Best games and moments in Peach Bowl history

Maryland's offense was spectacular, piling up 461 yards, but just couldn't capitalize, netting just one touchdown. After Georgia scored a touchdown in the second quarter, Maryland immediately threw a 68-yard bomb to Walter White for a Terps touchdown. Georgia then built a 17-10 lead, and the defense held on to limit the Terrapins to just two field goals the rest of the way en route to a 17-16 win.

These two met in the 1972 Peach Bowl — the Wolfpack won 49-13 — but this was a much lower scoring and more competitive game. North Carolina State held a 10-0 lead before West Virginia scored on a 39-yard Arthur Owens touchdown catch to only trail 10-6 at the half. In the fourth, Dan Kendra threw a pass that was handled by two Wolfpack defenders before being hauled in by the Mountaineers' Scott MacDonald for a 50-yard touchdown. NC State attempted a comeback but to no avail as the 'Neers held on, 13-10. Not a bad bowl considering the two head coaches were Lou Holtz and Bobby Bowden.

Don Majkowski led Virginia to its first bowl appearance and took on Jim Everett's Boilermakers. The Cavaliers' rushing attack came alive with 200 second-half rushing yards, and Virginia came back from down 24-14 at halftime to score all 13 points in the second half. A Kenny Stadlin field goal with seven minutes left put the Wahoos ahead to stay, giving UVA the 27-24 victory.

It was a cold, rainy day at Fulton County Stadium, but that didn't slow down either offense. The Illinois passing attack (401 yards) against Army's rushing game (291 yards) gave us a great battle of opposing offensive styles. Army led most of the way and had a 31-23 lead late. With under a minute left in the game, Illini quarterback Jack Trudeau hit David Williams for a 54-yard touchdown to get within two. Trudeau's two-point conversion pass was tipped, and Army held on to a 31-29 win. 

North Carolina State jumped out to a 21-10 halftime lead with the help of a blocked punt recovery in the end zone for a touchdown. Virginia Tech amassed a whopping 29 first downs and got back in the game, whittling the score to 24-22. The Hokies got the ball back with less than two minutes remaining and drove down for a 40-field goal as time expired for the 25-24 win.

Indiana quarterback Trent Green ran in three touchdowns, including an 11-yard jaunt to give the Hoosiers a 23-20 lead late. Auburn's Stan White, however, bootlegged out and ran in a one-yard score with 39 seconds remaining to give the Tigers the 27-23 lead and the win. This was the fourth time in the last five Peach Bowls that the game was decided in the final minute.

East Carolina wanted to get on the big stage with those ACC North Carolina schools and did so with this Peach Bowl appearance. The Pirates were actually the higher-ranked team as their Jeff Blake-led offense was among the best in the country. NC State took a 34-17 lead early in the fourth quarter but didn't score again. Blake threw two more touchdown passes and ran in another one to cap a remarkable comeback and win the Peach Bowl, 37-34.

These two have quite a Peach Bowl history (more on that later). The two went blow for blow during three quarters, but Virginia held a 27-17 lead going into the fourth. After a field goal, Georgia made a big play by returning a UVA fumble 10 yards for a touchdown, tying the game. However, Virginia's Pete Allen took the ensuing kickoff 83 yards for the game-winning touchdown. The Cavaliers held on to win 34-27.

Many know Hines Ward as the excellent wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he also was the quarterback for the Georgia Bulldogs at one time. In the 1995 Peach Bowl, Ward had one heck of a game. Despite his Bulldogs coming up short to Virginia, 34-27, Ward had a whale of a game. He threw for 413 yards on 31-of-59 passing and scored Georgia's lone offensive touchdown on a one-yard run.  

Three years after their thrilling game, Georgia and Virginia would meet again in the Peach Bowl. Aaron Brooks's two TD passes quickly gave the Cavaliers a 21-0 lead. Quincy Carter would lead the comeback with a TD pass to Champ Bailey to tie the game at 21. Brooks countered with a 67-yd touchdown pass to take back the lead. The two would trade scores until Georgia held a 35-33 lead. Virginia recovered an onside kick but missed the game-winning field goal attempt with 19 seconds left, giving the Bulldogs the 35-33 win.

The Peach Bowl changed its name to the Chick-fil-A Bowl, retaining that name through 2013. Virginia Tech jumped all over Georgia to a 21-3 lead before Kregg Lumpkin bolted for a three-yard TD run to tie the game at 21. Neither quarterback played well, as Hokies QB Sean Glennon turned the ball over four times while Georgia's Matthew Stafford went just 9-of-21 passing. However, Brannan Southerland's one-yard touchdown run gave Virginia Tech the lead to stay, as the Bulldogs won 31-24.

This Tiger-fest gave us the only overtime game in Chick-fil-A/Peach Bowl history. Tied up at 20-20 in overtime — highlighted by an 83-yard touchdown run from C.J. Spiller — Clemson settled for a field goal. Auburn's Kodi Burns ran in a seven-yard touchdown on what became the game's final play to give Auburn a thrilling 23-20 win. 

This was the first time two 10-win teams faced off in the Chick-fil-A/Peach Bowl's history. LSU's Jeremy Hill got the Tigers from Baton Rouge out to a nice 24-13 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Clemson's Tajh Boyd found DeAndre Hopkins, who had 13 receptions for 191 in the game, for a touchdown late to pull within two. Then Chandler Catanzaro hit a 37-yard field goal as time expired to give Clemson the 25-24 victory. 

This game broke all kinds of records for scoring and offense. Duke blew out to a big lead, taking a 38-17 halftime advantage. Then Johnny Manziel took the game over in the second half, throwing for 382 yards and four touchdowns to get A&M back in it. Late in the game. Toney Hurd Jr. took an interception back 55 yards for the game-winning touchdown. Texas A&M won 52-48 in the highest-scoring game in Chick-fil-A/Peach Bowl history.

Undefeated UCF qualified to be the Group of Six representative in a New Year's Six bowl game by winning the AAC. Their reward was to play Auburn, who was the College Football Playoff's No. 1 ranked team before they lost the SEC title game to Georgia. The game was a back-and-forth affair as the Knights took a 27-20 lead in the 4th quarter. Chequan Burkett picked off a Jarrett Stidham pass and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown to extend the lead. UCF would hold on for the win, becoming the lone undefeated team that season. Being undefeated and beating Auburn ... the team that had defeated the two teams that actually played for the national championship, Alabama and Georgia ... caused the university to declare themselves 2017-2018 national champions.