Georgia’s Bennett talks difficulty of repeating
ATLANTA — Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett acknowledged Wednesday the difficulty of the task at hand as the Bulldogs look to become the first team to repeat as national champions in a decade.
“Man,” Bennett said, “those pats on the back feel good, you know?”
Last January, Bennett received a lot of “attaboys” as he took part in a parade celebrating Georgia’s first national championship in 41 years. The undersize former walk-on was hailed as the ultimate underdog story, having thrown a pair of touchdown passes to help beat Alabama in Indianapolis.
But rather than ride off into the sunset, the redshirt senior returned for a sixth and final season.
On Saturday, No. 1 Georgia will play No. 4 Ohio State in the College Football Playoff Semifinal Game at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
Bennett said it’s tempting to read and listen to what’s said about you in moments of triumph. But he warned that it’s a trap.
“Good or bad, what they tell you, it’s not true,” he said. “And then you forget — like, you literally forget how you did it. And it’s the craziest thing in the world because you want to [remember], but you took so much time off that you’ve forgotten how to do the work to get there.”
Bennett said it’s important to hold onto the feeling of “when you were hungry and there really was no other option if you wanted to keep playing here but to win.”
“People lose track of that,” he said. “People lose track of how they felt before they won. They start to give more to the bright lights and all the shiny and the glittery stuff. And football’s not about shiny and glitter.”
Bennett went to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist earlier this month. He said it was an honor to be invited but insisted, “That’s not going to change the way I play.”
Bennett’s teammates — offensive lineman Broderick Jones, tight end Brock Bowers and running back Kenny McIntosh — all said they were anxious to play Ohio State.
“I’m really antsy,” Jones said. “I’m ready to play just because I don’t like sitting around waiting. I’m an impatient guy. I’m ready to get to the point.”
Bowers said it’s been hard waiting a month to play again.
But he said, “We have the drive.”
“I feel like there wasn’t really a dip in our performance at practice or anything,” he said. “And we’ve just been working all month. So I feel good about our preparation and everything.”
On Monday, Georgia coach Kirby Smart reflected on last year’s playoff run and how it all began with a loss to Alabama in the SEC championship game.
The loss, he said, “centered things” for his team.
Ohio State will have the same opportunity to refocus after losing to Michigan on the final weekend of the regular season.
“You recalibrate, and you look back, and sometimes the reality of your weaknesses pop up a lot more in a loss,” Smart said. “We like to say, ‘Why do you got to lose to learn?’ You shouldn’t have to do that, but it certainly is a wake-up call in teams I’ve been with. It recentered everybody and refocused everybody.
“Obviously we’ve tried to do that without that [loss]. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn’t. It’s just one of those things.”
Buckeyes defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said Wednesday that the team is “anxious” and players “have an edge.”
“You can tell even in practice, everyone’s got a chip on their shoulder,” linebacker Steele Chambers said.
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Dave Wilson
AUSTIN, Texas — A week after Arch Manning struggled in a loss at Ohio State, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian saw his quarterback bounce back in a 38-7 win over San Jose State and said this game showcased more of Manning’s style.
Manning matched a career high with four touchdown passes, going 19-of-30 for 295 yards, and added a 20-yard touchdown scramble, tiptoeing down the left sideline at the end of the third quarter.
“I thought today was a by-product of the week of work. He played aggressive throughout the week. He studied the game plan. He knew exactly what we were trying to do, and I thought today he played more of his style,” Sarkisian said. “He extended plays, used his legs, scrambles for a touchdown. That’s the style of player that he is.”
On several plays, Manning rolled out and found receivers. A few of his passes were dropped, with Sarkisian saying Texas “didn’t catch the ball great for him.” But Sarkisian was pleased that Manning made plays when things broke down.
“Him playing his game and not trying to play at somebody else’s style of game, I think it is important for him,” Sarkisian said.
Manning also threw a bad interception while under pressure, heaving the ball into double coverage from the Spartans’ 14-yard line. San Jose State defenders had a shot at picking off a couple of his other throws but failed to haul them in.
