Christian family finds itself pulling against SEC as Ohio State faces Georgia

Bill Christian has spent much of his life with a rooting interest in the Southeastern Conference.

Christian played football at Tennessee from 1977-79 under longtime Volunteers Johnny Majors, but he never got to play against Georgia. He was injured in what was supposed to be his final season of 1980 and missed getting to see the day Herschel Walker made his presence known on the national stage by steamrolling Christian’s good friend, Bill Bates, on the way to scoring the first touchdown of his career.

“My God, a freshman!” legendary Georgia radio announcer Larry Munson yelled into his microphone that day.

It was the play that set Georgia on its way to winning the national championship that season.

Forty years later, Christian was pulling for the Bulldogs to win a title again during the 2021 season.

“I was for the Dawgs,” he said. “They were playing Alabama.”

After playing for Tennessee against the Crimson Tide in on the third Saturday of October each year, Christian was happy to see his archrival go down in the national championship game, but he has even found time to cheer for them, too.

“I rooted for them in 2014 when they played Ohio State,” Christian said. “I hated Ohio State, for no real reason.”

However, heading into Saturday’s Peach Bowl at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium — one of two national semifinal games in the College Football Playoff — Christian has been rooting for Ohio State gladly.

His son, Allatoona High School graduate Bennett Christian, will be wearing No. 85 in the Buckeyes’ trademark scarlet and gray as a freshman tight end.

“I’ve gone all in with the Buckeyes,” Bill Christian said. “They have a lot of tradition, and I think it’s the perfect fit for Bennett.”

Bennett Christian was the highest-rated prospect to ever come out of Allatoona. At 6-foot-6, 245 pounds, he was the perfect tight end for Gary Varner’s Power-I offense, which showcased Christian’s blocking skills in the Buccaneers’ run-based offense.

As a four-star recruit that took pride in opening holes for his running backs, Bennett Christian quickly became a favorite in the eyes of Big Ten Conference recruiters. He had offers from Penn State, Michigan State and Nebraska. He also earned offers from Georgia Tech, Kentucky and Bill Christian’s alma mater.

While Bill Christian may have wanted to see his son follow in his Volunteer footsteps, he could not be prouder of the decision Bennett made on his own.

“We are a Tennessee family,” said Bill Christian, whose wife, Sandi, was a Tennessee cheerleader. “We are everything orange. Originally, we thought he might pick Tennessee, but he chose OSU, and we’re really glad he did.”

The odds of Bennett Christian making a Walker-esque impact this weekend are slim. He has played in only two games this season, suffering an injury against Toledo, and the Ohio State coaches decided to redshirt him.

Christian did come back and play against Indiana, and he has two more games in which he can play in this season without losing his redshirt status. That means he is eligible for Saturday’s game and for the national championship game, should Ohio State get that far.

However, that will not be easy. Georgia comes in 13-0 and is the defending national champions for a reason.

Regardless, Bill Christian said getting to play the Bulldogs in a national semifinal in Atlanta will still be a happy homecoming for Bennett, and a chance to share a field with a lot of his friends and fellow Cobb County products on the other sideline — wide receivers Dominick Blaylock (Walton) and De’Nylon Morrissette (North Cobb), tight end Ryland Goede (Kennesaw Mountain) and kicker/punter Matthew Sumlin (Whitefield Academy)

“I think he’s played against most of them,” Bill Christian said.

As the lead-up to the game nears its completion, Christian said it has not been too bad being an Ohio State fan in the middle of the Georgia Bulldogs’ large footprint. He said friends, neighbors and co-workers who are Georgia fans have gone out of their way not to bring up Saturday’s matchup. No razzing, no jokes, no trash talk.

However, Christian said that likely is not the fact with Bennett and his friends from home.

“It’s probably affected him more than me,” Bill Christian said. “They are like, ‘We love you, man, but we’re for Georgia.’”

Bill and Sandi Christian will be at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for Saturday night’s game, and they will be cheering for their son, with the hopes he sees the field and makes a play or two. However, even Bill Christian has to admit that there is a reason Ohio State was a 6.5-point underdog.

“I think (coach) Kirby (Smart) had done a great job building Georgia’s program,” Christian said, “and if you put a gun to my head, I’d probably have to bet on them to win.”

But that certainly does not mean it is what Bill Christian wants, and if there is an upset, he will be heading to Inglewood, California, for the national championship game next month.

It would be even better if No. 85 figures prominently in the outcome.

“It would be fantastic,” Bill Christian said.