NCAAF Game Recap - Georgia at LSU
Sat Dec 7, 2019 4:00 PM EST

UGA
10
LSU
37
F
OSU
34
Wisc
21
F
UVA
17
Clem
62
F
Utah
15
Oreg
37
F
Bayl
23
Okla
30
F OT
Cin
24
Mem
29
F
Hawaii
10
Boise
31
F
ULLaf
38
App
45
F
MiaOH
26
C Mi
21
F
Monm
21
JMU
66
F
UAB
6
FlAtl
49
F

LSU 37, Georgia 10

Dec 7, 2019, 4:00 PM EST

Final

1

2

3

4

T

(4) Georgia (11-2)

0

3

0

7

10

(1) LSU (13-0)

14

3

17

3

37

Heisman coronation? Burrow leads LSU past Georgia 37-10
Sat Dec 7, 2019 9:56 PM

ATLANTA (AP) Joe Burrow collected a shiny award as the game's MVP.

LSU's fans had another trophy on their minds.

"Heisman! Heisman! Heisman!" they chanted.

The coronation is likely complete.

Burrow turned in another dazzling performance on the big stage, leading No. 1 LSU to a spot in the College Football Playoff with a 37-10 rout of No. 4 Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championship game Saturday.

"Joe is the heartbeat of this team," running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire said.

The Tigers, going for their first national title since 2007 season, will either return to Atlanta or head west to suburban Phoenix for a semifinal game on Dec. 28. They surely made a persuasive case to be the top overall seed when the four-team field. and pairings are announced Sunday.

Burrow was all over the stat sheet for LSU (13-0, No. 2 CFP). He threw for 349 yards and four touchdowns. He was the Tigers' second-leading rusher with 41 yards on 11 carries, often leaving the Bulldogs grasping at air as he twirled this way and that. He even caught a pass on a ball that was batted down at the line and wound up his arms, taking off for a 16-yard gain.

"'He's a great athlete, man," Georgia safety J.R. Reed said. "We had a lot of plays out there we were supposed to make, and he'd just squeeze out of it."

The Heisman-worthy moment came late in the third quarter. With Georgia (11-2, No 4 CFP) bringing the heat, Burrow spun to his left to get away from lineman Travon Walker, whirled back to his right to send Walker sprawling to the turf, then delivered a pass on the run while sprinting toward the LSU sideline with another defender in hot pursuit.

Justin Jefferson hauled in the throw just beyond midfield and took off down to the Bulldogs 9 for a 71-yard play. Three plays later, Burrow delivered his third TD pass of the game, hooking up with Terrace Marshall Jr., on a 4-yard touchdown pass that essentially finished off the Bulldogs.

"It was all improvised," Burrow said. "Justin ran a 6-yard hitch route and saw me scrambling and took off deep. We got a great feel for each other. I knew exactly where he was going to be when I got out of there."

Burrow wasn't done. Derek Stingley's second pick of Jake Fromm turned the ball back over to the prolific LSU offense at the 13, and Burrow wasted no time finding Jefferson for an 8-yard TD in the waning seconds of the third quarter to send many in the predominantly Georgia crowd heading for the exits.

LSU left no doubt it is the king of the mighty SEC, completing its run through a gauntlet of the league's top teams. The Tigers had already knocked off Alabama, Florida and Auburn. Now, they can add the Bulldogs to the list, ensuring the SEC will only get one team in the national playoff.

LSU came into the game as the second-highest scoring team in the country behind Ohio State. They figured to have a tougher time against Georgia's stellar defense, ranked No. 2 in points allowed. but Burrow kept the Bulldogs on their heels the entire game.

It was by far the most points Georgia has given up their season. Until Saturday, they held every opponent under 20 except South Carolina, which stunned the Bulldogs in double overtime nearly two months ago.

There was no such drama in this one.

Just total domination by the Tigers.

It was a painful loss - literally - for the Bulldogs, who were making their third straight appearance in the SEC title game. Two players were carted off the field with apparently major injuries. Another player wobbled off with a concussion after being leveled on a kickoff. Fromm twisted an ankle and had to go to the medical tent to get taped up, though he missed only one play.

Not that it mattered.

Fromm, who guided Georgia to the cusp of the national title two years ago as a freshman, was 20 of 42 for 225 yards with those two interceptions. He didn't get much help from his teammates: Tyler Simmons dropped a deep ball on the very first possession, and Matt Landers couldn't hang on to a throw in the end zone.

