The latest edition of Late Kick Live dumbfounded Josh Pate. It focused on fans’ perceptions of who should be in the College Football Hall of Fame.
The Georgia Bulldogs had quite the run in the College Football Playoff from 2021-2022. During that span, Georgia won back-to-back national titles. Georgia may have won a third consecutive championship if it had not been for the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Pate posted a poll on his X account asking whether Stetson Bennett deserved to be in the College Football Hall of Fame. The poll ruled in favor of yes, but 47.2% of people voted no.
Pate could not believe what he saw and immediately defended Bennett as an inductee.
“That guy who won two national titles at Georgia—a venue where they hadn’t triumphed since St. Helen’s erupted—is what 47.2% of you think. A guy who was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, a former walk-on, and who Kirby Smart did everything in his power to knock it out the door,” Pate remarked. “Then, returns there, starts for them since he has no other options, and ends up winning two titles there. The College Football Hall of Fame isn’t the right place for that guy to be.”
Then he addressed those who argued Bennett did not contribute as much because he was on a great team. Pate brought up Bennett’s performance against Ohio State in 2022 and Alabama in 2021.
“…I got people coming at me left and right, ‘Yea, they won two national championships. Stetson Bennett didn’t do anything; he was carried by his team.’ You guys claim to care about everything that happens on the field, and yet you watch everything but what happened on the field,” Pate said. “Stetson Bennett faced Bama and Ohio State and goes a combined 40-of-60 for 622 and six touchdowns against them. They had to go through the best those two years.”
Pate firmly believed that Georgia would not have those games without the efforts of Bennett.
“Bama, for a title in 2021. Ohio State was the de facto national championship in 2022,” Pate said. “They don’t win either of those games without him.”
Pate also mentioned the number of national championships Georgia won before Bennett arrived and how some of the better former Bulldog teams still could not win a championship.
“‘Georgia was so loaded though Josh. An average quarterback could have done that.’ You know what other season Georgia’s been loaded? Pretty much every year,” Pate said. “They were loaded last year. Where’s the national championship ring? They were loaded before Stetson Bennett got there. Where are the national championships?”
Pate then posed a challenge to those who had mentioned Georgia’s talent.
Give it a few years, people who tell you Georgia was so loaded. Review this in 2030, or you may review it right now. “Start showing me Georgia’s roster,” Pate commanded. “What a strong roster it had. As you begin to rattle them off, see how long it takes for their mouths to dry up. The name you truly remember is Stetson Bennett, and you’re attempting to undermine him in the corner.”
Pate brought up Cam Newton, the 2010 Heisman Trophy winner and Auburn’s national championship leader. Pate did point out that Newton wasn’t enough to win the Tigers a championship on his own.
According to Pate’s theory, people’s preconceptions about Bennett prevent them from seeing what actually happened.
Yes, Georgia had a lot going on. Yes, the Georgia squad was victorious. To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever won the race entirely on their own—not even Cam in 2010,” Pate stated. But the reason for this is that you automatically believe that Stetson Bennett is a walk-on and a no-star. You find it impossible to allow your eyes to process what you are truly seeing because the things that didn’t happen on the field are so ingrained in your thinking.”
Bennett currently plays for the Rams in Los Angeles. In the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, the team selected him.
