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Stetson Bennett was prepared to sign with Louisiana-Lafayette, a reputable school from the Sun Belt Conference’s mid-major division. He had taken a chance on playing Division I college football by enrolling at Georgia as a walk-on after high school.
He was inactive there for one season before moving on to junior college, where he excelled at Jones County in Mississippi. In December 2018, he verbally committed to Louisiana-Lafayette after posting impressive stats there.
Over the summer, he remarked, “I woke up on signing day and prepared to sign there, but Georgia phoned.”
He was being given a scholarship by Kirby Smart. Bennett was faced with a number of obstacles, including five-star recruits and talented players who would be playing ahead of him, but he was unable to refuse. Even as a backup, he would be snatched up. Bennett, though, was certain that he could outperform the more gifted opposition.
Even the 5-foot-11 quarterback, however, could not have anticipated things turning out this way or to this degree. No one was able to. The chances were not in his favor. Being able to start at Georgia one day just by moving up the depth chart was a success.
He ironically traveled to Los Angeles for the national championship game on Monday night, joining a select group of starting quarterbacks who have won back-to-back championships with a 65-7 thrashing of TCU at SoFi Stadium.
These past two years are the stuff of legend, a Hollywood script that has made him famous. After his six-touchdown, 304-yard masterpiece sealed the Bulldogs’ undefeated campaign, Bennett became the sixth quarterback to accomplish this feat and the first since Alabama’s A.J. McCarron in 2011–12.
He will always be known as the best in Athens, Georgia, according to Smart.
It was a fairytale conclusion to a collegiate career fit for a unicorn, dwarfing even the Cinderella tale of his opponent, TCU, who had 200/1 chances to win it all back in August.
A former walk-on, small, and poorly recruited quarterback who, in January of last year, helped Georgia win its first national title in 41 years before going on to have an even greater season.
Bennett generated 15 total touchdowns, only one interception, and 67.8 percent of his throws were completed as he won 25 of his last 26 starts, 28 of 31 overall, and in four playoff games across two postseasons.
He bested C.J. Stroud, Will Levis, Hendon Hooker, and Anthony Richardson this year, four of the top five quarterback prospects eligible for the April NFL draft, according to ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.
On Monday night, the 25-year-old quarterback passed 4,127 yards to become Georgia history’s all-time single-season passing leader.
Consider all the previous quarterbacks in Athens, Georgia, including Matthew Stafford, Justin Fields, Jake Fromm, Jacob Eason, Aaron Murray, Quincy Carter, Eric Zeier, and David Greene, who were unable to break the quarterbacking drought.
He began the previous campaign in second place on the depth chart, behind valued USC transfer J.T. Daniels. Bennett had his opportunity when Daniels sustained an oblique injury. Daniels, a.k.a. Wally Pipp, never turned around.
He triumphed over us, Smart remarked.
Similar tales of walk-ons defying the odds and becoming stars have been told. Hunter Renfrow, a wide receiver for the Raiders who scored the game-winning touchdown for Clemson in the 2016 national championship game, was the most recent example.
After beginning as a walk-on and playing seven years in the NFL, Adam Archuleta, an NFL commentator for CBS, was selected in the first round out of Arizona State in 2001.
At the Division I level, Arizona State was Archuleta’s sole choice, and despite the fact that he weighed just 185 pounds at the time, they wanted him to play linebacker.
He remarked, “To me, it was OK, my foot’s in the door.
Bennett’s tale is unique. The most significant position on the field, the quarterback is the only one. To be the right choice for Georgia, he had to overcome a lot.
He required a tremendous level of self-confidence and the intrinsic capacity to face difficulty without letting it harm him. And to be capable of handling riches after exerting so much effort only to have a chance.
Although I am unaware of all the men who continued and achieved success, Archuleta added, “I would have to rate him up there near the top or at the top.”
Georgia’s inability to overcome the obstacle is hilarious because Bennett, a.k.a. “The Mailman,” once donned a U.S. Postal Service hat to a showcase camp when he was still in high school.
When Bennett entered those displays, he liked to let his hair grow out and wear spectacles. When he won, bystanders were shocked.
He responded, “It was my thing.
Despite all the success Smart saw during his first six years at Georgia, the quarterback position remained the team’s biggest problem. He struggled to find a solution to the quarterback problem before grudgingly handing the ball to Bennett.
Stetson Bennett led a group of five-star recruits and potential NFL players at Georgia to unprecedented heights, replacing Alabama as the sport’s dominant force. Monday’s fourth quarter started off with Smart calling timeout and taking Bennett off, giving him the opportunity to leave the floor to the standing ovation he earned.
The scene in the film when the cheesy music would play was when one teammate after another would hug him.
Bennett needs to spend a few days in Los Angeles after Monday night so he can approach screenwriters with his idea. A trip quite like his has never been seen in college football.
»Stetson Bennett leads Georgia to glory«