Here we are, where we expected to be. Not quite how we expected to be here, at the College Football Playoffs, with a Group of 5 team and one unranked at the start of the year.

          Remember those two things from here on out every year.

          For one team clearly playing the wrong quarterback, it’s, by golly, a damn miracle.

          The SEC championship game was a surprise, yet almost inevitable.

          Some of us kept pointing out how Georgia’s defense never had to work, wasn’t pressured by opposing offenses much, didn’t have to move around or adjust.

          Teams made too many unforced errors – i.e. 5-yard penalties more than anything – and Georgia made almost none.

          Georgia looked unprepared on defense, especially with the up-tempo pace, against Alabama. The fundamentals that were such a joy to watch for 12 games mostly took the day off. When down, Georgia’s fight kind of waned, and you could see players not going to the whistle.

          The game also exacerbated a mental illness affecting one particular fan base.

Jan. 15: “Congrats on the national championship. Why so may of y’all hate and rip the quarterback?

          Alabama passed for 421 yards, was not intercepted or sacked on 44 attempts. Alabama had 3 sacks. Alabama was 7 for 14 on third down.

          "Damn, Bennett just can't do it."

          Astounding.

          Still has fewer pick-6s in his career than Tom Brady did in three straight games last year, and in one game this year. And joins a list of “elite” QBs who have been humbled.

          Apparently, many people were picked on kids by somebody named Stetson – really? – or Bennett or a Fourth.

          People, get over the sucker bet that is recruiting rankings. Just un-brainwash yourselves, and enjoy some lucidity. It’s not bad.

            “He’s not good enough to bring Georgia back in a big game.”

            Stop it. Just stop.

Georgia vs. Michigan
            One thing hardly mentioned is the weather.
            It’s a huge advantage for Georgia, which had had mostly spring-like weather for a few weeks while Michigan has dealt with Michigan weather.
            Fourth-quarter conditioning will be an issue for both teams because they’ve had so few four-quarter games. The weather gives Georgia a definite advantage, unless Michigan wisely copies Alabama and throws some up-tempo series in there to wear down the Bulldog D.
            And, of course, who will we find out at or after kickoff isn’t playing because of COVID? It’s the invisible factor until we know.
            Special teams have been fairly quiet for Georgia this year, with no returns for touchdowns (Zamir White recovered a blocked punt), and so-so return yardage. Michigan is fairly similar, with a few mild edges, so keep an eye open for the momentum-changing special teams play.
            Expect both teams to throw some tweaks out on both sides of the ball.
            But with power-oriented offenses and playmaker-heavy defenses, it really comes down to who doesn’t make the mistake that inspires screaming at the TV. Who doesn’t leave receivers wide open. Who blows tackles (like Tennessee late against Purdue). Who doesn’t just fall on a fumble instead of getting cute. Who doesn’t come up with the brain-dead and inexcusable 15-yard penalty.
            And which head coach avoids micromanaging and overcoaching. Both are very capable of losing this game by suddenly doing something silly. Not all gambles qualify as silly. Some just don’t work, but still make sense, and might work if tried again.
           The weather and any COVID absences will play a role an all of the above, and that’s why the pick here is Georgia 24, Michigan 21.

Alabama vs. Cincinnati
There’s no gut feeling here that Cincinnati will pull off the upset. Same gut said Georgia would handle Alabama almost a month ago. Here’s hoping the Bearcats can get halfway through the third quarter and still be in it.
Which would be better than many Power-5s have done in semifinals, against Alabama and others. Alabama 35, Cincinnati 17. 

            Hush up, get a grip, unsubscribe from the redundancy of the recruiting gossip and - *coughlaugh* - breathless analysis of it, and start sleeping a little better. Blindly accepting propaganda used to be a trait to be criticized, but no more. Just gobble it up like brisket and tater salad.

            Not to pick on any wounds – except the wounds left by the pain of ignoring reality – but Georgia, like all teams, has had plenty of “elite” or “whatever star” quarterbacks fail to extract the Bulldogs from defeat.

            Is a list of QBs who have done much worse against Alabama than Bennett necessary?

            Is a list of QBs given grief in egg-laying games where the defense has been handled necessary?

            Is the reminder that J.T. Daniels has yet to take a snap against Alabama necessary?

