ATLANTA — This time last year, Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett sat next to Kirby Smart and had to hear his head coach field questions about whether or not he should Bennett should be benched.

After the 2022 SEC Championship Game, Smart was explaining to reporters why Bennett going to New York as a Heisman finalist.

“Absolutely. I mean, I think it’s one of those things, this guy’s 23 of 29 in the second half, I mean, he didn’t get to do a whole lot in the second half, so I don’t know what he was in the first half,” Smart said. “He’s played really well. I had several people come up to me and say they thought he played the best game of his career tonight. He played really good.”

Bennett, in speaking with Jenny Dell of CBS, didn’t quite go as far as his head coach did. He praised his teammates.

“I’ve got good players around me. Shoot, I’m not that bad at football either,” Bennett said. “We got a good team.”

Bennett completed 23 of his 29 pass attempts for 279 yards. He threw a season-high four touchdowns — all in the first half — to four different receivers. The Georgia offense scored 50 points in its 50-30 win over LSU.

Georgia is now 13-0, with Bennett conducting each victory. On the season, he’s now thrown for 20 touchdowns, ran for another seven all while leading what is clearly the best team in the country.

A year ago, Bennett was picked twice in this game and had to watch Alabama celebrate an upset win in the SEC championship. On Saturday, Bennett finally got to celebrate after once again leading Georgia to a victory.

Bennett has checked off nearly every possible accolade. He outplayed Bryce Young in last season’s national championship game. He’s 27-3 as a starter for the Bulldogs.

And now he’s an SEC championship-winning quarterback.

“Winning the SEC is a big deal. This is the best conference in football,” Bennett said. “National championships are huge and great. That’s our next goal. But SEC is the first goal, second goal after winning the East. Winning the SEC championship, there’s only one of those. It’s a banner.”

Georgia scored 50 points and it easily could’ve been more. Bennett threw just five passes in the second half of the win, as Georgia carried a 35-10 lead out of halftime. It wasn’t a perfect day from Bennett as he did fumble a hand-off that LSU recovered to start the second half, but GEorgia responded by scoring touchdowns on its next two drives.

Whether Bennett wins a Heisman Trophy or is a finalist is inconsequential to him. He made the face an embarrassed teenager would make when their parent starts talking about them as Smart stumped Bennett’s candidacy.

The Georgia quarterback knows he’s more than capable of making plays. And that he’s got a number of talented playmakers around him.

He’s having fun. He’s focused, but on leading Georgia to another National Championship and not a Heisman Trophy.

And after Saturday’s performance, he’s not so much a darkhorse for the Heisman Trophy, but a legitimate contender for the award.

“Well, I mean, I was familiar with the plays. We repped them a lot during the week, during the season,” Bennett said. “We had executed them during the week. When it’s the SEC Championship, you kind of got to play confident. If you don’t, then they’re going to beat you. Yeah, I don’t know. Got good players. I mean, I don’t think I got touched tonight. Our O-line was incredible.”

Stetson Bennett makes strong case to be Heisman Trophy finalist

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