Atlanta, GA- It’s conference championship week in college football and all eyes will be looking to Mercedes-Benz Stadium as the SEC Championship kicks off this Saturday between the number two ranked LSU Tigers and the number four ranked Georgia Bulldogs.
Much will be at stake when two of the best teams in college football take the field for what should be the game of the week during championship weekend. Along with the fight for the SEC title, playoff hopes and seeding for the College Football Playoffs will be up for grabs.
For the Tigers, a chance at the one seed, as a victory over the number four team in the country could be enough to jump Ohio State as the number one ranked team. As for the Bulldogs, it all comes down to this, a win over LSU and you’re in, a loss means a likely spot in a New Year’s Six Bowl as the odd team out.
The headlining matchup for this clash will be between the SEC’s top-rated offense in LSU versus the top-rated defense in UGA. Will the Tigers, who are led by Heisman hopeful in quarterback Joe Burrow, continue to run through their opposition at their current 48.7 scoring average, or will the Bulldogs, who rank second in the nation in scoring defense at 10.4 points per game, be able to slow down LSU enough to give their offense a chance to win the game.
Previewing the Tigers, LSU will play for in their sixth SEC Championship Game on Saturday as the go for their fifth SEC title. The offense ranks first in the SEC averaging 560.4 yards of total offense a game, with a strong passing attack averaging 390 yards per game led by quarterback Joe Burrow.
Burrow, a graduate transfer from Ohio State, has been a revelation for the Tigers in 2019. The senior has broken many school records this season including 44 passing touchdowns, 20 completions in 15 straight games, 4,366 passing yards, passing yards in a single game with 489, and passing touchdowns in a game with six. All these accomplishments have Burrow right in the thick of the Heisman Trophy race and is why LSU’s offense has broken the school record for points in the regular season with 584.
UGA head coach Kirby Smart spoke about Burrow in a teleconference this week saying, “he’s a tremendous athlete. He’s got balance, body control, pocket awareness. Probably when you wrap all those things together, it makes the combination of probably one of the best quarterbacks that I’ve seen, because I’ve seen guys that can run, tons of them. Very few that keep their eyes downfield like he does.” He continued, “He’s calm in the pocket. He extends plays. When you think you’ve got everything done right, he breaks tackles. I mean, they have a free run of the quarterback. He breaks a tackle and throws a completion.”
LSU features two receivers who have surpassed the 1,000-yard receiving mark in Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson, becoming the fourth duo to reach the mark in SEC history. Chase and Jefferson have been favorite targets for Burrow, but in total 18 different players have recorded a reception this year, so the Tigers aren’t afraid to spread things around.
On defense, LSU is coming off their best performance of the season last week against Texas A&M, where the Tigers gave up a season-low seven points. For the season, the defense ranks eighth in the SEC in scoring defense, allowing 22.1 points per game, and ninth in total defense allowing 345.9 yards per game.
The player to watch for on the LSU defense is linebacker Jacob Phillips. The junior is second in the SEC in tackles and will be key to slowing down UGA’s strength which is their running game.
Flipping over to UGA, much has been made about their offensive struggles throughout the 2019 season under new offensive coordinator James Coley. Averaging 32.9 points per game, the Bulldogs rank fifth in the SEC in scoring offense, and the biggest question will be if the Dawgs will be able to score enough points to stay in this game.
Junior quarterback Jake Fromm leads the UGA offense and has taken a bit of a step back in terms of production in 2019. Throwing 30 touchdowns in 2018, Fromm currently sits at 21 passing scores on the year but has only thrown three interceptions. If Georgia is going to pull the upset, Froom is going to have to make throws when they need them and it will be interesting to see if he can deliver.
The strength of the UGA offense is without a doubt the running game. Averaging 200 yards rushing per game, the Dawgs boast several backs with big playmaking ability. The star is D’Andre Swift, who surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the second straight season. Swift was forced to leave the game against Georgia Tech last week with an injury but he has been practicing and the Bulldogs will need him at his best on Saturday.
On defense, UGA continues to feature one of the most talented units in the country since coach Smart took over in 2016. In 2019, the Bulldogs haven’t allowed a single team to surpass 20 points in a game, and because of their dominant performances, they are in a position to return to the College Football Playoffs with a victory.
Georgia will try to win their 14th SEC Championship this weekend when they take on the Tigers. It will be a difficult test for a team that has struggled to play well on both sides of the football this year but will have one final chance to turn the corner if they are going to avoid missing the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
In the end, I think the firepower of the LSU Tigers will win out on Saturday, with UGA’s offense continuing to struggle and the defense fading as they find themselves on the field for the majority of the contest.
Prediction: LSU 30 – UGA 17
LSU and Georgia will kick off this Saturday from Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 4:00 p.m.
Written by Brian Pohl
