The 2021 Peach Bowl was a college football

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...

between the Georgia Bulldogs and

Cincinnati Bearcats The Cincinnati Bearcats are the athletic teams that represent the University of Cincinnati. Though they will move to the Big 12 Conference (XII) the teams are currently a part of the American Athletic Conference (The American), which from 1979 ...

that was played on January 1, 2021, with kickoff scheduled for 12:30 p.m. EST on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

. It was the 53rd edition of the

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially ...

, and was one of the 2020–21 bowl games concluding the 2020 FBS football season. Sponsored by restaurant chain Chick-fil-A, the game was officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The game averaged 8.72 million viewers, becoming the most viewed non-semifinal Peach Bowl. Georgia represented the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) and Cincinnati represented the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

(AAC).The game was the final game of the 2020 football season for each team and resulted in a 24–21 Georgia victory.

Teams

As one of the

New Year's Six The New Year's Six, sometimes abbreviated as NY6, is an unofficial but commonly used term used to describe the following NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) bowl games: the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl ...

bowl games, the participants of the game were determined by the College Football Playoff selection committee. The committee matched No. 8

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

of the

(The American) against No. 9

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

of the

(SEC). Georgia had won both of the teams' prior two meetings, in 1942 and 1976.

Georgia Bulldogs

Georgia entered the bowl with a 7–2 record, all in SEC contests. Georgia played five ranked teams, losing to

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

while defeating Auburn,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, and

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

. The Bulldogs had a 3–2 record in prior Peach Bowls, most recently appearing in, and winning, the

2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl The 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl was a college football bowl game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Virginia Tech Hokies at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. With sponsorship from Chick-fil-A, it was the 39th edition of the game previously ...

when it was known by that name.

Cincinnati Bearcats

Cincinnati entered the bowl with a 9–0 record. After going 6–0 in conference play, the Bearcats defeated

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

in the AAC Championship Game. Cincinnati defeated three ranked teams during the season: Tulsa,

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, and SMU. This was the first appearance by the Bearcats in a Peach Bowl.

Game summary

Cincinnati lead 21-10 going into the fourth quarter with Georgia having not scored a touchdown since the first quarter. Mercedes-Benz Stadium (24574216017)

Georgia's comeback win marked Kirby Smart's biggest comeback win at his tenure with Georgia.

First quarter

Georgia got the ball first and was forced to punt on the first drive. One Cincinnati's first drive they were also forced to punt. On the ensuing Georgia drive punter Jake Camarda's shanked 4 yard punt put Cincinnati in UGA territory.

Desmond Ridder Desmond Ridder (born August 31, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Cincinnati, where he was twice-named AAC Offensive Player of the Year before be ...

capped off the Bearcats drive with a 14 yard touchdown pass to Alec Pierce. After a

JT Daniels JT may refer to: Arts and media * ''Jakobstads Tidning'', a Finland-Swedish newspaper * Jimma Times, owner of the Ethiopian newspaper ''Yeroo'' * ''Jornal da Tarde'', a Brazilian newspaper from São Paulo * ''JT'' (album), 1977 album by James T ...

interception and Cincinnati punt, Georgia got on the board on a 16 yard

George Pickens George Malik Pickens Jr. (born March 4, 2001) is an American football wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia and was drafted by the Steelers in the second round of t ...

touchdown to end the first quarter with a 7-7 tie.

Second quarter

The two teams traded possessions before Cincinnati missed a field goal. Georgia responded with a 38 yard Jack Podlesney field goal to give Georgia their first lead of the game. The Bearcats would answer back with an 11 yard touchdown to give them a 14-10 lead at half time.

Third quarter

Cincinnati scored on a 79 yard touchdown run by Jerome Ford on the second play of the half. On the next drive, Georgia drove down to the Bearcats 18 yard line before a JT Daniels fumble gave the ball back to Cincinnati. The two teams traded turns with the ball with neither team scoring.

Fourth quarter

The fourth quarter started with Cincinnati having the ball. Georgia linebacker

Azeez Ojulari Azeez O. Ojulari (born June 16, 2000) is an American football outside linebacker and defensive end for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia and was drafted by the Giants in the second ro ...

sacked Desmond Ridder forcing a fumble. Adam Anderson would pick it up for Georgia giving them the ball in Bearcat territory. The Bulldogs would score on a

Zamir White Zamir Alexza White, nicknamed "Zeus" (born September 18, 1999), is an American football running back for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia Bulldogs football, Georgia and was drafted ...

touchdown run on the following possession. Cincinnati would punt and a Georgia 32 yard field goal shortened the Bearcat's 21-19 lead. The teams then traded punts. The Bulldogs started burning timeouts and Cincinnati was a first down away from winning. It was third down and two. Ridder threw an incomplete pass giving Georgia one last chance to win. JT Daniels lead Georgia to the Bearcat 36 yard line. Jack Podlesney would then make a 53-yard field goal, tying the Peach Bowl record for longest field goal, to give Georgia a 22-21 lead with two seconds remaining. On the last play of the game Azeez Ojulari would sack Ridder in the end zone for a safety to seal a 24-21 Georgia victory.

Scoring summary

Statistics

2021 Season

The following season both

and

made the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

. Despite not winning, the Peach Bowl was seen as a statement game for Cincinnati and The Group of 5. Georgia finished the year with a perfect 12-0 record before losing to

in the 2021 SEC Championship. Cincinnati finished undefeated at 13-0. Georgia played

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

in the

2021 Orange Bowl The 2021 Orange Bowl may refer to: * 2021 Orange Bowl (January) – a bowl game following the 2020 season, on January 2, 2021, between Texas A&M and North Carolina * 2021 Orange Bowl (December) The 2021 Orange Bowl was a college football bowl gam ...

, winning 34-11. Cincinnati played Alabama in the 2021 Cotton Bowl, losing 27-6. Georgia re-matched Alabama in the 2022 National Championship Game winning 33-18 to claim their first Championship since 1980.

Notes

References

External links

*
Game statistics
at statbroadcast.com {{DEFAULTSORT:2021 Peach Bowl (01)

Peach Bowl

Georgia Bulldogs football bowl games Cincinnati Bearcats football bowl games