Will Muschamp takes a friendly jab at Kirk Herbstreit's playing days

Saturday's Peach Bowl semifinal will be just the second all-time meeting between Georgia and Ohio State.

The first, and thus far only, clash between the Bulldogs and Buckeyes came in the Citrus Bowl at the end of the 1992 season. 

Ohio State came into the game 8-2-1, shaking off consecutive losses to Wisconsin and Illinois to win five straight games before tying Michigan to end the regular season. Georgia was 9-2, losing to rivals Tennessee and Florida. 

Both teams featured players who will figure prominently in the 30-year-later rematch on Saturday night.

At quarterback for the 14th-ranked Buckeyes: Kirk Herbstreit. At safety for the Bulldogs: Will Muschamp.

And at a luncheon before the game, Georgia's future co-defensive coordinator got a glimpse of the quarterback he'd be defending.

Herbstreit's Ohio State bio described him as an "option-type QB who has improved as a passer." He spent four years on the roster before earning the starting nod as a fifth-year senior... and his final game as a collegian made it clear his career would end there.

From the UPI recap of the 1993 Citrus Bowl:

Ohio State quarterback Kirk Herbstreit hit just 8 of 24 passes for 110 yards. Robert Smith rushed 25 times for 112 yards and scored both Buckeyes' touchdowns.

The story later goes on to say 45 of Herbstreit's passing yards came on a screen to Smith, who would become a first-round draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings later that spring. That means Herbstreit's 23 other passes totaled 65 yards.

Georgia would go on to win the game, 21-14, thanks to running back Garrison Hearst's 163 yards and two touchdowns.

'Yes, Hearst is as good as advertised,' Ohio State Coach John Cooper said of the Heisman Trophy runnerup. 'Everytime we'd have them stopped, Hearst would bail them out.

The UPI story referenced "published reports" that Cooper would be forced out if Ohio State lost the bowl game, which would then drop him to 0-4 in bowl games. In reality, he would coach another eight seasons for the Buckeyes. 

Muschamp did not make the UPI game story, but that's okay. He would make the Academic All-SEC team as a junior in 1993, and then earned team captain honors as a senior the following year. He also won the Mike Castronis Award “to the man who never, never, never gave up the fight.” But perhaps Muschamp's greatest impact on the program his senior year was nurturing a freshman defensive back by the name of Kirby Smart.

Flash forward to Saturday, and both Herbstreit and Muschamp will have their fingerprints all over the Peach Bowl. 

Update: Herbstreit responded to the comment on Tuesday afternoon.