ATLANTA — Ohio State took a 28-24 lead into halftime against Georgia in the CFP Peach Bowl Semifinal on Saturday night, just the second time this season the Bulldogs were behind heading to intermission.
Georgia rallied from 21-7 down in the second quarter to take its first lead of the game, 24-21, on a 32-yard Jack Podlesny field goal with 1:44 left in the half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
C.J. Stroud, however, led the Buckeyes on a four-play, 75-yard drive capped by Xavier Johnson’s 37-yard TD catch with 49 seconds left in the half that put Ohio State back up 28-24.
“That was our two-minute drill, and we worked a lot on it,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said during his halftime interview.
“That was the coverage we thought we’d get and we put it downfield, so a lot of football left here.
“That’s what we expected to play like that, in the first half and now we’ve got to do it in the second half and go beat them.”
The winner faces TCU in the CFP Championship Game. The Horned Frogs defeated Michigan, 51-45, earlier on Saturday in the CFP Fiesta Bowl.
Stroud is 15-of-19 passing for 238 yards and 3 TDs through the first 30 minutes against Georgia.
Georgia came back out and attempted passes on first and second down, but Kirby Smart elected to run out the clock on third down after a Stetson Bennett pass was dropped by Ohio State cornerback Cameron Brown.
“Lot of traffic, Stetson tried to force the ball into there,” Georgia color man Eric Zeier said, “and when he did it, sailed on him.”
Bennett is 12-of-19 passing for 191 yards with a TD and an interception at the UGA 30 that led to a Buckeyes’ touchdown that made it 21-7.
The Bulldogs came back with touchdowns on their next two drives, scoring on an 11-yard Kendall Milton TD run and a 3-yard run by Bennett.
Georgia is missing two key players to injuries suffered in the game, as tight end Darnell Washington left the game with an ankle injury, and outside linebacker Chaz Chambliss has been sidelined by a knee injury.
Ohio State starting tight end Cade Stover left the game in the first half with a back injury.
