College Football HQ

Georgia vs. Ohio State: College Football Playoff game score, reactions, highlights

Georgia took down Ohio State by the slimmest of margins in a dramatic College Football Playoff semifinal and will play for the national championship

James Parks

Georgia vs. Ohio State: College Football Playoff game score, reactions, highlights
Georgia vs. Ohio State: College Football Playoff game score, reactions, highlights /

At the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, a last ditch field goal to win the game sailed wide left and Georgia took down Ohio State by a single point in the College Football Playoff Peach Bowl semifinal game.

Georgia vs. Ohio State: College Football Playoff game score, highlights

A back-and-forth affair ended in the opening minutes of 2023 as No. 1 Georgia defeated No. 4 Ohio State, 42-41, and will face TCU for the national title.

Here's how it went down in Atlanta.

Ohio State strikes first

Georgia missed a field goal on its first possession and the Buckeyes responded by driving 71 yards over four plays and just over two minutes.

C.J. Stroud rolled out of the pocket and directed Marvin Harrison open in the end zone for the 31-yard touchdown play.

Harrison also caught a 24-yard pass from Stroud early in the drive.

Score: Ohio State 7, Georgia 0

Georgia responds, ties it up

The Bulldogs came back on their next drive with a dramatic scoring shot as Kenny McIntosh took a pass from Stetson Bennett and outraced the Buckeyes' coverage.

Bennett was sacked for the first time since Oct. 15 when Steele Chambers and Taron Vincent teamed up to bring the QB down for Ohio State but he recovered on the next play by connecting with McIntosh on the 25-yard score.

Georgia drove 75 yards over 8 plays in 5 minutes, 1 second to tie the game.

Score: Ohio State 7, Georgia 7

Buckeyes go back on top

Content is unavailable

Emeka Egbuka and Marvin Harrison teamed up on big gainers, the former for 13 yards and the latter for 24 to put Ohio State back into scoring position.

Georgia was flagged for pass interference in the end zone, putting the Bucks on the 2-yard line, and Miyan Williams powered through that stout Bulldog front line for the touchdown and the 7-point lead.

Score: Ohio State 14, Georgia 7

Ohio State picks off Bennett, adds another TD

Ohio State's defense, so maligned a year ago, got in on the action when Steele Chambers intercepted Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett on the UGA 30.

The Buckeyes needed three plays from there to tack on another touchdown when Stroud pulled off some magic with a hard-earned TD pass for Harrison and the two-score lead.

Stroud was 10 of 12 passing with 162 yards and two touchdowns to that point, and Harrison had 106 receiving yards.

Score: Ohio State 21, Georgia 7

Georgia answers

The SEC champions got back on the board with a quick-strike touchdown drive, thanks to a huge 47-yard pass play from Bennett to Arian Smith at the OSU 11.

On the next play, Kendall Milton powered in for the 11-yard touchdown to bring the Bulldogs back within seven points.

Content is unavailable

Score: Ohio State 21, Georgia 14

The turf monster gets Georgia

Kenny McIntosh appeared to have an easy touchdown in the second quarter if not for one unlucky trip that caught him short of the end zone.

Content is unavailable

But Bennett finishes the job

Content is unavailable

Daijun Edwards ran for 7 yards to inch the Bulldogs closer to the goal line and Bennett took the carry himself around left end for the touchdown.

Score: Georgia 21, Ohio State 21

Ohio State storms back

After Georgia took the lead on Jack Podlesny's 32-yard field goal, the Buckeyes came back to life on offense with a quick-strike touchdown drive.

OSU had punted on two straight drives, but Stroud recovered late in the second quarter, hitting Emeka Egbuka for a 19-yard gainer and Julian Fleming for 13 before locating Xavier Johnson on a pretty 37-yard scoring play.

Score: Ohio State 28, Georgia 24

Ohio State had the lead at halftime, but...

As good as the Buckeyes offense has been all season, there have still been questions around its defensive efficiency in coordinator Jim Knowles' first season.

Luckily, Ohio State had the speed and playmakers to make up for it on offense, closing the first half with a quick scoring drive.

And then opening the second with another.

Buckeyes open the second half strong

After forcing the Bulldogs to punt on their initial drive of the third quarter, Ohio State put together an aggressive 70 yard scoring push to extend its lead.

Working from a clean pocket, Stroud hit Julian Fleming for a nice 25-yard advance right away and found Emeka Egbuka for 19 yards and into the red zone.

Egbuka finished the drive with a 10-yard touchdown catch after coming open on a 3rd and 2 to give the Buckeyes a double-digit advantage.

Georgia hadn't allowed more than 22 points in a game during the regular season.

Score: Ohio State 35, Georgia 24

Targeting or no targeting?

Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison took a nasty hit in the back of the end zone on a 3rd and Goal play in the third quarter.

But after initially throwing the flag, the officials ruled no targeting after taking another look, judging that Georgia defender Javon Bullard struck Harrison with his shoulder, not the crown of his helmet.

Ohio State expanded its lead with a 25-yard field goal.

Score: Ohio State 38, Georgia 24

Close call for Georgia

Georgia fans are thankful for the camera on the line to gain after it was able to overturn the officials' initial mistake on a crucial fourth down.

Brock Bowers appeared short of the marker, but after further review that mistake was overturned, rewarding the Georgia tight end for his tremendous effort.

But the Bulldogs were unable to capitalize on the goal-to-go situation and settled for another field goal instead.

Score: Ohio State 38, Georgia 27

Georgia with the bomb

For a moment, it looked like Ohio State pulled off a perfect fake punt and made a first down, but instead Georgia coach Kirby Smart called a timeout after he sniffed out the fake, forcing the Buckeyes to hand over possession after the pause.

That's when Georgia got back in the game.

On the next drive, Arian Smith got behind everybody on the field with ease and brought down a 76-yard touchdown catch from Stetson Bennett that left the Buckeyes' pass defense in his dust.

Georgia then converted the two-point attempt with receiver Ladd McConkey to make it a three-point game.

Score: Ohio State 38, Georgia 35

Georgia takes the lead

After the Buckeyes kicked a field goal, the Bulldogs stormed back over 72 yards in just five plays as Bennett hit Bowers for 15 yards to and Kearis Jackson for 35 more to get into scoring position.

And then to Adonai Mitchell from 10 yards out for the touchdown to take a 1 point lead with under a minute left.

Score: Georgia 42, Ohio State 41

No good! Georgia wins!

Ohio State fought back with a chance to win the game on a field goal, but Noah Ruggles' kick was wide left and Georgia prevailed.

Score: Georgia 42, Ohio State 41

More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | All Teams

Follow College Football HQ: Bookmark | Rankings | Facebook

Published
James Parks
JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He previously covered football for 247Sports and CBS Interactive. College Football HQ joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022.

Home/News