With the biggest game of the year in college football on the horizon, Georgia vs LSU in the SEC Championship, we preview five reasons why the Bulldogs could take down the Tigers on Saturday.
Nobody is giving the Dawgs a chance this weekend, but key players on this team have defied the odds for the past three seasons.
I have faith. Here’s why:
Georgia will control the clock
LSU’s defense has been suspect all season, most notably giving up 38 and 37 to Vanderbilt and Ole Miss, respectively.
Against Ole Miss, the Tigers defense surrendered 400+ rushing yards.
This weekend, I see no reason to believe that Georgia will not be able to control the clock and run the ball on LSU.
Georgia’s defense will make life tough on Joe Burrow and the Tigers – I’m not saying they will shut him down, but it will be the hardest game he’s played yet. The Bulldogs will keep the ball out of his hands and force Burrow to watch from the sideline as Georgia grinds the clock down.
For Georgia, this is a game of field position and time of possession.
Experience
This is Jake Fromm’s third season as a Georgia Bulldog. In each of those three seasons, he’s made the SEC Championship. Same goes for a bunch of other players on this Georgia team.
The Dawgs know what this game feels like. They know what it’s like to be the underdogs. To them, this is just another SEC Championship.
For LSU, this is THE big game that the players have been waiting on since arriving in Baton Rouge. That’s good and all, but there’s certainly the experience factor that comes into play when discussing the SEC Championship.
It will be the most-watched game of the college football season, there will be tons of scouts in attendance and so much will be on the line. Georgia may have lost the last two games against Alabama in Atlanta, but they hung in there blow-for-blow and know what it takes to come out on top.
Kirby Smart has now coached in plenty of big ones during his time at Georgia also, and in a few of them the Dawgs lost because of poor coaching decisions. I think Kirby has learned from his mistakes and he will have his team ready to roll on Saturday.
LSU will not get to Jake Fromm
Having no Lawrence Cager of George Pickens for the first half of the ball game hurts Georgia, but Fromm should be ok on Saturday.
LSU’s defense is really nothing to write home about. It’s not bad, but it’s not better than some of the teams that Fromm has faced this season.
The Tigers don’t do a bad job of getting to the quarterback, either, averaging 2.5 sacks a game. However, the offensive line they will be going up against, Georgia’s, has been a brick wall all season and has allowed the third least amount of sacks in the country.
Fromm just needs to stay cool, throw it to his open players and not be afraid to pull the trigger. Our receivers will be fine and creating separation should not be terribly difficult. Once the nerves settle for any of the younger guys, the offense will be fine.
Special teams
There’s not a team in the country that I’d give the special teams edge to over Georgia, and that includes LSU.
Georgia has the nation’s best kicker in Rodrigo Blankenship, who will surely score plenty of points on Saturday. If Georgia drives stall in LSU territory, you know we have a pretty damn good shot at coming away with at least three points. And given our defense’s success this season, three points has been enough.
Additionally, Jake Camarda has been one of college football’s best punters this season after getting off to a bit of a rocky start.
In a game where field position will be huge, the Dawgs need Camarda to keep his groove going, much like he did against Auburn. He’ll be forced to punt, we know that to be true. If he can flip field position and let our defense do what it’s done all season, then that’s a start.
Limit the big play
Georgia is the best team in the country when it comes to limiting big plays. LSU’s offense is right up there in terms of executing big plays.
Seeing as how Georgia will shut down the run – that’s a fact not an assumption – I think the Dawgs defense will be able to do a fine job of limiting big plays from an LSU offense that has been so good at pulling those off.
We’ll be daring LSU to run the ball, and one run of negative or no gain could be what it takes to kill a drive.
