Ohio State and Georgia Meet in Peach Bowl on New Year’s Eve

No. 4 Ohio State makes its first appearance in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and it will be on the largest of stages: a College Football Playoff semifinal matchup in prime time (8 p.m.) against defending national champion and No. 1 Georgia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Game time is 8 p.m.

Ohio State is 11-1 on the season, was 8-1 and runner-up in the Big Ten East Division and was ranked in the Top 3 nationally all season. The Buckeyes are one of only two one-loss teams – TCU is the other – and both are in the CFP behind unbeaten Georgia and Michigan, both 13- 0, respectively.

THE BASICS

No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 1 Georgia • Saturday, Dec. 31  • When: 8 p.m. ET • Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium • TV: ESPN

• Radio: 97.1 The Fan

• The 2022 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl is Ohio State’s 54th post-season bowl game all-time, the most among Big Ten teams. Ohio State has a 26-27 record all-time in post-season bowl games.
• 2022 is Ohio State’s ninth year playing in a New Year’s 6 (including CFP games) postseason game, or every year since the start of the CFP era. No other team has been to a New Year’s 6 game all nine years.

FIFTH COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF APPERANCE

• Ohio State has played in five of the nine College Football Playoffs since their inception in 2014.
• Ohio State won that inaugural CFP as a No. 4 seed with wins over No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Oregon.
• Coach Ryan Day has led Ohio State to three CFPs. His Buckeyes are 1-2 in CFP games with a last-second loss to Clemson in 2019 (29-23), a win over Clemson in 2020 (49-28), and a loss to Alabama in the 2021 CFP championship game (52-24).

CFP HISTORY 

• The Chick-fi l-A Peach Bowl will be the seventh College Football Playoff game for Ohio State.
• Only Alabama (13) and Clemson (10) have played in more games.
• In the Buckeyes’ three wins, they’ve averaged 44.3 points per game and scored 42 or more each time. In their three losses, they’ve averaged just 15.6 points per game.
• Ohio State and Alabama are tied for the most all-time appearances in the College Football Playoff poll with 54.
• The Buckeyes’ average rank is 5.26, which is second only to Alabama at 3.02.

• The Buckeyes finished the regular season with an 11-1 record with all 11 of its wins coming by double digits.
• Ohio State is Top 10 nationally in total offense (6th; 492.7) and 12th in total defense (303.9).
• The Buckeye offense is scoring 44.5 points per game – 2nd nationally – and has scored 55 of 58 times in the red zone for the second-highest percentage in the country (.948).
• Ohio State is tied for 4th nationally with 44 red zone touchdowns. Georgia is No. 1 with 48.
• Ohio State still ranks tied for 23rd nationally in turnover margin with 17 turnovers forced, vs. only eight turnovers for a plus-0.52 per game average.
• Ohio State has a Top 15 defense nationally. Ohio State is 12th in total defense (303.9).
• Ohio State has a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl roster that includes 20 graduates.

• A total of six Ohio State Buckeyes have earned All-American honors for the 2022 season
  • WR Marvin Harrison Jr.
  • OT Paris Johnson Jr.
  • LB Tommy Eichenberg
  • QB C.J. Stroud
  • OT Dawand Jones
  • SAF Ronnie Hickman
• Highlighting the group is unanimous first-team All-American Harrison Jr. and consensus All-American Johnson Jr.
• Harrison is Ohio State’s 37th unanimous All-American while he and Johnson are the 90th and 91st Buckeyes to achieve at least consensus status.

THE SERIES 

• Ohio State and Georgia have met just once on the gridiron: the Bulldogs defeated the Buckeyes, 21-14, to win the 1993 Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
• That Citrus Bowl win capped a 10-2 season for Georgia under coach Ray Goff. Ohio State went 8-3-1 that season under John Cooper with Kirk Herbstreit a team captain and the starting QB.

GEORGIA PEACHES 

• The game will be Georgia’s 11th at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which is situated 72 miles from Athens, since it opened in 2017. This will be Ohio State’s first game in the stadium.

THE BULLDOGS 

• Georgia is 13-0 on the season and has been ranked No. 1 in five of the six College Football Playoff polls this season.
• Since the beginning on the 2021 season, Georgia has won 27 of its last 28 games.
• The Bulldogs defeated LSU, 50-20, in its last outing in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta.
• Heisman Trophy finalist QB Stetson Bennett threw for 268 yards and four touchdowns against the Tigers. He is 27-3 lifetime as a starter with 3,425 yards this season and 20 TD passes.
• Like last year, Georgia possesses one of the nation’s top defenses. Only Illinois has given up fewer points per game on average than the Bulldogs (12.8).
• Georgia has top 10 national rankings on both sides of the ball is scoring off ense
  (ninth, 39.7), scoring defense (second, 12.8), total offense (seventh, 491.9) and total defense (eighth, 292.0).

FUTURE MEETINGS SCHEDULED 

• As of now, Ohio State and Georgia will meet in a home-and-home series during the 2030 and 2031 seasons.
• Ohio State will play in Athens on Sept. 14, 2030; Georgia comes to Columbus Aug. 30, 2031.