Georgia vs. LSU: Prediction and preview
The calendar has turned to December, and it’s time to crown the champion of college football’s top conference. The 2022 SEC Championship Game (4 p.m. ET, CBS) features No. 1 Georgia and No. 14 LSU facing off in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Saturday’s showdown is a rematch from 2019. That year, LSU was a juggernaut that mowed down every opponent on its path to the College Football Playoff. This season, UGA is college football’s undisputed No. 1, seemingly unstoppable on its mission to repeat as national champion.
Georgia vs. LSU preview
The biggest question heading into Saturday is which LSU team shows up. From Oct. 15 through Nov. 19, LSU played like one of the best teams in the country. Last Saturday, however, any CFP dreams were dashed with a stunning double-digit loss to a Texas A&M team with a losing record. The Texas A&M game has much of the college football world second-guessing that month of Tiger hype.
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When LSU QB Jayden Daniels is at the top of his game, the Tigers’ offense has shown it can light up the scoreboard. Daniels is recovering from an injury, but even if healthy, it’s hard to see LSU’s offense putting too much pressure on Georgia’s elite defense.
A big part of LSU’s winning streak that sent the Tigers surging to No. 5 was the emergence of Daniels as a productive passer. The Bulldogs, though, managed to go a whole regular season without allowing multiple passing TDs in a game. UGA was notably the only team to hold Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker under 200 passing yards and without a passing touchdown this season.
Daniels is the SEC’s most productive rushing QB (174 rushes, 824 yards, 11 TD), but, throughout the year, the Dawgs have successfully contained otherwise productive rushing QBs like Anthony Richardson and Robby Ashford.
Georgia’s offense is somewhat quietly third in the SEC at 38.3 points per game. Heisman Trophy voting wraps on conference championship weekend, so this is QB Stetson Bennett’s last chance to make his case for Heisman votes to a national audience.
Bennett is among the SEC’s top QBs when it comes to passing yards (No. 4, 3,151), yards per attempt (No. 3, 8.6) and completion percentage (No. 5, 67.2). Bennett’s 23 touchdowns (16 passing, 7 rushing) are the biggest strike against him.
Bennett is a super long shot for the Heisman, but it’s not too far-fetched for the QB of a 13-0 top-ranked team to be named a finalist. With a solid passing performance to superstar TE Brock Bowers (48 catches, 645 yards, 5 TD) and company, and perhaps a running score or 2, Bennett could be making plans to go to New York City.
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Harold Perkins will hope to spoil those plans. LSU has a special talent in the 5-star freshman linebacker who excels as a QB spy. Expect Georgia, though, to be prepared to not let Perkins take over the game as he did at Arkansas.
Georgia vs. LSU prediction
UGA could “phone it in” on Saturday. At 12-0 and No. 1, the Bulldogs are in the CFP regardless of the final score against LSU. These Dawgs, though, aren’t dropping 2 SEC Championship Games in a row.
Bennett, Bowers and a stable of running backs have shown they can consistently keep the sticks moving and the scoring steady. The Georgia defense is as stingy as ever, not allowing 20 points in any November game, a slate that included Tennessee and Mississippi State.
Brian Kelly has LSU’s rebuild ahead of schedule, but it takes an elite team on both sides of the ball to hang with UGA. The Tigers aren’t quite there yet.
One of the few knocks on this Georgia team is the occasional slow start. That probably won’t be the case for a squad fired up to keep the undefeated season alive and make up for last year’s letdown in the SEC Championship Game.
Prediction: Georgia 34, LSU 17
