Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Features Top-10 Showdown with No. 9 Georgia vs. No. 8 Cincinnati

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Features Top-10 Showdown with No. 9 Georgia vs. No. 8 Cincinnati

Bearcats and Bulldogs to meet for the first time in 44 years.

ATLANTA (Dec. 20, 2020) – This year’s Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl will feature a top-10 matchup between the No. 9 Georgia Bulldogs and the No. 8 Cincinnati Bearcats as announced today by the College Football Playoff selection committee.

The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl will be played on New Year’s Day at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and will be nationally televised by ESPN. Game time is set for noon ET leading into the College Football Playoff Semifinals.

Cincinnati will be making its first-ever trip to the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, while this will mark Georgia’s sixth appearance in the game, but its first since 2006 when the Bulldogs defeated No. 14 Virginia Tech 31-24.

This year’s matchup also represents only the second American Athletic Conference vs. SEC matchup in the Bowl’s 53-year history, following No. 12 UCF’s upset over No. 7 Auburn in 2018.

This signifies the third consecutive top-10 match up for the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and its fifth top-10 contest since becoming a New Year’s Six bowl in 2014. Georgia leads the all-time series with Cincinnati 2-0, but this will be the first meeting between the two programs since 1976 when the Bulldogs defeated the Bearcats 31-17 in Athens.

“We are extremely excited to kick off the New Year, Jan. 1 with a top-10 matchup as the first New Year’s Six bowl played in 2021,” said Gary Stokan, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl CEO and president. “Both of the Cincinnati and Georgia programs have persevered through numerous challenges during this unprecedented season and rightfully earned bids to play in an elite New Year’s Six bowl game.”

“Cincinnati and Georgia have had outstanding seasons and we are thrilled to welcome them both to Atlanta, the Capital of College Football,” said Bob Somers, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl chairman. “We’re looking forward to having Georgia back in our game for the first time in 14 years, and for Cincinnati to be in our Bowl for the first time in the program’s history.”

Georgia (7-2 overall, 7-2 SEC) ranks ninth in the College Football Playoff rankings and will be making its fourth consecutive New Year’s Six bowl appearance under head coach Kirby Smart. The Bulldogs field one of the nation’s top defensive units allowing only 322.8 yards and 19.9 points per game, which ranks 15th and 21st in the nation. Georgia ranks first nationally in rushing defense, allowing only 69.3 yards on the ground each game, and is sixth in defensive touchdowns (three). Offensively, the Bulldogs rank 10th in third down conversion percentage (49.2 percent), 22nd in passing yards per completion (13.87) and 32nd in scoring offense (33.2 points per game). Georgia running back Zamir White is 17th in the nation in rushing touchdowns (10), 27th in total touchdowns (10) and 31st in rushing yards (740). Meanwhile, Bulldog quarterback JT Daniels has started the final three games of the season, posting impressive numbers by completing 54 of 81 passes for 839 yards and nine touchdowns to only one interception.

Cincinnati (9-0 overall, 6-0 AAC) enters the game ranked eighth in the College Football Playoff rankings after securing the program’s first AAC championship. The Bearcats will be making their first appearance in a New Year’s Six bowl since 2010 and are balanced on both sides of the ball. Defensively, the Bearcats are second in the country in both passes intercepted (15) and team passing efficiency defense, 21st in passing yards allowed (192.3 yards per game), 18th in red zone defense, 14th in turnovers gained (19), 20th in rushing defense (122.1 yards allowed per game), 13th in total defense (314.4 yards allowed a game) and seventh in scoring defense, only yielding 16 points a game. Cincinnati is 14th in rushing offense (225 yards per game), 15th in scoring offense (39.3 points per game) and 19th in total offense (467.2 yards per game). The Bearcats are led offensively by quarterback Desmond Ridder who ranks 20th in completion percentage (66.4 percent), 19th in passing efficiency (156.4), 27th in passing touchdowns (17), 28th in passing yards (2,090), 12th in points responsible for (174) and 10th in rushing touchdowns (12).

Ticket inventory through the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl’s ticket office is already sold out, marking the 22nd time the Bowl has sold out in its last 24 games, dating back to 1997.

Fans wishing to attend this year’s Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl may still be able to find tickets on Ticketmaster, home to the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl’s official resale ticket exchange.

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