Score, stat predictions for Georgia vs LSU SEC Championship Game

Here are some score and stat predictions for Georgia football’s LSU vs UGA SEC Championship Game.

Here are some predictions for the Georgia vs LSU SEC Championship Game. 

Score:

What my head is telling me: LSU 27, Georgia 20

What my heart is telling me: Georgia 30, LSU 28

Stats predictions:

LSU players:

QB Joe Burrow: 25/37, 321 yards, four touchdowns, 1 interception

RB Clyde Edwards-Hellaire: 17 carries, 31 yards

WR Ja’Marr Chase: 7 catches, 81 yards, 1 TD

WR Justin Jefferson: 9 catches, 75 yards, 1 TD

Georgia players:

QB Jake Fromm: 16/29, 210 yards, 1 TD

RB D’Andre Swift: 22 carries, 158 yards, 1 TD

WR Dominick Blaylock: 4 catches, 65 yards, 1 TD

LB Monty Rice: 11 tackles

LB Azeez Ojulari: 1.5 sacks

K Rodrigo Blankenship: 2/2 FGs, 2/2 PATs

College GameDay crew picks winner of Georgia vs LSU

The College GameDay crew picked the winner of the Georgia football SEC Championship Game. UGA vs LSU.

To close out College GameDay from Atlanta, the shows’ crew, accompanied by country music star Zach Brown, picked their winners of the day’s biggest games.

And none is bigger than what is taking place in the SEC, where Georgia and LSU will fight to bring home the conference championship.

The guys picked their winners for the SEC Championship Game.

Desmond Howard: LSU in a close one – saying Georgia’s offense is too banged up

Zach Brown: Georgia – Go Dawgs.

Kirk Herbstreit: LSU – saying it’ll be close for three quarters or so

Lee Corso: LSU – noting the Tiger is more handsome than Uga

Pat McAfee, David Pollack pick winner of Georgia vs LSU SEC Championship

Pat McAfee and Georgia football great David Pollack picked the winner of the UGA vs LSU SEC Championship Game today while on College GameDay

After calling the Dawgs on the set of College GameDay, Pat McAfee gave his prediction for the winner of the Georgia vs LSU SEC Championship Game.

He noted Georgia’s incredible defense and he commented on Rodrigo Blankenship being the best kicker in the country, but in the end it was Joe Burrow’s crazy success this season that ultimately led him to pick LSU.

Accompanied by David Pollack, a Georgia football great, the two previewed the game today. Pollack mentioned that Georgia will need James Cook to step up and make some plays as a pass catcher with George Pickens and Lawrence Cager out (Pickens is missing the first half). He also discussed how playing fast and getting D’Andre Swift might be the key for Georgia to win.

He did, however, also pick LSU to win today.

How Georgia football’s defense can limit LSU QB Joe Burrow

UGA’s defense allows 10.4 PPG. It’s the best defense LSU has seen all year. The Tigers’ offense is the best the Dawgs will face in 2019.

Georgia’s defense is giving up 10.4 points per game and is by all metrics the best defense LSU has played all year. The Tigers’ offense is the best that the Dawgs have faced in 2019 and is led by Joe Burrow, who will likely have his name inscribed onto the Heisman Trophy in a few short weeks.

Burrow has completed an insane 314 of his 401 passing attempts (78.3%), has thrown an even more insane 44 touchdowns, and has amassed 4366 passing yards, enough to make him the SEC record holder for passing yards in a single season.

Those numbers are staggering and present a daunting task for the Silver Britches. But if any unit can possibly limit Joe Burrow, it’s the Bulldogs’ smothering defense.

The Tigers’ quarterback is poised and methodical with an ability to scramble outside the pocket the extend plays. He keeps his eyes downfield and has the speed to roll out and tuck the ball for quick gains to the sideline.

