Battle tested
You don’t win your respective division to qualify for the SEC Championship by being lucky.
That seemed to be the message Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was conveying about both his No. 4 Georgia squad and No. 2 LSU heading into Saturday’s SEC Championship (4 p.m. ET, CBS).
Speaking on Sunday’s teleconference to preview the upcoming game, Smart said his Bulldogs, as well as the Tigers, deserve a ton of credit for being in the position that they are.
“Obviously, these teams have been through lots of battles. In this game, you've been through the gauntlet,” Smart said. “Whether you're undefeated, you got one loss, and you may have two losses, [you have] fought battles, and I think that gives this such a classic matchup. We've seen a lot of really good games. Both teams come into this game battle-tested.”
LSU hasn’t been challenged much.
The Tigers won a 46-41 shootout at Alabama and edged Auburn 23-20 in Baton Rouge. But other than that, of LSU’s 10 other victories, the closest one was a 23-point win over Mississippi State (36-13).
Georgia, meanwhile, saw South Carolina put a crimp in its plans with a 20-17 victory in double-overtime back on Oct. 12, before winning six straight to get back to Atlanta for the third consecutive season.
Color Tigers coach Ed Orgeron impressed.
“Look at the schedule they’ve played and the teams that they’ve beat, an outstanding Auburn team, an outstanding Florida team, great athletes all over the place,” Orgeron said. “The loss to South Carolina, they bounced back. They didn’t blink. They’ve faced some adversity, they climbed the hill to get back to the championship, so it says a lot about their character, their leadership and their coaching staff.”
Orgeron didn’t seem too concerned with Georgia’s experience in the SEC Championship being any sort of advantage.
“I’m sure it gives them some confidence. I think those guys who have been there before, I’m sure it will give them some confidence, but you know, we have a mature team,” he said. “These guys are going to be focused on what we can control. They’ll be fine.”
Smart certainly has his own concerns.
Questions Sunday ran the gamut, although most revolved around LSU and its high-powered offense, led by quarterback Joe Burrow, who on Saturday became the SEC’s single-season passing champion, breaking the record of 4,275 yards set in 1998 by Kentucky’s Tim Couch.
A fifth-year senior graduate transfer from Ohio State, Burrow completed 23 of 32 passes for 352 yards in LSU’s 50-7 rout of Texas A&M.
He also threw four touchdown passes to tie the SEC record of 44 touchdown passes in a season set in 2017 by Missouri’s Drew Lock.
“He makes a combination that is probably one of the best quarterbacks that I've seen,” Smart said. “I’ve seen guys who can run, but very few drive downhill like he does. You might think you’ve done everything right; you might break free and have a free run, but he stands in there and throws a completion. He doesn’t have a lot of weaknesses when it comes to his decision-making, especially with the weapons he’s surrounded with.”
Last year in Baton Rouge, Burrow completed 15 of 30 passes for 200 yards and no touchdowns. Georgia sacked him three times.
But that was last year. Burrow is better as is Georgia's defense.
This Saturday’s matchup will pit Georgia’s defense (2nd nationally in scoring defense at 10.4 points per game) against LSU’s top-rated offense (2nd nationally in scoring offense at 48.7 points per game).
“They’re just a very complete team,” Smart said. “But I’m excited for our opportunity. I feel like our kids have earned the right to play in this game and I’m certainly excited for a third straight year to be playing in it. I have a lot of respect for this venue and this event.”
