Georgia coach Kirby Smart indicated on Sunday that he remained supportive of Stetson Bennett IV, who was 29 to 48 with two interceptions against Alabama.
“Obviously, we have to play better in a lot of areas, but to put any part of that blame, or all of that blame, on Stetson, there’s a lot more to it than that,” Smart said. “We have to play better around it. We have to play better in the special teams, the defense and, in fact, all aspects of the game.”
Cincinnati (13-0) saw no such acidity anywhere on Saturday, when it beat Houston, 35-20, in the MLS Championship game. He had set a course for the playoff in October, when he went on the road and beat Notre Dame, 24-13.
The Bearcats scored about 39 points per game and averaged an attack of 429 yards. Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ryder played this year’s game in which he threw three touchdown passes, and ran to score. And Caught a throw for another touchdown.
But the Cincinnati defense has been particularly strong and has allowed an average of 4 yards per game this season. Cincinnati’s opponents scored a total of 25 touchdowns—and the Bearcats scored 70—helping Cincinnati maintain their top spot in the conference with the fewest points allowed per game (16.1).
“We don’t want to think we hold some flag for not-so-big schools, so to speak,” said Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell. “We just want to be us, and our guys have done an incredible job all year in dealing with all the different distractions and different things we’ve kind of been through with people trying to tell you how you need to play and what you need to do to have any chance.”
In addition to the semi-finals, the playoffs also announced pairings for four other major post-season matches.