University of Georgia Athletics
Bennett Keeps Working, Keeps Living His Dream
December 03, 2021 | Football, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
After Georgia's win over Charleston Southern last month, quarterback Stetson Bennett IV joked that he hoped there weren't any photos taken of him handing the ball off to his gigantic teammate Jordan Davis, the 6-foot-6 and 340-pound nose tackle that scored a 1-yard touchdown in his final game at Sanford Stadium.
Yes, the 5-11 and 190-pound Bennett looked small alongside Davis. But so does a cement truck.
Yes, given the size of so many Bulldogs and their SEC opponents, Bennett stands out as the little guy. But little guys can stand tall and do huge things.
"The best way I would describe Stetson: he has a very mellow way of leading, if that makes sense," said Georgia center Sedrick Van Pran, a redshirt freshman that's another big Bulldog at 6-4 and 310 pounds.
"He's not very loud, he's not in your face, but when the time comes, when he steps up as that leader, he asserts himself."
On Saturday, Bennett, a redshirt senior from Blackshear, Ga., a small town of about 3,500 people located in the southeast corner of the state, will lead the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs into the SEC Championship Game, against No. 4 Alabama, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The former walk-on, who grew up loving the Bulldogs and going to games any chance he could, has had to earn every opportunity, every snap, every chance to show what he can do, will make his ninth straight start, and 10th of the season, for the 12-0 Bulldogs that have been ranked No. 1 in the country since mid-October.
"He has a pretty cool personality, a little swagger to him," said senior receiver Kearis Jackson.
Appearing in 11 games this season, after JT Daniels played all of Georgia's season-opening win over Clemson, Bennett has completed 119 of 183 pass attempts, thrown for 1,985 yards, with 21 touchdown passes and just five interceptions. He ranks second in the nation in passing efficiency and second in yards per attempt (10.85).
"He's ballin' right now," Jackson said.
Bennett's story is on its way to becoming legendary if it's not already there. He walked on in 2017 and was the scout team quarterback as Georgia prepared for the College Football Playoff game against Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl, earning rave reviews from former defensive coordinator Mel Tucker and numerous defensive players for his work simulating Baker Mayfield, the talented and mobile Heisman Trophy-winning QB for the Sooners.
"Stetson Bennett is a beast, man," Tucker said that week in Los Angeles.
When Bennett was asked during an interview Monday to think back on those L.A. days, he got a bemused smile on his face. He remembers the incredible game, he remembers some nice things being said about him, but he doesn't recall too many specifics from that week and his role as Georgia's stand-in for Mayfield.
"I think back and it was a simpler time; really, there were no responsibilities on me," he said. "I just got to go out there and play football on the scout team. It also reminds me that sometimes coaches and older players are a bit nicer than you think.
"I went back to watch some film on me, just to make myself feel good — I was a stud back then after reading all those articles — and I go back and I watch and I'm like, I was not that good. I don't know what they're talking about."
It's a remarkable thing, Bennett's story, his journey. For Bennett, he just sees the steps along the way. He sees the decisions he and others made, he sees the work he's put in and the drive and determination that have led him here.
Bennett in 2018 transferred to a junior college, Jones College in Mississippi, before coming back to Georgia the following year. He played in five games in 2019, completing 20 of 27 pass attempts. Last season, he started five of Georgia's 10 games and came off the bench in the opener at Arkansas to lead the Bulldogs to a win.
Daniels started Georgia's final four games last season, all wins, and was the starter coming into 2021. Daniels played the entire game against Clemson but then missed the second game, against UAB, with an injury. That was Bennett's chance to show what he could do this season, and he went out and tied a school record with five TD passes, all in the first half.
The following week against South Carolina, Daniels was again the starter. And Daniels started the next week against Vanderbilt. An injury forced Daniels to miss the next couple of games and Bennett has been the starter ever since.
Looking back at his career, Bennett said one of the things he was most proud of was having the strength to leave Georgia in 2018 after seeing that Jake Fromm, then a sophomore, had the starting job locked down.
"The strength to do that and go blindly into a JUCO that I didn't know, and count my lucky stars that it was the JUCO that I chose because it was the best one," he said.
