LSU used a 33-yard touchdown run by Charles Scott with 46 seconds to play as the No. 4 Tigers outlasted Georgia 20-13 in a roller coaster of a game in sold-out Sanford Stadium. “Our opponent played awfully hard today,” declared a jubilant Les Miles. “Our football team will beat you up and steal a game if you turn your back on them.”
The Bayou Bengals drove 38 yards in just two plays for the score.
The touchdown came on the heels of a miraculous A.J. Green touchdown grab in the corner of the end zone over Stefoin Francois with 1:09 left in the game. The no. 14 Dawgs had driven 79 yards in six plays for the go-ahead score. The drive also featured a 46-yard completion from Joe Cox to Tavarres King on third and six from the Georgia 38.
“It got wild at the end,” explained Bulldog head coach Mark Richt. “They got their chances to take the lead and it looked like maybe we had time for one more shot (after Scott’s first touchdown). Then we scored so fast and they scored so fast and we still had some time.”
“The bottom line is we didn’t do enough to win.”
Georgia and LSU slugged it out all day in a hard-hitting and physical contest that featured missed opportunities and a lot of frustration by both offenses.
The Bulldog defense kept their team in the game during the first half with several stops inside their own territory, including a fourth and one at the nine and an interception in the end zone. At the half, LSU led in total yardage 236-49 and 12-1 in first downs.
However, Georgia was able to rebound offensively in the second half to end the game with 274 total yards, including 229 yards passing by Cox. However, Blair Walsh missed his first field goal of the season in the third period to keep the Dawgs scoreless. Georgia finally got on the board with an 18-play 60-yard drive that culminated on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Cox to Shaun Chapas on fourth and goal early in the fourth quarter to give the Bulldogs a 7-6 lead.
It was the first time that UGA had been held scoreless through three quarters since the Colorado game in 2006.
LSU bounced back in the fourth when Charles Scott plunged in from two yards out to reclaim the lead for the Tigers with 2:38 remaining. The drive covered 88 yards in 14 plays and featured a key 26-yard scramble by quarterback Jordan Jefferson to the Bulldog 13.
QUESTIONABLE CALLS
The officials penalized Green for excessive celebration after his touchdown catch when it appeared that the Dawgs were celebrating as a team. LSU took the 15 yard penalty on the kickoff and ended up with the ball on the UGA 38 after another five-yard penalty on Georgia. Two plays later, Scott broke free for the game-winning touchdown.
“I don’t know, I really don’t know” said a downtrodden Green about why the flag was thrown. “I was just celebrating with my team, I guess, and they threw the flag.”
Richt also could not elaborate on the cause of the flag, but did acknowledge the importance of the call.
“Field position is so crucial at that point,” explained a disappointed Richt. “1:09 with great field position is a lot different than a 1:09 with bad field position.”
“It’s just a shame after we did score that the field position got changed so much by the celebration penalty. We had momentum and we had a chance to get a stop, but we had to kick from the 15. That’s just a sad thing.”
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Senior defensive tackle Kade Weston earned his first sack of the year and first since 2007.
The Georgia front seven recorded six sacks for 34 yards, by far their best total of the season. The defense as a whole recorded nine tackles for loss totaling negative 39 yards in losses for the Tigers.
Defensive end Justin Houston applied pressure on Jefferson all day and helped the UGA defense record six sacks, including two of his own. This is the type of pressure off the edge that UGA has sorely missed since Marcus Howard graduated after the 2007 season.
Washaun Ealey, wearing Knowshon Moreno’s No. 24, got most of the carries in the second half for the Dawgs. Ealey excited the crowd on the touchdown drive and throughout the half by falling forward for extra yards and seemingly running harder than UGA’s other running backs. In a move reminiscent of the man that made the No. 24 famous, Ealey bounced up after one run and sprinted back to the huddle to an ovation by the Georgia crowd.
“It was a good feeling,” explained Ealey about getting most of the second half carries. “I was just happy that the coaches believed in me that I can do it.”
Ealey was put into the game to start the second half and did well enough to remain in the game for much of the half.
“We felt like Ealey had been running the ball extremely well and we felt he could give us a spark. And he did quite frankly.”
UP NEXT
No. 14 Georgia will travel to Knoxville to take on Lane Kiffin’s Vols next Saturday. Last year, the Dawgs snapped a two-game losing streak to Tennessee with a 26-14 victory in Athens that was highlighted by Matthew Stafford’s 310 yards passing. The Vols are hosting Auburn tonight and are 2-2 on the season and 0-1 in the SEC.
LSU (5-0, 3-0) will host No. 1 Florida next Saturday in what will certainly be one of the biggest games of the year in the SEC. The Gators have not won at LSU since 2003, the year the Tigers won their second national title in school history.
Black can be reached at sblack@scoreatl.com.
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