No. 1 Georgia rolls past No. 14 LSU, 50-30, for SEC Championship

Top-ranked Georgia took swift advantage of fortuitous early bounces, then hit a gear by halftime a limping Jayden Daniels and LSU couldn't match.

The reigning champion Bulldogs (13-0) scored four straight touchdowns to break an early tie and begin cruising away to the SEC championship, 50-30.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Garrett Nussmeier relieved his injured junior teammate at halftime and helped the No. 14 Tigers (9-4) continued to fight, including an SEC title game record 502 passing yards as a team.

But Georgia never allowed its lead to slip back below 18 points and answered each of LSU's comeback swings to secure its first league crown since 2017.

“I don’t think there’s anything that can take away from what this team did on the field," first-year coach Brian Kelly said. "It brings to light the progress we made and the things we need to work on. It clearly defines who we want to be. And we’re not there yet. And that’s OK."

The Tigers, who entered as 17.5-point underdogs, showed some positive early signs a week after a disappointing regular-season finale at Texas A&M.

But a head-scratching and costly mishap put them suddenly behind the eight-ball and, despite their best efforts to keep pace, chasing in vain as Georgia began to pull away.

LSU watched — quite literally — as a 14-play, 69-yard, seven-minute drive into the red zone evaporated into a 7-0 deficit in a matter of seconds.

The Bulldogs forced the Tigers to settle for a 32-yard field goal attempt, which junior defensive line Nazir Stackhouse blocked and senior defensive back Christopher Smith eventually picked up and dashed 96 yards to the other end zone with minimal pursuit.

"Obviously we did a poor job coaching," Kelly said. "They were not alert. That falls on coaching. That falls on my shoulders. I will take full responsibility for that."

LSU struck back with an impressive, immediate answer on a 53-yard catch and touchdown scamper by junior receiver Kayshon Boutte from Daniels.

Sixth-year senior quarterback Stetson Bennett IV led a seven-play, 75-yard march on Georgia's next possession, capped by a 3-yard score to sophomore tight end Brock Bowers to take a 14-7 lead before the end of the first quarter.

The Bulldogs capitalized on another fortuitous bounce early in the second to begin taking complete control.

Smith deflected a Daniels pass to sophomore receiver Jack Bech and sent the football ricocheting off Bech's helmet, the hand of sophomore defensive back Javon Bullard and finally into the arms of sophomore linebacker Smael Mondon Jr.

Bennett hit sophomore receiver Ladd McConkey on a 22-yard strike the next play to stretch the margin to 21-7 after the extra point.

“In its totality, you’re talking about five or six plays," Kelly said. "Coulda, woulda, shoulda. The better team won. We were not clean enough in some of those areas against the No. 1 team in the country.”

The Georgia defense forced three straight three-and-outs.

And Bennett added 14- and 3-yard scores to junior tight end Darnell Washington and freshman wide receiver Dillon Bell, respectively, to match the SEC championship game record with four first-half passing touchdowns.

The Tigers trimmed their deficit to 35-10 before halftime with a 42-yard field by freshman kicker Damian Ramos and within 35-17 early in the third quarter with a 34-yard strike from Nussmeier to sophomore receiver Malik Nabers.

LSU forced a subsequent three-and-out and drove all the way down to the 5-yard line, but came up empty on a fourth-and-short.

And the Bulldogs rolled 95 yard the other direction in just eight plays to 2-yard touchdown by senior running back Kenny McIntosh.

The teams traded another pair of touchdowns: a 1-yard LSU run by Noah Cain followed by a failed two-point pass and an 8-yard McIntosh run followed by a Bennett-Washington two-point connection.

Nussmeier found senior wide receiver Jaray Jenkins for a 33-yard touchdown to push the score to 50-30 with seven minutes remaining.

"(Nussmeier) did some really good things," Kelly said. "He's got a quarterback mentality that he wants to be aggressive. He gives his receivers a chance to make some plays."

But Georgia would wind down the victory from there to keep a stranglehold on the nation's top ranking entering college football's bowl "Selection Sunday."

Both teams finished with more than 500 yards of offense, with LSU actually leading the way, 549-529.

But the Bennett completed 23 of his 29 passes for 274 yards and four touchdowns and helped the Bulldogs convert seven of their 13 third-down opportunities.

Bowers finished with 81 yards on six catches, and junior running back Kendall Milton led the ground attack with 113 yards on eight carries.

The Tigers finished 4-for-13 on third-down plays.

Nussmeier completed 15 of his 27 attempts for 294 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, and Daniels went 16-for-24 for 208 yards, one score and one pick before exiting with a nagging ankle.

Nabers caught five passes for 128 yards, and Boutte had six receptions for 107 yards.

Junior running back Josh Williams added 55 yards on six carries — 47 yards coming on one play — on a slow rushing afternoon against Georgia's stout front.

Linebackers Harold Perkins Jr., the freshman, and Micah Baskerville, the senior, led the LSU defense with 10 and nine tackles, respectively.

Perkins had 1.5 tackles for loss, and Baskerville had 0.5.

Junior defensive tackle Jaquelin Roy had three tackles, 0.5 for loss, and a fumble recovery.

“The divide is not huge," Kelly said. "But we’ve got work to do. It’s every day. In the classroom, on the community, all the little things that will make us better... This foundation is really strong. We will be able to continue to build on it.

"To get back here next year and to win it, that will be our goal.”