            The second most prolific former Georgia quarterback in the NFL this century is Jake Fromm, and he had that spot after going all of 6-for-12 for 82 yards a few weeks ago.

            QBU indeed.

            Clearly, facts and context are necessary. Ignored and apparently confusing, but necessary.

            It’s hard to imagine a fan base so starved to reach this stage basically call the head coach - heretofore undeserving of the almost build-a-statue talk - and the offensive coordinator idiots FOR PLAYING A QUARTERBACK WHO KEYED AN UNDEFEATED REGULAR SEASON.           

            “Yeah, we went 12-0 and we’re in the playoffs and – sure, gimme another cold one – but I ain’t got no earthly idea what Kirby and Funkin’ are doin’ playing the guy who is 12-3 as a starter.

            “Just don’t make no sense. *Burp*”

            It’s bizarre enough to make a person on the outside hope Bennett goes 25 for 36 for 305 yards and four TDs and a pick – “BENNETT THREW A PICK, WARM UP JT OR SOMEBODY, OH MYYYYY GOD! – and Georgia repeats the Alabama game.

            And Bennett walks off the field offering a subtle bird to the cheering/whining section.

            Because this debate is that inexplicably – and yet not, because it involves fans – absurd.

            Please remember, no matter what happens, all the season-long hyperventilation – from talkers and typers and clickbait-hypers – about this best-ever defense (the first sign this season of lost minds).

            “Ohhh, have we ever seen anything like this?” Yeah, every couple years, Alabama has a defense like this. Others have popped up every so often.

            Nice players on D that didn’t face, at the time of the kickoff, many quality offenses. Those offenses got better, and Tennessee-Georgia a few weeks later might’ve been juicy. We really need September to figure out what teams are, longer for teams in major transition.

            Note that Georgia’s regular-season I-A  opponents entered the postseason 70-62.  Clemson and UAB ended up straightening things up better than expected (and had those meetings – OK, well, Clemson - been later in the year …)

            (Note, too, that the SEC East during the last head coach’s first six years was a crapload better than the current mess, which has  made life a whole lot easier, what with how many coaching changes at Tennessee and Florida?)

            Wait, wait, wait, this isn’t about a very good but overrated defense not facing many top-50 offenses (in yards, first downs, or passing efficiency) all season. This is about the insanity of a gutty 12-3 quarterback being second-guessed for almost every unsuccessful – or not successful enough - imperfect play.

            Dropped pass? JT woulda been on target.

            Underthrow? No arm.

            Overthrow? Too short.

            Sack? Just not good enough.

            Incompletion? What’s he doing?

            Note, too, that it’s a convenient “media”/TV cliché – and crap – about the backup quarterback being the most popular player on the team.

            Jacob Eason wasn’t. Joe Tereshinski wasn’t. Joe Cox wasn’t. Huston Mason wasn’t. Christian LeMay? And their starters had similar numbers to Bennett, or worse.

            Who backed up Aaron Murray? Matthew Stafford?

            Slide to Atlanta, and Matt Schaub is about the only Matt Ryan backup anybody can name. Alabama won titles without hugely sexy quarterbacks who didn’t face this unfair scrutiny.

            So, stop with that bull, too. This is a unique situation involving a lack of independent thought and logic.

            Remember when Georgia got the No. 7 QB in the nation and he ended up as a wideout at Colorado?

            A friend barks at my comparisons to Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford’s foibles. Not comparing the player to the player. Am comparing results to results. Winning to winning.

Brady has, yes, lost games for the Bucs. Stafford isn’t overly dazzling with the Rams.

            Do you pull Brady after two – TWO – pick-6s in a game? Stafford from throwing a pick-6 while falling on his butt in the end zone?

            When they throw any interception? When a pass is dropped? When they get sacked after holding on to the ball for seven seconds? Or fumble on a hit?

            Remember, receivers often run a wrong route or an incomplete route, and the other team sometimes just makes a better play.

Meanwhile, the wailing and handwringing and knee-jerking at every Bennett imperfection screeches on.

Good God, people, Georgia won a national championship with a quarterback who had the most rested throwing arm of any quarterback – including many backups – in the land.

            Georgia wins with Stetson Bennett.

            Georgia’s offense is, in fact, a little more dangerous and versatile with Stetson Bennett at quarterback.

            Period. End of story, debate, crazy talk (wishful thinking).

