SEC Football Final crew takes early look at Georgia-LSU

The 2022 SEC Championship Game matchup is set. Georgia and LSU will square off in Atlanta for the conference crown for the fifth time, second-most of any matchup across the league. The Tigers hold a 3-1 advantage winning in 2003, 2011 and 2019 to Georgia’s long win in 2005, but the Bulldogs will come into this one as big favorites. Kirby Smart’s crew is ranked No. 1 in the country as the reigning National Champions are off to a 10-0 start to the season. Saturday night after all the games were over and the matchup was set, SEC Football Final’s crew gave their early look at what excites them about Georgia-LSU.

“I talk an awful lot, we all talk an awful lot about offense. We all get excited about offenses and the creativity in games. I’m excited about these defensive coordinators (Glenn Schumann, Will Muschamp and Matt House [LSU]),” Chris Doering said. “I know they don’t match up against each other, but these have been two of the best defensive staffs over the last couple of months of the season because they do things to put athletes in a position to be able to play fast, be able to react and not necessarily have to think. I think the coordination of what they’ve done and changing the game plans for a couple of different opponents over the last couple of weeks has been really exciting to see. I want to see how these guys attack the opposing offenses in Atlanta.”

Georgia ranks No. 2 in the country and atop the SEC for scoring defense with 11.6 points allowed per game. Meanwhile, when it comes to total defense, the Bulldogs are the only team in the SEC keeping opponents to less than 300.0 yards per game, allowing just 269.7. LSU on the other hand is fourth in scoring (21.0) and fifth in total defense (348.4.).

A big part of the reason why both defenses have been successful this season is the talent that they have at the line of scrimmage. That creates interesting matchups for the defensive linemen and edge rushers, something that Benjamin Watson and Takeo Spikes identified.

“I want to see the personnel in the trenches. We always talk about how big games, championships games are decided in the trenches,” Watson said. “When you look in the trenches, you look at an LSU offensive line that gave up seven sacks today to Arkansas and the fact that they were able to get to Jayden Daniels and contain him. You look at a Georgia offensive line who has been protecting Stetson Bennett but has had their troubles as well. But then you look at these defensive lines. Can Georgia’s o-line defend against LSU, but most importantly, can LSU’s o-line defend against a Georgia defensive line that has Jalen Carter, guys on the outside blitzing, secondary players. How will they hold up against that? I think this game, what’s exciting about it is going to be the trench work that’s done that Saturday in Atlanta.”

“I’m going to stay in the trenches, especially on the defensive side, LSU going up against Georgia’s offensive line,” Spikes added. “Ali Gaye, Mekhi Wingo, BJ Ojulari, we talk about Harold Perkins at nauseam on this set and rightfully so, but I’m telling you, these three guys are difference makers. In the SEC, any team – I wouldn’t even say any team – the best team that has the possibility of defeating Georgia is LSU with this front. These guys are very disruptive. You take into consideration when you talk about Matt House, his schematics, being able to put certain guys in mismatches, I look forward to seeing this game.”

While Spikes focused in on the LSU defensive front up against Georgia’s offensive line – a group that’s first in the SEC for fewest sacks allowed this season – Doering didn’t want to forget about the group that the Bulldogs have going up against a pair of young offensive tackles for the Tigers.

“You know what Kirby and Coach Schumann and Coach Muschamp are licking their lips about? Two freshman tackles on each side of the line of scrimmage,” Doering said. “If you’re a defensive player for this Georgia Bulldogs team, what are you doing to you attack those freshmen out there, putting those guys on islands to force them to have to make decisions in some of those overload situations we’ve seen.”

“Georgia’s going to have some wrinkle,” Watson added. “You saw what Georgia did against Tennessee. They saw a Tennessee team that could throw the ball downfield very well, and you know what they did? They said, ‘Look, you DBs are going to have to be tough. Get in their faces, disrupt the timing,’ and that’s what they did. The SEC Championship Game is going to come down to that, and the best player on LSU’s offense in my opinion is Jayden Daniels. How will he affect the game?”

Georgia and LSU will meet at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on December 3rd, but both teams have two games left before the big date. The Bulldogs go to Kentucky this Saturday before coming home for their regular season finale against in-state rival Georgia Tech. LSU on the other hand has its final non-conference game of the season against UAB on Saturday for Senior Day before closing out the conference slate at Texas A&M.