Georgia’s 2021 football team accomplished what every previous UGA team had chased for 41 years. The ’21 Dawgs brought the national championship trophy back to Athens.
Ending such a long drought filled with heartbreak may have been even more difficult.
Georgia was originally set to play one of college football’s top programs in the 2021 regular season, the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Despite losing in the SEC Championship to Alabama, UGA still earned a spot in the four-team College Football Playoff after going 12-0 in the regular season. Had the UGA-OSU game remained on the schedule and Georgia lost, that additional defeat likely would have cost the Bulldogs their chance at the national championship.
Georgia and Ohio State had a home-and-home agreement for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. After the Big Ten made a partnership with the Pac-12, OSU backed out of the series in 2012.
Though the series was canceled before he was in high school, the original agreement would have seen a faceoff between UGA and Justin Fields in 2020.
On May 17, 2012, former Ohio State athletic director Eugene D. Smith, wrote a message to former Georgia AD Greg McGarity informing the university that the Buckeyes would be canceling the game.
This letter is to confirm our recent conversation that the varsity men’s football team representing The Ohio State University is unable to assign a date for our proposed football games for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Thus, according to the terms of the letter agreement signed on December 15, 2010, the letter agreement is canceled and both “institutions are free to arrange games with other teams in 2020 and 2021 with no obligation to the other institution.”
Thanks again for attempting to schedule the games and hopefully we can re-engage the conversation in the future.
McGarity replied on May 18:
Thank you for your letter regarding the varsity men’s football game between the University of Georgia and The Ohio State University. To confirm and pursuant to the letter of agreement signed on December 15, 2010, we understand and agree that the games scheduled in the 2020 and 2021 seasons will be canceled.
I hope that we are able to revisit a potential series between our institutions in the future. Good luck with the upcoming season and thank you for your help with this matter.
For what it’s worth, the two program did end up scheduling another home-and-home series. Georgia will host Ohio State on Sept. 14, 2030, and it will travel to Columbus on Aug. 30, 2031.
If the game had remained, could it have cost Kirby his first national title? Would it have derailed the momentum and even impacted UGA’s 2022 run? A loss to the Buckeyes, combined with the SEC Championship defeat to Alabama, likely would have ended Georgia’s hopes.
So would the Dawgs have beaten Ohio State in 2021? It’s tough to say, but we can compare the teams.
Would UGA have beaten Ohio State in 2021?
First off, home-field advantage can’t be understated in marquee matchups of college football. The series was scheduled to play in Athens in 2020 and Columbus in 2021. The Bulldogs would have played on the road at Ohio State, making the challenge even more extreme.
We all know what UGA did, but how good was OSU? In short, very.
In 2021, the Buckeyes had college football’s No. 1 scoring offense, averaging 45.7 points a game. Led by Heisman finalist CJ Stroud, OSU held one of the most star-studded offenses ever seen. With what is considered one of the best wide receiver units ever: NFL stars Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave and Marvin Harrison Jr. all shared the field together.
However, Ohio State was not as dominant on the other side of the line of scrimmage. The Kerry Coombs-led defense ranked 53rd nationally in total defense and 25th in scoring defense.
Ohio State went 11-2 in 2021, losing early to Oregon and having its title hopes ended in the now-iconic game where Michigan finally ended its losing streak to the Buckeyes. They ended the season beating Utah 48-45 in the Rose Bowl. After beating its rival, Michigan went on to face the ’21 Georgia Bulldogs at the Orange Bowl. Kirby’s team put a 34-11 thrashing on the Wolverines to advance to the national championship game.
Some might argue that UGA dominated the common opponent OSU lost to, making the question of who would win simple. That could be true, but sports are almost never that simple.
Georgia would have had to go to Columbus and beat one of college football’s most high-powered offenses of recent history.
Which quarterback would have given the Bulldogs a better chance to win?
There is another major variable in the hypothetical. Who is UGA’s quarterback? JT Daniels started the season opener of 2021 before getting hurt and losing the job to Stetson Bennett. The two universities never officially scheduled the exact date of the game. Depending on when in the season the matchup was played, it would indicate two different possibilities under center for the Dawgs.
In an early 2021 matchup, which QB would have favored Georgia’s chances? Especially early in the season, in what would likely have been a high-scoring game, I believe the Dawgs would have benefited from Daniels’ big-play ability.
Of course, I believe in Georgia, Smart and that magical championship team to get the job done. It would have been no walk in the park, though.
It would have been a true 50/50 game in my eyes…a game that would have cost Kirby the ’21 title if lost. However, I do believe in the butterfly effect, meaning that Georgia could have lost to Ohio State and then gone on to win the SEC Championship, which would have granted them a place in the CFP.
Win or lose, I have no doubt that a matchup between UGA and OSU in 2021 would have been an all-time classic.