Bennett's also proud of how he kept his head down and just worked to be the best player he could be while waiting for his opportunity to play and show what he could do. There were ups and downs, of course, but he never stopped believing that he was good enough to go out and play well.
"There were days, there are always bad days within a string of months, and you do have bad days where you're like, 'Do I stink? Am I a bad quarterback?'" he said. "But those are just thorns on a rose. You try to forget about those and get past them."
It helps that Bennett is a guy that loves to practice. When you're a quarterback — "It's the white-collar position in a blue-collar sport," Bennett said — practice tends to be a lot more fun than if you're a lineman, he said.
"For me, it's target practice," Bennett said. "It's like skeet shooting. And when you can't miss and your arm feels right, and you're just throwing BBs, that's about as close to heaven as you can get from the quarterback position."
That UAB game, when Bennett was 10 of 12 passing for 288 yards and those five touchdowns, with TD passes of 73, 12, 89, 61 and 9 yards, was pretty close to heaven too. And there have been many more magical moments over the past few months, from great throws to critical plays made with his feet.
"Stetson's gotten a lot better through experience, right," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said Thursday. "The best way to grow as a football player is to play. ... It's kind of been different each game where he's stepped up and made some plays for us. That makes you feel comfortable, that if you have to rely on different people, he's prepared to do that."
Against Alabama last year, a game Georgia lost 41-24 in Tuscaloosa, Bennett struggled. Facing an elite Crimson Tide defense, Bennett went 18-for-40 passing for 269 yards, with two touchdowns and three interceptions, and he was sacked twice.
"His improvement has really come through the work with our offensive staff, the players around him, and his commitment to getting better and growing," Smart said. "That was one of his first games in a big-time environment last year, and I think that experience is invaluable in terms of his growth this year. The more games you get to play in, the better you get."
Back in late December of 2017, Stetson Bennett IV was a freshman scout team QB helping the bulldogs get ready for the College Football Playoff. On Saturday, he'll be the starting quarterback for the No. 1 team in the country in the SEC Championship Game, with a probably return to the Playoff coming after that.
It has been one heck of a journey, one that keeps getting better and better.
Staff Writer
After Georgia's win over Charleston Southern last month, quarterback Stetson Bennett IV joked that he hoped there weren't any photos taken of him handing the ball off to his gigantic teammate Jordan Davis, the 6-foot-6 and 340-pound nose tackle that scored a 1-yard touchdown in his final game at Sanford Stadium.
Yes, the 5-11 and 190-pound Bennett looked small alongside Davis. But so does a cement truck.
Yes, given the size of so many Bulldogs and their SEC opponents, Bennett stands out as the little guy. But little guys can stand tall and do huge things.
"The best way I would describe Stetson: he has a very mellow way of leading, if that makes sense," said Georgia center Sedrick Van Pran, a redshirt freshman that's another big Bulldog at 6-4 and 310 pounds.
"He's not very loud, he's not in your face, but when the time comes, when he steps up as that leader, he asserts himself."
On Saturday, Bennett, a redshirt senior from Blackshear, Ga., a small town of about 3,500 people located in the southeast corner of the state, will lead the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs into the SEC Championship Game, against No. 4 Alabama, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The former walk-on, who grew up loving the Bulldogs and going to games any chance he could, has had to earn every opportunity, every snap, every chance to show what he can do, will make his ninth straight start, and 10th of the season, for the 12-0 Bulldogs that have been ranked No. 1 in the country since mid-October.
"He has a pretty cool personality, a little swagger to him," said senior receiver Kearis Jackson.
Appearing in 11 games this season, after JT Daniels played all of Georgia's season-opening win over Clemson, Bennett has completed 119 of 183 pass attempts, thrown for 1,985 yards, with 21 touchdown passes and just five interceptions. He ranks second in the nation in passing efficiency and second in yards per attempt (10.85).
"He's ballin' right now," Jackson said.
Bennett's story is on its way to becoming legendary if it's not already there. He walked on in 2017 and was the scout team quarterback as Georgia prepared for the College Football Playoff game against Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl, earning rave reviews from former defensive coordinator Mel Tucker and numerous defensive players for his work simulating Baker Mayfield, the talented and mobile Heisman Trophy-winning QB for the Sooners.