Georgia finally reached the end zone with just under 12 minutes remaining on Fromm's 2-yard TD pass to George Pickens.

"That is a really good football team," coach Kirby Smart said. "We were going to have to make explosive plays. We were unable to do that."

INJURY REPORT

Georgia's sideline looked like a M(asterisk)A(asterisk)S(asterisk)H unit.

Receiver Dominick Blaylock crumpled to the turf after going up for a catch in the first quarter. He was carted to the locker room with a left knee injury.

Outside linebacker Walter Grant suffered a concussion in the third quarter from a special teams hit. LSU's Tory Carter was ejected for targeting.

Backup middle linebacker Quay Walker (right shoulder) and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson (apparent leg injury) also left the field with injuries.

Star running back D'Andre Swift clearly wasn't at full strength, either, after going out of the regular-season finale against Georgia Tech with should injury. He had just two carries for 13 yards.

THE TAKEAWAY

LSU: The Tigers could certainly take pride in putting up 481 yards on a defense of Georgia's caliber, but the most encouraging aspect of this game was another strong performance from LSU's defense. Maligned much of the season, they followed up a 50-7 rout of Texas A&M in the regular-season finale with another championship-worthy showing against the Bulldogs, who were held to 286 yards.

Georgia: Fromm came into the season projected as a high NFL draft pick who would likely go pro after his junior season. Now, it's not a reach to say he might be better off returning for his senior season to try to boost his stock. He has now failed to complete even half his passes in five straight games.

UP NEXT

LSU: Makes its first appearance in the College Football Playoff, which began in 2014. The Tigers last played for a national title during the 2011 season, when they won 13 straight games before a dismal 21-0 loss to Alabama in the BCS championship game.

Georgia: Appears likely to make its second straight appearance in the Sugar Bowl against Baylor, loser of the Big 12 championship game.

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More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

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Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 His work can be found at https://apnews.com

Passing

UGA Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
J. Fromm 42 20 47.6 1 225 21 2 52.2
S. Bennett 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 39.6
LSU Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
J. Burrow 38 28 73.7 4 349 71 0 136.8

Rushing

UGA Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
B. Herrien 8 24 3.0 9 0
J. Cook 5 23 4.6 14 0
LSU Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
C. Edwards-Helaire 15 57 3.8 20 0
J. Burrow 11 41 3.7 17 0

Receiving

UGA Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
G. Pickens 4 54 13.5 19 1
D. Robertson 4 52 13.0 21 0
LSU Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
J. Jefferson 7 115 16.4 71 1
T. Marshall Jr. 5 89 17.8 41 2

Fumbles

Returning

Punting

UGA Punt Yds Avg LgPu
J. Camarda 4 195 48.8 66
LSU Punt Yds Avg LgPu
Z. Von Rosenberg 2 90 45.0 51

Takeaways

LSU Int Yds InTD
D. Stingley Jr. 2 17 0

Team Stats Comparison

UGA LSU
Points For 10 37
Total Yards 286 481
Rushing Yards 61 132
Passing Yards 225 349
Passing Completions / Attempts 20/43 28/38
Turnovers 2 0
Interceptions Thrown 2 0
Fumbles - Lost 0/0 0/0
First Downs 20 26
Penalties - Yards 3/17 5/45
Time Of Possession 22:22 38:38
Third Down Conversions/Attempts 3/13 9/16
Fourth Down Conversions/Attempts 3/3 0/0
Punts - Average Yards 4/49 2/45

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter UGA LSU
LSU 05:51 TD Ja'Marr Chase 23 yd pass from Joe Burrow (Cade York kick) 0 7
LSU 14:48 TD Terrace Marshall Jr. 7 yd pass from Joe Burrow (Cade York kick) 0 14
2nd Quarter UGA LSU
UGA 03:32 FG Rodrigo Blankenship 39 yd FG 3 14
LSU 12:38 FG Cade York 41 yd FG 3 17
3rd Quarter UGA LSU
LSU 06:40 FG Cade York 28 yd FG 3 20
LSU 12:42 TD Terrace Marshall Jr. 4 yd pass from Joe Burrow (Cade York kick) 3 27
LSU 14:15 TD Justin Jefferson 8 yd pass from Joe Burrow (Cade York kick) 3 34
4th Quarter UGA LSU
UGA 03:19 TD George Pickens 2 yd pass from Jake Fromm (Rodrigo Blankenship kick) 10 34
LSU 07:19 FG Cade York 50 yd FG 10 37

Game Information

Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: 74,150
Game Time:
Weather: