After previewing the Pac-12 Championship Game yesterday, and the ACC and Big Ten this morning, the guys are back, this time to talk about the biggest game of them all: This weekend’s SEC Championship Game in Atlanta.
Can LSU cruise into the title game undefeated? Our guys debate.
SEC Championship Game:
No. 14 Georgia Bulldogs vs. No. 1 LSU Tigers: Saturday, 4:00 p.m. CBS (Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA)
Aaron Torres’ Take: Simply put, I’m done not only picking against LSU, but picking their games to be close.
I thought Auburn could keep things close; LSU crushed them. I thought Arkansas could keep things close; they did for a half, before LSU ran them out of the building. And truthfully, I do think Georgia can keep things close…although I doubt they will.
The difference in this game will be on the front line. Georgia is a good- but not great- team along the offensive line, and although LSU’s front seven isn’t as big or ferocious as Alabama’s, they are just as fast.
They’ll give Aaron Murray the hardest time he’s had since Week 2 against South Carolina, and LSU will win another game convincingly, against a Top 15 team.
Ho, hum, see ya in New Orleans.
The Pick: LSU 37, Georgia 13
Michael Felder’s Take: The Dawgs against the Bayou Bengals in the ATL for the SEC Championship. Pre-season if you have said this would have been happening I don’t think anyone would have questioned you. After week two of the season with the Dawgs sitting at 0-2 and LSU at 2-0 I think people would have thought you were a bit insane. Now it just feels right as the Dawgs hold the nations third longest win streak at 10 games, behind only LSU’s thirteen game streak and Houston’s twelve game streak.
For all the talk surrounding Georgia’s mouthy defense the real story of this game will be how Aaron Murray and this UGA offense try to attack LSU’s seemingly inpenetrable defense. Isaiah Crowell is iffy for this game, like always and to be honest if the kid can’t finish a game against the teams the Dawgs have played to date I don’t see him finishing out this contest against LSU’s punishing brand of football. One guy who can be a difference maker for Richt’s squad though?
Orson Charles.
The big tight end should win the Mackey Award as the nation’s best tight end and he is an absolute monster in the seam. LSU’s going to have to use a combination of safeties and linebackers to shut down the big kid and even then I don’t know that stopping him is possible. Should LSU have to do something special like put Morris Claiborne on the tight end or roll coverage to him this will open up the other Georgia pass catchers to opportunity.
That said I doubt Georgia is able to put it together in their first game against a legitimate opponent since week two.
The Pick: LSU 37, Georgia 20
Allen Kenney’s Take: LSU has a golden ticket to the BCS title game. Yet, if you’re looking for a letdown out of the Bayou Bengals on Saturday, you don’t get how this team operates. Les Miles has had this team laser-focused all season, even when chaos was raining down all around them.
Georgia probably lies somewhere between the puffed-up poseurs some critics have labeled the Bulldogs and a nationally elite team. That’s simply not good enough to hang with the Tigers.
The Pick: LSU 24, Georgia 13
Kevin McGuire’s Take: There is just no stopping LSU right now. The Tigers are on a mission and we have seen before when Les Miles and his team have their eye on something, they go out and take it. LSU has answered every challenge thrown at them this season. Wins away form home against Oregon, West Virginia and Alabama prove that this is a team that is capable of handling all kinds of challenges, and as good as Georgia is with their young up and coming offensive stars, LSU is just not going to lose right now. LSU has battled adversity time and time again, and Miles has his team locked in.
I would not be surprised to see LSU fall behind early against a Georgia team with absolutely nothing to lose right now, but no matter what happens early on, LSU is conditioned for four quarters of football and there is not a team in the country that can beat them in that time frame.
The Pick: LSU 32, Georgia 20
Tom Perry’s Take: I’m the first person to tell you how happy I am for Georgia and Mark Richt. He’s one of the good guys in the coaching ranks and the idea that he was on the hot seat was just crazy.
The Bulldogs are riding a 10-game winning streak coming into the game with No. 1 LSU, and an upset win over the Tigers would be a huge boost for a Georgia team that could enter next season as a Top 10 program.
But if you have watched LSU just a little this season you can tell you have one of the more focused college teams in years. This group has been about winning a championship from the first day and nothing is going to get in their way—not even a hot Georgia team.
LSU wears down teams and the Tigers will run away with this game in the second half.
The Pick: LSU 28, Georgia 10
Regie Eller’s Take: I have heard “puncher’s chance” when discussing the Bulldogs’ prospects of beating LSU Saturday. I will give the Dawgs, just that, a “puncher’s chance” – in the first half. LSU has too much to offer. Les Miles has not had to rely on whatever tricks he holds underneath that hat of his. Why? From top-to-bottom, the Bayou Bengals are more talented than you. This will be the case Saturday.
Honestly, I expect a bludgeoning. Michael Ford, Spencer Ware, Alfred Blue and Kenny Hilliard are all threats in the LSU running game. I expect LSU to pound the Bulldogs, and then pound and pound some more.
The Pick: LSU 42, Georgia 14
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