoma in the 2018 Rose Bowl.
But sometimes, if you work hard enough, those practices and hard work pay off down the line. This was the case of Stetson Bennett, who can now call himself a National Champion.
After going through fall camp, Bennett found himself thrust into the starting role since JT Daniels was still recovering from an injury. From the season opener against Clemson to the finale against Alabama, Bennett never relinquished his starting spot, though it certainly would've been easy for his head coach to replace him.
When asked after the national championship game about the journey Bennett has been on and whether he knew back then that Bennett would lead Georgia to a National Championship, Kirby Smart expressed confidence in his quarterback.
"I'd have thought, 'Hell yeah, we won a National Championship!' I'd have been pumped. Five years ago, he was delivering passes like Baker Mayfield against the scout team. There's a lot of guys that saw him on that scout team make plays with his feet, his arm whip and decision making, and we were very impressed.