Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett is living the dream.
I envy him because he accomplished something that hadn’t occurred in a long time, which was helping bring a national title back to Athens. It was a magical season.
I grew up with the same dream, but obviously, I am here writing about him. He is living the life I always dreamed of having, but I am happy with the way things turned out (for both of us).
Above my bed growing up was a painting of a kid dreaming about leading the Bulldogs out onto the field against Florida. In the portrait, the kid is laying asleep on his bed and there’s a dream bubble that contains that image of the UGA player and his teammates getting ready to line up in a huddle versus the Swamp Lizards.
I’m not making this up.
I thought about this painting a lot on Saturday as I watched Bennett gash the Oregon secondary. The portrait filled my mind all day Sunday, which led to this column.
I never had the mental fortitude (or physical ability) to be a quarterback at the Division I level. A lot of people said the same about Bennett, but he proved his doubters wrong. This is a young man who put away all of the noise and overcame a lot of adversity.
I couldn’t have done that.
In the offseason, Bennett had the chance to ride off into the sunset, but he chose to return. He had his naysayers and critics heading into the season, but I believe he silenced them again on Saturday against the Ducks. He completed 25-of-31 pass attempts for 368 yards and two touchdowns. Bennett also had a rushing score.
That was against a Power 5 program, which was coached by former Georgia defensive coordinator, Dan Lanning. Oregon was also ranked No. 11 overall in the polls.
That’s not something to dismiss.
“I don’t think Stetson really gets affected by anything I do, you do or anybody does,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said of Bennett in his press conference following the win over Oregon. “Stetson lives in his own world, and he does a really good job of blocking out all the noise. The guy had a flip phone in 2021. He doesn’t really get into all that. I think that’s what his kind of edge is, and he made some plays that he didn’t make the right decisions on today, and he knows those. He knows his mistakes. He’s got to be smart. He does things that maybe we don’t ask him to do. But he did make some plays with his feet, and I think you take the good, and I’m not going to call it bad, but you take the good with his poor decisions.”
It’s easy to see that Bennett got stronger in the offseason and has studied a lot of film. His decision-making skills have improved vastly, especially in the passing game. Bennett got the entire fall camp to take reps as the No. 1 quarterback, which was something he had not done in his previous five seasons as a Bulldog.
Now, I am not going to gawk over one game for that long, because Georgia has a long season ahead, but I did want to point out the positives I saw in the Peach State native.
I just wanted to point out what others aren’t.
Bennett could have just mailed it in, not cared about his season after winning the title and came back unprepared. However, he put in the work and it showed on Saturday.
I have a lot of respect for someone that can do that. Bennett is where he is because of his love for the game, and his willingness to never give up. He also embodies the mentality of never getting complacent. That’s what you want in a leader.
Bennett also never takes ‘no’ for an answer. He’s confident in his approach to football, and knows he isn’t the most physically gifted athlete, but goes out and performs anyway.
The painting that used to hang above my bed tells a story, and it’s not mine. I think it paints the picture (no pun intended) of a guy like Bennett, who has a great story. Now, it’s just a matter of time until we see the movie or documentary come out.
In my opinion (and maybe I am being a little biased here), the tale of Stetson Bennett has to be better than the plot of ‘Rudy.’ He was offsides, anyway, while Georgia’s storied hero did a lot more against Georgia Tech than Rudy ever did.