For the Junkyard Dawgs to diminish Burrow’s prowess, they need to keep him in the pocket. Rushing three men while dropping eight, including a spy linebacker eyeing the quarterback, keeps Georgia’s defense in a man free alignment that can negate big plays and contain Louisiana State’s explosive offense.

In 2019, several SEC West teams have used this formation in attempt to confuse Burrow to no avail, but Georgia’s speedy and physical defense possesses better athletes than any defensive group the Tigers have seen thus far, save for Alabama (which is debatable).

All of this is much easier said than done against a team with the Southeastern Conference’s best performing signal caller and an embarrassment of riches at the wide receiver position, which includes Biletnikoff Award finalists Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson. If Georgia’s secondary can maintain man coverage downfield while the front seven can keeping a spy on Burrow, they can hand LSU their first loss of the year.

Matchup preview: Georgia’s offense against LSU’s defense

The Bulldogs’ offense chose a good time to click again, scoring 52 points in last week’s beatdown of Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

We’ve provided a complete statistical breakdown of the SEC Championship Game as well as a prediction of the matchup between Georgia’s defense and LSU’s offense. Today we explore how the Silver Britches’ offense stacks up against LSU’s defense.

The Bulldogs’ offense chose a good time to click again, scoring 52 points in last week’s beatdown of Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Georgia averaged only 22 points per game in its six previous contests, not having scored over 30 points during the stretch. This followed a 5-0 start during which the offense scored 42.8 points per game.

LSU’s defense has been inconsistent in recent weeks but found their form last week against Texas A&M, yielding just 169 yards to the Aggies after allowing 304 yards against SEC bottom-dweller Arkansas and a whopping 614 yards versus 4-8 Ole Miss the week prior.

Without injured leading wide receiver Lawrence Cager, Georgia’s offense had to get a bit more creative in their regular season closer. We saw more toss sweeps and end-arounds against from the Dawgs against the Yellow Jackets.

Second-leading receiver George Pickens is suspended for the first half of the SEC Championship following a fight with Georgia Tech defensive back Tre Swilling, which will force Georgia to turn even more toward the run against an LSU secondary allowing a mediocre 2657 passing yards on the season, ranked 56th out of 130 FBS teams.

The Tigers’ defense is ranked 28th in rushing defense; their opponents have gained 1494 ground yards this season.

UGA’s tailbacks have eclipsed 2400 yards, more than any of Louisiana State’s previous 2019 opponents. Over half of those yards have been gained by D’Andre Swift, whose minor shoulder injury hasn’t limited his participation in practice but may limit him in terms of carries.

With a receiving corps already struggling to earn separation missing one-and-a-half of its most productive members and a consequently struggling Jake Fromm, who’s completed under 50% of attempted passes in, expect James Coley’s offense to focus on establishing the run to wear down LSU’s defense going into the second half.

At that point, George Pickens will be available and all bets are off.

Georgia football SECCG: Expert picks and predictions (UGA vs LSU)

The UGA Wire staff has put together a list of expert picks and predictions ahead of Georgia Football’s game vs LSU for the SEC Championship.

Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs have won the SEC East three straight years, earning them their third straight SEC Championship game vs LSU, this Saturday at 4:00 p.m. EST at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.

Besides former Bulldog Justin Fields and Ohio State, LSU has been the hottest team of the 2019 college football season.  The #2 Tigers are 12-0 on the season including wins over Florida, Auburn and Alabama.

Georgia comes into the game a bit banged up and not exactly peaking at the right time.  The Dawgs will be without senior WR Lawrence Cager who underwent ankle surgery as well as freshman WR George Pickens who was suspended for the first half for on-field incidents.  Those are the Dawgs top two receivers on the year.

D’Andre Swift also left the Georgia Tech game with a shoulder injury but should hopefully be back for Saturday’s matchup.

LSU QB Joe Burrow has been putting up exceptional numbers for the Tigers as he currently sits in 2nd for the Heisman Trophy race.  Burrow has a total QBR of 93.4 and has thrown for 4,366 yards, 44 TDs and 6 INTs on the season.

