Ohio State vs. Georgia in the Peach Bowl will produce one of the teams to play for a national championship this season. Saturday’s College Football Playoff semifinal will kick off at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Ohio State vs. Georgia preview

Heading into Saturday’s game, the defending national champs remain the favorites for the showdown. Boasting a 13-0 record, an SEC championship and playing a near-home game in Atlanta, Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs head into the game as 6.5-point favorites over the Buckeyes per DraftKings.

Both teams bring to the matchup quarterbacks who made a trip to New York City as finalists for the Heisman Trophy. However, an edge under center goes to Ohio State and CJ Stroud.

Barstool Sportsbook users can cash in on $100 in automatic bonus cash, including fans of the Buckeyes! Use SATURDAYOH5050 when signing up to take advantage of the bonus cash. Click here to get started!

Barstool Sportsbook

STATES: OH, MD, AZ, CO, IL, IN, KS, MI, NJ, PA, TN, VA, IA

GET THE APP
CODE: SATURDAY1000
CODE: SATURDAY1000
SIGNUP BONUS

$1,000

NEW PLAYER BONUS!

BET NOW

Stetson Bennett did have an effective year for Georgia, throwing for 3,425 yards and 20 touchdowns with 6 interceptions, but the Bulldog offense is still built on balance and running the ball. Georgia produced a trio of running backs with at least 500 yards rushing while averaging 5.5 yards per carry as a team.

Sports Betting in Big Ten Country

Sports betting in Ohio is officially launching on January 1, 2023.

Pre-registration is now open at FanDuel Ohio for an extra $100 bonus. Go pre-register now.

21+ and present in OH. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

For the Buckeyes, Stroud was the offensive catalyst and carried the heavy offensive lifting while throwing for over 3,300 yards with 37 passing touchdowns. That performance helped Ohio State cope with a long list of injuries in the backfield.

Heading into the game, both teams are juggling key injuries on the offensive side of the ball. Ohio State will be without WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba and RB TreVeyon Henderson for the Playoff. Fortunately, Miyan Williams — the team’s leading rusher in 2022 — is trending in a positive direction after ending the year banged up.

For Georgia, the Bulldogs are monitoring the status of starting OL Warren McClendon and WR Ladd McConkey. While the Bulldogs’ offense is built around the running game and passing attack to the tight end, McConkey is Georgia’s leading contributor at WR with 675 yards receiving and 5 touchdowns.

Early in the week, Smart did not definitively list a status but said the Bulldogs are “excited to hopefully” get those players back. With so much on the line, it is hard to envision either player not suiting up if they are able to play on Saturday.

Caesars Sportsbook users who pre-register with promo code SATURDAYTIX can unlock a cash bonus and a chance to win Cleveland Cavs tickets! Click here to get started!

Caesars Sportsbook
GET THE APP
CODE: ST1000
CODE: ST1000
SIGNUP BONUS

$1,000 BET

ON CAESARS!

BET NOW

With so much focus of the game on Ohio State’s offense, a likely x-factor in the Peach Bowl is the running game of the Buckeyes against Georgia’s defense. The Bulldogs are only giving up 77 rushing yards per game and 2.9 yards per carry this season. Ohio State will need to run the ball with some level of effectiveness in order to slow down Georgia’s pass rush and defensive front.

Ohio State vs. Georgia prediction

Expecting Ryan Day and the Buckeyes to keep things close in the Peach Bowl is not hard to see, and the oddsmakers agree with that belief. However, there are a few too many things going against Ohio State in this matchup, including playing the game in Atlanta and the veteran makeup of Georgia’s roster.

Prediction: Georgia 34, Ohio State 30

With Ohio sports betting coming at the end of the month, you can pre-register today and get hundreds of dollars in free bets to use on the Buckeyes, NFL games and other sports: