Bulldogs to face fired up Cincinnati Bearcats in Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl

The Georgia Bulldogs won’t have to travel very far to this year’s bowl destination. And when they get there, it looks like they’ll find the team with perhaps more to prove this Bowl season than any other.

The Bearcats of Cincinnati, ranked #7 in the College Football Playoff rankings and undefeated champions of the American Athletic Conference, felt that they deserved a shot at college football’s national title. Instead, they’ll have the opportunity to prove they belong with the big boys against a Georgia squad that looks to have multiple players sitting out the game to prepare for the NFL Draft.

The Bearcats needed a last second field goal to best Tulsa 27-24 last night in the AAC title game. And that followed a nearly monthlong lay-off after COVID problems kept the entire Cincinnati team under quarantine for 14 days. But their overall season was in fact pretty impressive. They beat then #22 Army 24-10 back in September and throttled #16 SMU 42-13 in October.

We’ll certainly get to know them better in the coming days, but for now suffice it to say that the Bearcats have had a statistically dominant season. Luke Fickell’s team boasts the #7 scoring defense in the nation, giving up a stingy 16.0 points per game. But they also have a top 15 scoring offense, scoring 39.3 points per game behind junior quarterback Desmond Ridder. Louisville native Ridder has thrown for 2080 yards on the season and run for another 609 yards and 12 touchdowns.

The Peach Bowl will kick off at 12:30 pm on New Year’s Day from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Television coverage will be on ESPN.