Kirby will need to draw up a near flawless game plan and Jake Fromm needs to find his guy in a shallow receiving core if the Dawgs want to pull this one out and secure a spot in the College Football Playoff.

The UGA Wire staff has put together a list of score, stat and game predictions ahead of Saturdays matchup.

Here are the picks:

The money makers:

#2 LSU (-7.5) vs #4 Georgia

Game pick: If you think LSU will win and cover, write LSU. If you think LSU will win but not cover, LSU*. If you got Georgia winning, write Georgia.

Odds via BetMGM. Access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Thursday at 3 p.m. ET.

Jackson Fryburger: UGAWire.com- Georgia

Joe Vitale: UGAWire.com-  HBTFD

James Morgan: UGAWire.com- LSU*

Jackson Stone: UGAWire.com- LSU

Henry Sillen: UGAWire.com- Georgia

Garrett Shearman: UGAWire.com- LSU*

Over/under (54.5) 

If you think the total will go over, over. If you think the total will go under, under.

Jackson Fryburger: UGAWire.com- Under

Joe Vitale: UGAWire.com-  Under

James Morgan: UGAWire.com- Over

Jackson Stone: UGAWire.com- Over

Henry Sillen: UGAWire.com- Over

Garrett Shearman: UGAWire.com- Under

Score prediction:

Jackson Fryburger: UGAWire.com- Georgia 27, LSU 24

Joe Vitale: UGAWire.com- Georgia 24, LSU 20

James Morgan: UGAWire.com- LSU 34, Georgia 27

Jackson Stone: UGAWire.com- LSU 35, Georgia 24

Henry Sillen: UGAWire.com- Georgia 31, LSU 28 OT

Garrett Shearman: UGAWire.com- LSU 26, UGA 20

Want to get in on the action? Place your bet now at BetMGM.

Matchup preview: Georgia’s defense against LSU’s offense

Georgia enters the SEC Championship ranked fourth in total defense. LSU is ranked second in total offense. Something’s gotta give.

Georgia enters the SEC Championship ranked fourth in total defense behind playoff locks Ohio State and Clemson and playoff hopeful Utah. They’ve given up the fewest touchdowns (12) in FBS.

LSU’s offense is led by Joe Burrow, the Heisman Trophy frontrunner who recently broke the Southeastern Conference record for passing yards in a single season.

The Tigers are ranked second in total offense and thus poses the greatest threat that the historically great 2019 Georgia defense has yet seen.

Something’s gotta give, right?

It’s worth noting that LSU’s main offensive strength plays well against the Georgia defense’s primary weakness whereas the Silver Britches’ defensive strengths play well against LSU’s offensive weakness.

Maybe the Tigers shouldn’t be labeled a “pass first” offense, but they have attempted 25 more passes than runs on the year (438 to 413). The Dawgs’ secondary has been great but is at times prone to giving up chunk yardage in quick passing plays. As we saw against Auburn, Georgia’s cornerbacks tackle well but occasionally have trouble covering in quick-release short-yardage scenarios.

Without opponents stacking the box in anticipation of a possible pass, LSU’s air attack in turn opens things up for a group of tailbacks who have accumulated more yards than any of the Bulldogs’ prior competion excluding Kentucky (who have rushed for over 3000 yards this season despite only gaining 160 ground yards in a rain-plagued contest in Athens).

Behind Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s 1233 solo rushing yards, the Tigers have combined for 2299 yards on the ground.

Georgia’s defense is second in the nation in rushing defense, giving up 71 ground yards per game and having allowed only 16 plays of over ten yards rushing this season. They’ve given up just 852 yards this year. The Junkyard Dawgs have proven they can contain tailbacks.

With a Heisman hopeful and one of the most talented group of wide receivers in college football, LSU will almost certainly attempt more passes than runs at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Saturday. Now more than ever, expect Ed Orgeron’s Tigers to go to the air against a defense that can stop tailbacks before they get a chance to run.