“A lot to work on,” Manning said. “I thought it was sloppy for my part. Can’t turn the ball over in the red area. I’ve got to play better. I think all around, it was a little sloppy.”
Manning started slowly, going 3-of-6 for 11 yards on his first two drives. But then, on a third-and-3 with 2:52 left in the first quarter, Manning found Parker Livingstone along the left sideline, and he turned it upfield for an 83-yard touchdown.
The touchdown throw was part of a stretch where Manning went 5-for-5 for 142 yards and four touchdowns, including TDs on three consecutive passing attempts — a 3-yarder to Livingstone, then 36- and 16-yarders to tight end Jack Endries.
“Anytime you can get points on the board after a slow start, it feels good,” Manning said. “Then, [we] finally got some rhythm. Defense started stepping up, too, so we’ve just got to start quicker next week.”
The Longhorns, who committed 12 penalties for 115 yards, have four new offensive line starters, and many new players at wide receiver and tight end. And even Texas stars such as edge rusher Colin Simmons (two penalties for offsides, one for roughing the passer) didn’t perform their best.
“I think as our team in general goes, this is not the best version of Texas football this season that we’re going to see,” Sarkisian said. “My foot’s got to get in their butt here on Monday morning. That’s unacceptable. And there’s a standard in which we want to play the game, and 12 penalties does not meet that standard.”
Manning said all week that he had to play better for Texas to win. He was encouraged by his performance Saturday, finding a way to make plays, but doesn’t believe he’s at his best.
Sarkisian said Manning is gifted with his dual-threat abilities, but his team is learning on the fly how to block for him while he’s scrambling or that he could throw while on the move.
“There’s things that we’re learning as we go as a team, but those are some of the growing pains that we have to work through,” Sarkisian said.
Those growing pains still resulted in an easy win at home Saturday. For Sarkisian, he said he can see the trust growing among his players, including Manning.
“The guys rally around him, you can feel it today on the sidelines,” Sarkisian said. “They really like playing with Arch, and that’s important.”
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Andrea Adelson
The father of Florida State linebacker Ethan Pritchard was on the sideline Saturday for the Seminoles’ game against East Texas A&M.
Earl Pritchard and another family member were on the sideline wearing his son’s No. 35 jersey. Ethan Pritchard remains hospitalized in Tallahassee after surviving a gunshot wound to the head last weekend.
Prayers up. pic.twitter.com/NCTZyoxiTV
— Warchant.com (@Warchant) September 6, 2025
Florida State safety Earl Little Jr. brought out a No. 35 jersey to midfield for the coin toss, and Florida State players wore No. 35 wristbands to honor their teammate.
All Garnet with the Gold lids
Continuing to think about Ethan 🙏🏼#NoleFamily | #KeepCLIMBing pic.twitter.com/FD6GSNpo5F
— FSU Football (@FSUFootball) September 6, 2025
#NoleFamily 🍢 pic.twitter.com/HSTjx9e7xp
— FSU Football (@FSUFootball) September 6, 2025
Defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr. wore a T-shirt with Pritchard’s face on it during pregame warmups.
According to Earl Pritchard, Ethan Pritchard was driving his aunt home when he was shot in the back of the head in Havana, Florida, 16 miles from Tallahassee, on Sunday night.
The Seminoles routed East Texas A&M 77-3 on Saturday, after which coach Mike Norvell presented Earl Pritchard with the game ball, and asked him to break the rock – a tradition generally given to the player of the game after each Seminoles victory.
💛♥️ #NoleFamily pic.twitter.com/kg2kJtMNRA
— FSU Football (@FSUFootball) September 6, 2025
Norvell grew emotional as he discussed Pritchard during his postgame media availability.
“The way that he plays the game … he loves it, he absolutely loves it. To know that right now that’s taken away from him in a senseless act, you don’t always know why you have to go through things in life but I do believe God has his hand over Ethan and this football team,” Norvell said.
“To have Earl here today – He’s a wonderful man, and being with him I know it’s so very hard. I know it’s hard for anybody to have to go through, but he told me early in this week, ‘I know where my boy wants to be so I’m going to go stand in his place for him.'”
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