The Georgia Bulldogs meeting with the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl has been ranked as a top 10 game of the 2000s.

Since the turn of the century, college football has witnessed numerous historic matchups that have shaped the sport as we know it today. Games that have become immortalized in the sport and are the standard by which all other college football matchups are judged.

According to The Athletic, the Georgia Bulldogs have played in a handful of these games during the 2000s, with one of them being the Dawgs’ 2022 Peach Bowl matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes. The game landed at the tenth spot for “Best College Football Games of the 2000s”.

Led by Heisman finalist quarterback CJ Stroud, Ohio State jumped out to an early 21-7 lead. But the Dawgs had a Heisman finalist of their own in Stetson Bennett, who helped the Dawgs answer with 17 points of their own to take a 24-21 lead. A last-minute touchdown would give the Buckeyes a 28-24 lead at the half.

Ohio State controlled the third quarter as they jumped out to a 38-24 lead and seemed to have the game in control. But a 76 yard bomb to Arian Smith brought Georgia within one score and the game seemed to be heading for a historic finish.

Georgia found itself trailing 41-35 late in the fourth and desperately needed a score to keep its hopes of a repeat alive. With 2:43 left in the game, quarterback Stetson Bennett marched the Dawgs down the field in what was arguably the best drive of his career. A 10-yard touchdown pass to AD Mitchell would give Georgia a 42-41 lead.

The dramatics were not finished yet, however, as CJ Stroud’s heroic scrambling placed the Buckeyes in field goal range with a chance of a walk-off field goal. With just eight seconds remaining, Ohio State kicker Noah Ruggles walked onto the field and attempt to deliver the knockout blow the Georgia’s season.

While the ball dropped in New York to ring in the New Year, Ruggles’ ball in Atlanta hooked left and was no good. The Georgia crowd (and sideline) erupted as the Dawgs would secure their second-straight national title appearance in a historic finish to a college football game that not even Hollywood could write.

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