"Stetson Bennett is a beast, man," Tucker said that week in Los Angeles.
When Bennett was asked during an interview Monday to think back on those L.A. days, he got a bemused smile on his face. He remembers the incredible game, he remembers some nice things being said about him, but he doesn't recall too many specifics from that week and his role as Georgia's stand-in for Mayfield.
"I think back and it was a simpler time; really, there were no responsibilities on me," he said. "I just got to go out there and play football on the scout team. It also reminds me that sometimes coaches and older players are a bit nicer than you think.
"I went back to watch some film on me, just to make myself feel good — I was a stud back then after reading all those articles — and I go back and I watch and I'm like, I was not that good. I don't know what they're talking about."
It's a remarkable thing, Bennett's story, his journey. For Bennett, he just sees the steps along the way. He sees the decisions he and others made, he sees the work he's put in and the drive and determination that have led him here.
Bennett in 2018 transferred to a junior college, Jones College in Mississippi, before coming back to Georgia the following year. He played in five games in 2019, completing 20 of 27 pass attempts. Last season, he started five of Georgia's 10 games and came off the bench in the opener at Arkansas to lead the Bulldogs to a win.
Daniels started Georgia's final four games last season, all wins, and was the starter coming into 2021. Daniels played the entire game against Clemson but then missed the second game, against UAB, with an injury. That was Bennett's chance to show what he could do this season, and he went out and tied a school record with five TD passes, all in the first half.
The following week against South Carolina, Daniels was again the starter. And Daniels started the next week against Vanderbilt. An injury forced Daniels to miss the next couple of games and Bennett has been the starter ever since.
Looking back at his career, Bennett said one of the things he was most proud of was having the strength to leave Georgia in 2018 after seeing that Jake Fromm, then a sophomore, had the starting job locked down.
"The strength to do that and go blindly into a JUCO that I didn't know, and count my lucky stars that it was the JUCO that I chose because it was the best one," he said.
Bennett's also proud of how he kept his head down and just worked to be the best player he could be while waiting for his opportunity to play and show what he could do. There were ups and downs, of course, but he never stopped believing that he was good enough to go out and play well.
"There were days, there are always bad days within a string of months, and you do have bad days where you're like, 'Do I stink? Am I a bad quarterback?'" he said. "But those are just thorns on a rose. You try to forget about those and get past them."
It helps that Bennett is a guy that loves to practice. When you're a quarterback — "It's the white-collar position in a blue-collar sport," Bennett said — practice tends to be a lot more fun than if you're a lineman, he said.
"For me, it's target practice," Bennett said. "It's like skeet shooting. And when you can't miss and your arm feels right, and you're just throwing BBs, that's about as close to heaven as you can get from the quarterback position."
That UAB game, when Bennett was 10 of 12 passing for 288 yards and those five touchdowns, with TD passes of 73, 12, 89, 61 and 9 yards, was pretty close to heaven too. And there have been many more magical moments over the past few months, from great throws to critical plays made with his feet.
"Stetson's gotten a lot better through experience, right," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said Thursday. "The best way to grow as a football player is to play. ... It's kind of been different each game where he's stepped up and made some plays for us. That makes you feel comfortable, that if you have to rely on different people, he's prepared to do that."
Against Alabama last year, a game Georgia lost 41-24 in Tuscaloosa, Bennett struggled. Facing an elite Crimson Tide defense, Bennett went 18-for-40 passing for 269 yards, with two touchdowns and three interceptions, and he was sacked twice.
"His improvement has really come through the work with our offensive staff, the players around him, and his commitment to getting better and growing," Smart said. "That was one of his first games in a big-time environment last year, and I think that experience is invaluable in terms of his growth this year. The more games you get to play in, the better you get."
Back in late December of 2017, Stetson Bennett IV was a freshman scout team QB helping the bulldogs get ready for the College Football Playoff. On Saturday, he'll be the starting quarterback for the No. 1 team in the country in the SEC Championship Game, with a probably return to the Playoff coming after that.
It has been one heck of a journey, one that keeps getting better and better.
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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