Thoughts From the Box: LSU Bullies Georgia, Wins SEC Championship 37-10
If Georgia’s first drive was any indication of how the rest of the game was going to go, it was going to be a long night for the Bulldogs.
Georgia got the ball first, and on the game’s first play, Tyler Simmons let a ball go through his hands and hit him in the stomach on a deep pass that should have been caught. Two plays later, Fromm missed a wide-open Demetris Robertson that should’ve led to a touchdown.
That’s how it went the entire first half for the Bulldog offense. It was clear that D’Andre Swift wasn’t 100% ready as the junior only got 1 carry in the first half. He’s arguably the best player on the team, and he got just 1 first-half carry.
Georgia needed to run the ball effectively to help out Fromm and the passing game and that didn’t happen. The Tigers focused on stopping the run as they were confident that Jake Fromm couldn’t beat them through the air. Georgia got down early which exactly what they didn’t want to happen. As the Tiger’s lead grew, The Georgia offense had to throw it more and more as the game went on. That was the ideal situation for LSU.
Jake Fromm played very poorly in the 1st half going 10/20 for 117 yards and an egregious interception towards the end of the half. As bad as he played, the receivers didn’t help him out much. This is not a very good group and Georgia fans knew that going into this game. Lawrence Cager was out, Georgia Pickens missed the first half, and Georgia’s only reliable wideout left, freshman Dominick Blaylock, got hurt in the 1stquarter.
When you have Tyler Simmons and Matt Landers on the outside, you aren’t going to be effective in the passing game. Those are the facts. George Pickens was very good in the 2ndhalf, but the game was pretty much over by the time he entered the game. Jake Fromm’s options in the first half were Tyler Simmons, Matt Landers, Kearis Jackson, and Demetris Robertson at wide receiver. He hasn’t had chemistry with those guys all year and he didn’t again on Saturday evening.
Defensively, Georgia had their hands full against Tiger QB Joe Burrow. Plenty of holding by his offensive line didn’t hurt, but Burrow proved why he’s about to win the Heisman trophy this year. He’s the best offensive player in college football right now and he made a great defense look not-so-great at times. Burrow embarrassed the Georgia defense last year and he did it again today. He made all the throws, he didn’t make any bad decisions, he escaped multiple sacks, and he completed the ball down the field. He did it all for LSU today.
The Tigers scored 37 points, but the defense didn’t play as bad as it will look. They missed some opportunities, and Joe Burrow made them pay for every mistake they made throughout the game. Monty Rice missed a sack. Travon Walker missed a sack. Adam Anderson and Azeez Ojulari are probably still getting held.
Overall, the better team won today and it wasn’t close. The Tigers whooped Georgia in every phase of the game. They were the more physical team, they won the line of scrimmage, and they were led by the nation’s best player.
Joe Burrow finished the game 28/38 for 349 yards and 4 touchdowns. Jake Fromm finished the game 20/42 for 225 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Georgia rushed the ball 25 times for 61 yards. Junior D’Andre Swift carried the ball just twice for 13 yards.
Rodrigo Blankenship, once a fan favorite, missed two field goals. As clutch as he’s been throughout his career, he’s missed plenty of kicks over the past few weeks. He will not be winning the Lou Groza award this year.
This was an embarrassing loss. There’s no other way around it. When Georgia got down early you could tell there was a chance it could get ugly. It got worse than ugly as the game went on.
Now, Georgia has to go back to the drawing board. There are plenty of problems with this team, and most of it starts with the offense.
But hey, there’s always next year, right?