ATLANTA — A Stephen King novel wasn’t as nightmarish as Georgia’s showing in the SEC Championship game against LSU Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
In the first half alone Georgia fans, which made up roughly 70 percent of the sellout-crowd, witnessed a slew of dropped passes, overthrown passes, underthrown passes, more injured receivers, an injured Jake Fromm, a stunning missed Rodrigo Blankenship field goal, and a top-five defense that was on its heels most of the opening 30 minutes.
However, the only thing scarier may have been the third quarter.
The Tigers blew open a still-manageable game for the Bulldogs with 17 points in the period, with one TD set up by a Georgia turnover and another off a ridiculous Joe Burrow scramble and 70-yard bomb as they eventually rolled to a shocking 37-10 win to capture their first SEC title since walloping Georgia 42-10 in 2011 at the old Georgia Dome.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart admitted the Bulldogs felt they had little margin for error. It turned out to be true.
"That is a really good football team, and we knew that coming in. We were going to have to play well. We were going to have to make explosive plays. We were unable to do that," Smart said. "We didn't come out with a mentality of running the ball down your throat today. If you thought we tried to do that, that probably wasn't a good view on the game. We thought we had to score points to win the game.
"That one (70-yard play) was frustrating because we thought we had a really good call on it. We had pressure, and we had a guy come scot-free. He missed him, and I think we missed him again maybe on that same play. You learn in coaching that good players make big-time plays, and that was an incredible play by Joe Burrow."
Georgia’s vaunted defense, which came in yielding just 10.4 points a game, was down 14-0 after just three LSU possessions. The Georgia offense, which was expected to “open things up” in the title game, did more damage to itself than the Tigers defense, which had been pedestrian most of the season giving up 22.1 ppg.
Georgia wide receiver Tyler Simmons dropped what would have been a roof-rocking 50-yard bomb on the game’s opening play. And it only got worse from there.
The Bulldogs were outgained 255-138 in the first half, including being outrushed 51-21. They had one turnover to none for the Tigers. Burrow was barely breathed on while piling up 204 yards and a pair of TDs passing and rushed for another 16 that helped set up a 41-yard Cade York field goal.
Yet, in spite of all of that, Georgia was still within striking distance down just 17-3 at halftime. Georgia’s only score came in the second quarter when Blankenship did make a 39-yard field goal with 11:28 still remaining in the first half and Georgia trailing 14-3.
The Bulldogs had three more chances in the second quarter to chip away but Fromm threw a bad interception, they punted, and the half ended. With LSU poised to get the ball first in the second half the inability to trim the lead loomed large.
The Tigers opened the third quarter with a 16-play, 77-yard drive that was capped by a second Cade York field goal. In another blow to Georgia, York resembled a nationally-renowned kicker more than Blankenship drilling four field goals on the day. Blankenship shockingly would miss a second field goal from 37 yards in the third quarter.
LSU then scored touchdowns on their next two possessions to essentially put the game out of reach.
The Bulldogs’ lone touchdown came early in the fourth quarter when Fromm connected with George Pickens on a 2-yard pass to cut the lead to 34-10.
For the game, the Bulldogs tallied a season-low in points (10) and yards (286). The defense gave up a season-high 481 yards as well with Burrow blistering the Georgia secondary finishing 28-of-38 for 349 yards and 4 TD passes.
Fromm was under 50 percent passing for the fifth straight game hitting on just 20-of-42 passes for 225 yards, 1 TD, and two interceptions that both were cashed in for points. But in fairness, the Georgia receiving corps dropped a half-dozen balls that could have made things very different.
Smart said there are several factors that have contributed to what many Georgia fans see as a regression in the passing game, which was on full dsiplay Saturday.
"We had some drops, we had some misses," Smart said. "The first two years, Jake's numbers were better. So the indicator of that was four wide receivers were on our sideline that were drafted that are playing in the NFL. So right now, I don't know if we have four wide receivers that are going to be playing in the NFL at this time next year.
"And the loss of those wideouts, the vertical threat, has probably hurt our team. That's my responsibility, right, to replace them. That's my responsibility to replace them in recruiting, and we probably haven't done a good enough job of that."
Georgia’s usually-punishing ground game also was held to a season-low 61 yards as they were forced to go to the air after falling behind quickly. But Smart tried not to use that as an excuse.
"Our ability to run the ball has not been consistent this year, and people can say, well, 'Coach Smart wants to play man ball. Coach Smart wants to win, and we threw the ball 42 times,'" he said. "Now, you can say it was because we were behind, but we threw the ball early in the game. It's not a matter of what is your offensive philosophy. It is what is the best way to win the game. I honestly think that's what we're trying to do."
SCORING SUMMARY
| Georgia | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 | |
| LSU | 14 | 3 | 17 | 3 | 37 |
First Quarter
L -- Chase 23 pass from Burrow (York kick) 7-0, 9:09
L -- Marshall 7 pass from Burrow (York kick) 14-0, 0:12
Second Quarter
G -- Blankenship 39 FG 14-3, 11:28
L -- York 41 FG 17-3, 2:22
Third Quarter
L -- York 28 FG 20-3, 8:20
L -- Marshall 4 pass from Burrow (York kick) 27-3, 2:18
L -- Jefferson 8 pass from Burrow (York kick) 34-3, 0:45
Fourth Quarter
G -- Pickens 2 pass from Fromm (Blankenship kick) 34-10, 11:41
L -- York 50 FG 37-10, 7:41
