It was the most points ever allowed by LSU in a postseason game.

And the most points scored by the Tigers in a postseason loss.

Somewhere in between is a pretty good indicator how 14th ranked LSU’s 50-30 SEC championship game loss to No. 1 Georgia in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome played out Saturday afternoon.

It was, as Tigers’ first year head coach Brian Kelly didn’t want to say afterwards, “a woulda, shoulda, coulda” kind of day for his team.

If LSU starting quarterback Jayden Daniels had been fully healthy while still playing on a gimpy ankle he sprained a week ago, his dual-threat capabilities woulda been on full display. Instead, Georgia’s defense teed off on him to the point he was too hurt to play a down in the second half as the Bulldogs led 35-10 at halftime.

Kelly, as well as special teams coach Brian Polian, shoulda taught their field goal team that opponents can return blocked kicks if the ball lands beyond the line of scrimmage and hasn’t stopped completely moving.

“That’s a scenario we go over a lot,” said Georgia’s Chris Brown, who raced 96 yards for a TD and a 7-0 lead with 3:33 left in the first quarter with LSU placekicker Damian Ramos’ blocked 32-yard field goal. Brown traveled untouched to end zone while the Tigers froze or jogged off the field to their sideline thinking the play had been whistled dead.

And after backup LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier’s “bombs away” passing swung game momentum back to the Tigers on a 34-yard TD pass to Malik Nabers to cut Georgia’s lead to 35-17 with 10:33 left in the third quarter, the Tigers coulda have sliced their deficit even farther if not for an incredibly bad play call from LSU offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock.

On fourth and inches at the Georgia 5, he chose not to put Nussmeier under center, take the snap and sneak for the first down. Instead, he placed him in a shotgun formation five yards behind the center, giving Georgia’s defense time to react to Nussmeier’s handoff and stuff LSU running back Josh Williams for no gain.

Then Georgia’s offense, keyed by extremely well-protected quarterback Stetson Bennett (“I don’t think I was touched the whole game,” Bennett said), drove 95 yards for a TD on the first of two consecutive TD possessions that boosted the Bulldogs’ lead to 42-17 late in third quarter and then 50-23 two minutes into the fourth quarter.

“If we just do a little bit better job on a field goal situation, take 7 off the board, it's 43 points, maybe we convert that, it's 37,” Kelly said. “Now you got a one-score game going into the fourth quarter, we get stopped on fourth and inches. That's a pretty close game.”

Also strictly hypothetical.

Though LSU outgained Georgia 549-529 in total offense yards, the Bulldogs’ balance of 274 passing yards from game MVP Bennett and 255 yards rushing was far more effective than the Tigers throwing for 502 yards and rushing for just 47.

“We came here with a plan to have a connected assault,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “Our team kind of played this game like they played the whole season. Unbelievably well in spurts and unbelievably poor in spurts and answered the bell when they had to.”

LSU’s plan certainly wasn’t to botch a field goal that turned in one of the longest TDs in SEC championship game history.

Or for the Bulldogs to score a third TD immediately after a Daniels pass was intercepted when it was broken up, bounced off LSU receiver Jack Bech’s helmet and into the hands of Georgia’s Smael Mondon Jr.

It certainly wasn’t on the Tigers’ pre-game radar to be forced to play barely-used backup QB Nussmeier the entire second half. As it transpired, his 294 yards passing with two TDs and an interception on 15 of 27 accuracy was a pleasant surprise and a welcome sight for LSU receivers.

“I feel like Garrett gave us opportunities down the field, trusting us to make plays,” said LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers, who had five catches for 128 yards and a TD. “We came out and made those plays.”

Yet, the truth is the Tigers needed to play darn-near perfect to beat the defending national champions who have now won 27 of their last 28 games.

LSU, a 17½-point underdog, certainly didn’t.

Now, the Tigers’ focus turns to receiving a bowl bid Sunday – likely the Jan. 1 Citrus Bowl against Penn State or Purdue – and still trying to capture a 10-win season.

A double-digit win total and winning the SEC Western Division title was unimaginable for LSU at the start of this 2022 season. A revamped roster filled with transfers, a sprinkling of true freshmen and returnees trying to shake the last two seasons of just below. 500 football had to learn Kelly’s tenants of building a winning program.

One of Kelly’s best traits is he keeps it real with his players, the media and the general public. He’s never gotten too high after such monumental wins like beating Alabama 32-31 in overtime on a two-point conversion gamble or too low like being blasted by Tennessee 40-13.

Nobody wants to get beat by 20 in a conference championship game. Saturday’s loss to the best team in college football, while a downer, is one of those necessary experiences required to eventually get back to the mountaintop.

“What it does is it brings into light clearly the progress that we've made and the things that we have to continue to work on,” Kelly said. “It clearly defines who we want to be and that we're not there yet. That's okay.

“We're not happy that we're not the SEC champs. That's not what we wanted today. We wanted to win this game. But we know where we're at. We've clearly talked about what we need to do to be the SEC champs. Our goal next year is to get back here and win it.”

It's imperative LSU wins its bowl game, needing to springboard into Kelly’s second year on a positive note.

The 2022 Tigers don’t want to join the 1973 9-3 squad as the only teams in LSU’s 129-year football history with winning records that ended the season losing three consecutive games.

“We just want to finish off the right way,” LSU defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo said.

In the meantime, Kelly and his staff are on high recruiting alert. The transfer portal opens Monday followed by the early signing day Dec. 21 for incoming freshmen and junior college transfers.

“We're thinking about so many different things,” Kelly said. “You got to be very intentional. You must be moving into this next week or so very carefully because you've got to balance recruiting freshmen with the transfer portal and retaining the players on your own roster.

“It's going to be a very interesting next couple of weeks.”