Georgia QB Stetson Bennett: It's Not My Job to Be 'Savior' by Winning CFP Title Game

Stetson Bennett isn't trying to play outside of himself when his No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs face the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game next Monday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

The young quarterback also isn't trying to treat the matchup as something different than any other football game.

"Maybe I'm not capable of holding that weight on my shoulders, but no, I'm just treating it as a football game," Bennett told reporters Monday. "Do I know that means a lot to a lot of people? Yes. Am I trying to play some kind of savior by winning a national championship for millions of people? No.

"I don't think that's my job. My job is to go out there and throw completions to very talented people we have on this team. And I think it's as simple as that."

Bennett threw for 340 yards and three touchdowns in Georgia's first meeting with Alabama this season, a 41-24 loss in the SEC Championship Game. But he also had two costly interceptions. 

"You've got to play well," Georgia head coach Kirby Smart told reporters about facing Alabama. "You've got to play well in the red area. You've got to play [good] situational football. You can't turn the ball over and expect to beat good football teams. Those are things that we have done when we played them. We turned it over, and we can't do that."

It would be easy for Bennett and Smart to feel the pressure against Alabama. For one, a national championship is on the line. But Georgia has also lost seven straight games against the Crimson Tide, including a 26-23 defeat in the CFP Championship Game in the 2017 season. 

Bennett was a redshirt scout-team quarterback during that season. He was on the sidelines for that loss. He knows what this game means. He also knows that, for 60 minutes between the white lines, it's still just football. 

"I know it means a lot to a lot of people," he said. "Is it just another game? No, I'm not silly. But I don't think for 20-year-old kids you can put that kind of pressure on yourself, because you might go crazy."

If Bennett plays like he did against Michigan in the CFP semifinals, finishing 20-of-30 for 313 yards with three touchdowns, Georgia is going to be tough to beat.

And if he gives that type of performance and the defense can limit the sort of big downfield plays that Bryce Young and his talented group of receivers pulled off in the first meeting, the Bulldogs are going to be celebrating a national championship in a week.