The Georgia Bulldogs ran roughshod over the LSU Tigers 50-30 in a battle of heavyweights Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022, in the SEC Championship Game in downtown Atlanta, Georgia.
Read about Georgia’s 2022 season to the SEC championship.
The Dawgs punted on their first drive, but ran a blocked punt back for a touchdown after catching the Tigers off guard. UGA never looked back after that.
Georgia SEC Champions After Beating LSU, 50-30
The win puts the Dawgs at 13-0 and secures their spot as the #1 seed in the College Football Playoff (CFP).
Stetson Bennett waited until the SEC Championship Game to throw for a season-high four touchdown passes as the Dawgs put up 35 points in the first half.
LSU starting quarterback Jayden Daniels didn’t finish the game after he re-injured his leg in the first half. Backup Garrett Nussmeier came out slinging the ball, leading the Tigers (9-4, No. 14 CFP) to three second-half touchdowns.
LSU Coach Brian Kelly said the Tigers couldn’t overcome the early miscues and that the Georgia defense was too much.
““In its totality, you’re talking about five or six plays. Coulda, woulda, shoulda. The better team won. We were not clean enough in some of those areas against the No. 1 team in the country,” Kelly said.
Watch the press conference after the game:
How They Got Here: Georgia
The University of Georgia Bulldogs have not lost a game for the better part of two seasons. Coach Kirby Smart solved the Alabama curse — all the coaching assistants that Tide Coach Nick Saban has had lost to him — before anybody.
The UGA season started with a resounding 49-3 disposing of the Oregon Ducks in the Chick-fil-A Classic in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, site of the SEC Championship.
Their closest game of the season was Week 4. The Georgia Bulldogs came from behind to beat the Missouri Tigers on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022 in Athens. Even though the Dawgs won, the team dropped to No. 2 in the latest AP poll. Alabama was named No. 1.
Since then, big wins over the Vols and Ole Miss put the Dawgs in the driver’s seat. Many pundits said even with a loss to LSU, the Bulldogs would make the College Football Playoff. That conversation is irrelevant after the Dawgs dominated the Tigers in downtown Atlanta.
Read our guide on how Georgia won the SEC in 2022.
How They Got Here: LSU
LSU is bowl-eligible after two subpar years. The Tigers had a lot to prove this year with first-year coach Brian Kelly at the helm.
An opening loss to Florida State, where the Tigers missed the tying extra point and played a game filled with mistakes, including two muffed points, had many writing off the Bayou Bengals.
But the increased confidence of Arizona State transfer signal caller Jayden Daniels has allowed the Tigers to return to form rather quickly.
Methodical wins over Ole Miss, Florida and a dramatic one-point victory against Alabama in overtime served notice that the Tigers were back in a big way.
A bad loss to Texas A&M dashed their hopes for a College Football Playoff berth, but the Tigers have a lot of optimism about next season.