For a full statistical breakdown of how the Dawgs match up against the Tigers, click here.

Georgia football injury report ahead of SECCG vs LSU

Georgia Football full injury report ahead of the SEC Championship Game this Saturday December 7th @ 4:00 p.m. on CBS.

Last Saturday’s game at Georgia Tech was the largest margin of victory Georgia has ever beat the Yellow Jackets by, but it didn’t come without a price.

As if losing WR Lawrence Cager for the rest of the season to an ankle injury wasn’t bad enough, the Dawgs star RB and engine to their offensive game D’Andre Swift got placed on the injury report for the first time all season. On top of that WR George Pickens got himself suspended for the first half of the SEC Championship Game by the SEC for throwing punches.

All of this sounds like bad news for Dawgs fans, but Kirby Smart has faced a little bit of adversity in his time in Athens.  Kirby has lost his offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, top 5 receivers, a 1,000 yard rusher, a Jim Thorpe Award winner and has nearly 70% freshmen and sophomores on his team this year (youngest in all of SEC).

All of this and he still has the Bulldogs playing for a College Football Playoff for the third year in a row.  Pretty incredible if you ask me.

Here’s Georgia’s full injury report ahead of the 2019 SEC Championship Game against LSU.

What the George Pickens ejection means for Georgia football

Georgia freshman WR George Pickens was ejected in the third quarter after exchanging swipes with Georgia Tech DB Tre Swilling.

Georgia freshman wide receiver George Pickens was ejected in the third quarter after exchanging swipes with Georgia Tech defensive back Tre Swilling.

As the ABC broadcast crew pointed out, Pickens had little to gain from the fight. The Southeastern Conference will review the incident to determine whether the freshman phenom will serve a suspension against LSU in next week’s SEC Championship Game.

The Bulldogs’ offense will already be without the injured Lawrence Cager, who leads the team with 476 receiving yards in 2019. Pickens has made an immediate impact as a freshman and is only 19 yards behind with one fewer reception (32) and one more touchdown (5) than Cager.

The absence of both receivers will be detrimental for James Coley’s offense. Expect the Dawgs to get creative in the absence of both receivers: toss sweeps, jet sweeps, trick plays.

Without two of the biggest deep threats the Bulldogs have fielded this year, Coley will need to get the ball into the hands of the best athletes he has at his disposal.

Why Georgia football cannot overlook Georgia Tech

If there’s one goal Georgia Tech has left for the 2019 regular season, it is to disrupt the 2019 postseason of their most hated rivals.

The stage is set for the SEC Championship Game. Regardless if either team loses in the final week of the regular season, Eastern Division champion Georgia will face Western Division champion Louisiana State on December 7th at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

For undefeated LSU, there is a slight possibility that a single loss in a conference championship game could keep them in the final spot of the College Football Playoff given their tiebreaker with Alabama, which sits at No. 5 in the playoff picture.

The margin of error is much smaller for Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs, who suffered their lone loss in overtime against a South Carolina squad currently posting a record of four wins and seven losses.

A week before the Dawgs play the Tigers in Altanta, they’ll make a trip to Bobby Dodd Stadium, under two miles away from their next destination.

Georgia Tech hosts Georgia sporting three wins and eight losses. In their first season removed from Paul Johnson’s option-based flexbone offense, the Yellow Jackets have struggled to effectively utilize tight ends and single set backs under new head coach Geoff Collins.

Though the two teams have shared no common opponents this season, Georgia is currently favored at one of the highest margins of victory in the history of Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate.

Georgia Tech isn’t bowl eligible while Georgia needs to win out to appear in the College Football Playoff. If there’s one goal the Yellow Jackets have left for the 2019 regular season, it is to disrupt the 2019 postseason of their most hated rivals.

The Bulldogs cannot afford to look forward to LSU if they wish to keep their playoff hopes alive for one more week.