            Bo Nix was a five-star, son of a coach and grandson of a coach. Would you have liked a trade for the five-star who didn’t make the plays the walk-on’s making?

            How about ol’ Tate Martell, who was part of a documentary with Jake Fromm and Tayvon Bowers (who?) in 2017? Martell, who has transferred before playing, is now at UNLV. Bowers? Went to Wake Forest, is now at Gardner-Webb.

            If you really want to deal with standards and pulling people, you should have wondered why the majority of the defensive players weren’t pulled against Alabama. They didn’t look good, took some plays off, got tired really quick, and broke down fundamentally.

            There’s no outcry because folks like to discriminate because of “recruiting rankings” and employ knee-jerking double standards instead of fairness and logic and common sense. And people watch the ball.

            Breaking news: A really good high school player just visited a good college program and liked it. Behind the scenes with him having a good time, liking the coaches and players and campus and school and potential, click right here.

            Reality: Bennett can throw deep.

            Daniels’ longest pass at Georgia is 55 yards, against Cincinnati. Bennett has at least four passes longer than that, including an 82-yarder last year against Alabama, a team Daniels has yet to face, a team that has had opposing “elite” quarterbacks shaking their heads for years (without a fan base turning on them).

            Bennett does seem to aim his deep balls a bit, and underthrow some. But some short throws lead to pass interference calls, too.

            Question: Which offensive linemen do you yank after a couple missed blocks? Pull a kicker after a missed chip shot? The punter after a 30-yarder? The linebacker who has missed his read on five straight plays?

            The defensive backs who have blown game-losing coverage in 2012, 2018, and 2018 against Alabama? Pull their scholarships, huh?

            This isn’t about being pro-Bennett, although it is pro-great-story and pro-stop-worrying-about-February propaganda.

            This isn’t about being anti-Daniels. No reason to be.

            This is about the silliness of a guy having nice games against Mississippi State, South Carolina, Missouri, and Cincinnati – although he lost 71 yards in those four games – being put on a Georgia QB mountain.

            This is about ignoring facts and results, which are kind of more important than short-changing a kid because you spend 20 bucks a month for an agenda and favorites and little objectivity.

            This is about the fact – and make no mistake, it’s a legitimate concern - that The Nation will be an absolute embarrassment if at any time, no matter what has happened, it starts chanting Daniels’ name in the semifinal. (Not to say there’s not some strategy that would involve using Daniels).

            You want to talk about recruiting impact? Pull that misguided crap out and you’ll get some national attention.

            “Quarterback goes 9-1 for the year and they boo him after a three-and-out? You really want to go there?”

            The posterchild for what you want in a player for your program, and he’s winning, and he might get booed after a second or third three-and-out in a college playoff game against college football’s winningest program.

            In his Georgia career, Bennett is 254 for 413, 61.5 percent, for 3,764 yards, with 34 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

            In his Georgia career, Daniels is 148 for 213 for 1,953 yards, 69.5 percent, with 17 touchdowns and five picks.

            Math: Twice as many TDs, only two more picks. With two games against Alabama compred to none.

            In his college career, Daniels has completed 63.8 percent of his passes for 4, 840 yards, 32 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions.

            Bennett has 317 positive yards on the ground, Daniels has minus 244. Bennett has been sacked 14 times in three years, Daniels 38 times in four, 12 in the last two.

            It’s just flabbergasting.

            Kirby Smart, the big dummy, needs to get Bennett a million-buck NIL to leave after this year. Unless Daniels – and yes, there sure does seem to be something else going on with this whole situation – leaves. We can bet one of the youngsters will be in the portal within about 10 days of the final game.

            And Bennett should take it, assuring his legacy and helping to clear out a quarterback room that needs better management.

            This could very easily be Bennett’s ceiling, which is fine. Daniels may be the better starting choice again next year, and that’s fine, too.

            Daniels will end up in the NFL, and Bennett won’t, and who cares?

            This is about here and now, and the current results, and the skill set that fits what the offense is designed to do and can do. It’s about the 2021 season, not 2025, or even 2022.

            The starting quarterback at Georgia who is the poster child of what we’re supposed to want is 12-3 as a starter, yet the group that wants credit for doing nothing won’t put aside brainwashing to dispense credit where it is due and has been earned.

            He deserves the respect that comes with success following hard work. He deserves better than what he’s getting.