Georgia vs. LSU: Tigers' Defensive Speed Will Cool Down Streaking Bulldogs

Very few teams in the country are hotter right now than the Georgia Bulldogs, winners of 10 in a row after last weekend’s dismantling of Georgia Tech. Unfortunately for Georgia, one of those few hotter teams will be the Bulldogs’ opponent in the SEC title game.

LSU is 12-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation for a reason. Even after falling behind 14-0 against Arkansas last week, the Tigers have the country’s second-best scoring defense, allowing just 10.6 points per game.

Nowhere is that speed more evident than in the LSU secondary, where playmakers Tyrann Mathieu and Morris Claiborne have dominated opposing QBs all season. Aaron Murray has played brilliantly during Georgia’s winning streak, but the Bulldogs just don’t have the elite receivers to match up against the Tigers’ DBs over 60 minutes of football.

Isaiah Crowell, Georgia’s freshman star, may fare a little better against the Tigers. Crowell is a power runner who is, arguably, a poor man’s Trent Richardson, and Richardson did manage to grind out 87 yards in Alabama’s loss to LSU.

Richardson’s best efforts, however, couldn’t get Alabama into the end zone, and the same could easily happen to Georgia. Even if they do get a strong performance out of Crowell, it’s unlikely to match what LSU’s superior running game (averaging nearly 216 yards a contest) will do against the Bulldogs’ defense.

The Bulldogs earned the right to play in this game by being decidedly the best team in the SEC East. However, there are hardly any college football teams that belong on the same field with LSU this season, and Georgia is, sadly, not among them.