Stetson Bennett cemented himself as one of the greatest underdog stories in college football history when he was selected as Georgia's permanent starting quarterback, JT Daniels, during the 2021 season.
The move was seen as polarizing at first, as Daniels was a highly touted recruit who was at one time seen as the best high school football player in the nation, also viewed as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate and future first-round NFL Draft selection.
Bennett, on the other hand, was virtually unknown throughout his recruitment process, holding just one FBS offer from Middle Tennessee State as a two-star prospect. He ultimately went on to defy the odds, winning two national championships with the Bulldogs.
The now-Los Angeles Rams quarterback recently opened up on why he believes head coach Kirby Smart made him the starter in 2021. That process started with beating out Carson Beck for the backup position.
“They let me and Carson (Beck) compete during the week and for me it was like, ‘Screw it man, I’ve got nothing to lose. It’s already over, so I might as well go.’ So I beat him out and then threw for five touchdowns, which was pretty cool,” Bennett said on the Unreserved with TJ Callaway Podcast.
Following that, Daniels returned from an injury against South Carolina. In that game, Daniels gave Bennett a hard time replicating his instant success.
“We were gonna go two drives him, he was going to start the game, and then two drives me and we were just gonna figure it after that,” Bennett said. “And JT goes down and he scores on two drives and I’m freaking sitting on the sideline like ‘I gotta follow that?’ Like this was a good run.
“And then to make it worse, I’m pressing and not really thinking about the game or the team, I’m thinking how does Stetson do better than that, right? So I go out and promptly throw a pick, like the first play of the next drive.”
Georgia won the game, 40-13, as Daniels passed for 303 yards and 3 touchdowns. Bennett was 1 for 3 with an interception. Bennett thought he had blown any shot he had at that time.
“I remember feeling... everybody in the stadium looking at me like ‘We let him play again. And then he did that.’ So I was like, ‘Now it’s over,’ Bennett said.
That was, in fact, far from the end for Bennett.
Georgia faced Vanderbilt next, quickly racing out to a 35-0 lead in the first quarter as Daniels completed 9 of 10 passing attempts for 129 yards and 2 touchdowns.
But he didn't come out for the second quarter, and it was Bennett's show from that point onward.
“What happened, I think, I haven’t talked to Kirby about it, we go to Vandy and we go up 28-0 in the first quarter. JT is lighting them up,” Bennett said. “Ladd (McConkey) catches a fade, Brock (Bowers) scores like four times that day. But then JT takes himself out after the first quarter and he never went back in. Like the whole season.
“So I don’t think he (Kirby) liked that. That JT kind of tapped out or was like ‘Hey, I’m not doing it.’ And then I played from then on. I don’t really remember having a talk like hey you’re gonna be the starter. I’m sure we did.”
Bennett would go on to face Arkansas the following week and hold onto the job for good, finishing out the season with a 64.1% completion rate, passing for 2,325 yards with 24 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.
Bennett started the next week against Arkansas and held the job for the final 10 games of the season. He finished the season throwing for 29 touchdowns and led the Bulldogs to their first national championship since 1980.
Daniels would go on to transfer to West Virginia the following year, where he was ultimately benched. He transferred once more to Rice University after that, retiring due to multiple concussions in December.
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