Georgia’s Azeez Ojulari came off the edge to take down Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder one final time to record a safety on the last play of the game and put an exclamation mark on an historic Bulldogs’ victory.
Georgia (8-2) rallied for a 24-21 win to beat the Bearcats (9-1) in a hotly contested Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl after trailing 21-10 in the fourth quarter.
Sophomore kicker Jack Podlesny provided the game-winning points with 3 seconds left on a 53-yard field goal that JT Daniels set up with an 8-play, 44-yard drive over the final 1:28 with no timeouts.
But it was the Georgia defense that proved heroic, holding Cincinnati to 32 yards on its final 27 plays of the game after falling behind 21-10 on Jerome Ford’s 79-yard TD run on the second play of the second half.
Ojulari, who had three of Georgia’s 8 sacks, made the most pivotal play of the game early in the fourth quarter.
Ridder took a shotgun snap facing third-and-9 at his own 30 on the third play of the fourth quarter when Ojularii burst in from outside, lunging into Ridder and stripping the lanky Cincinnati quarterback of the football.
Teammate Adam Anderson, who had two sacks himself, recovered at the Bearcats’ 25-yard line with 14:01 remaining and momentum was suddenly with the Bulldogs..
Zamir White scored on a 9-yard TD run two plays later to cut the lead to 21-16.
Ojulari wasn’t finished, as he chased down Ridder again in the fourth quarter with yet another third down stop and sack with just over four minutes left.
“It was important for me to make sure the seniors go out the right way,” said Ojulari, a projected first-round NFL Draft pick who many believed would opt-out of the bowl game.
“It was an opportunity to play another game, and I took advantage of it.”