By Chris Macaluso
Special to LSUsports.net
BATON ROUGE -- Georgia head coach Mark Richt said
after Saturday's game that the team that makes the most big plays at the right
time usually wins.
Richt then pondered and said it wasn't his team that made the most.
In a game filled with dropped passes, tipped and batted balls, fumbles, missed
field goals and missed opportunities, LSU managed to eclipse Southeastern
Conference rival Georgia 17-10 in front of 92,251 now-hoarse fans in Tiger
Stadium. LSU improved its record to 4-0, 1-0 in conference play while Georgia
fell to 3-1, 1-1 in the SEC.
Both teams struggled to score throughout the game but managed to each score a
touchdown with less than 5:00 left making what had been a defensively dominated
game worth screaming about.
LSU's big score just happened to be the last as Tiger quarterback
Matt Mauck found
Skyler Green deep in the south endzone from 34 yards out with 3:03 left in
the game.
That touchdown was necessitated by Georgia's huge strike less than a minute and
a half earlier. Bulldog quarterback David Greene, while standing in his own
endzone, found back-up tailback Tyson Browning just past the line of scrimmage
for a 93-yard throw and catch to tie the score at 10-10 with 4:25 to play.
Georgia moved the ball down the field again after LSU's last score, but the fate
of the game was sealed when Tiger cornerback
Corey Webster tipped a Green pass to himself at the Tiger 32-yard line with
less than a minute to play.
"Well you can't really say enough about both teams, the way they competed out
there," said Tiger coach
Nick Saban. "It was about as physical a football game as I've seen in a long
time and I'm proud of the way our players competed in the game."
Both teams moved the ball well in their first offensive possessions but were
stopped just out of field goal range.
Georgia's Damien Gary, one of the best kick-returners in the country, set up the
opening scoring drive of the game with a 19-yard punt return putting the
Bulldogs in Tiger territory. Gary hauled in a 13-yard pass three plays later to
set up a 33-yard Billy Bennett field goal with 6:20 left to play in the first
quarter.
The Bulldogs appeared primed for another score after intercepting a Mauck pass
at the LSU 40-yard line. Georgia drove the ball easily on the ground until
Bulldog QB David Greene fumbled at the LSU eight-yard line on the fourth play of
the drive after being chased out of the pocket.
Mauck finished the game with 14-29 passes complete for 180 yards a touchdown and
an interception. Greene countered with 20-44 passes complete for 314 yards one
touchdown and two interceptions.
Tigers couldn't capitalize on the Georgia gaff and punted the ball away after
just three plays later setting up another Bulldog drive in LSU territory. The
drive ended with Bennett seemingly connecting on his second field goal of the
quarter but offsetting penalties nullified the down. The second attempt sailed
wide right and the quarter ended with the Bulldogs leading, 3-0.
Georgia stayed in LSU territory for its first drive of the second quarter after
the Tigers failed again to move the ball on offense. Again, Bennett was called
upon as the drive stalled at the LSU 25, and again he missed wide right leaving
the score at 3-0 with 11:25 left in the first half.
The Tigers anemic first-half offense finally received an infusion late in the
second quarter as Mauck led his team down the heart of the Georgia defense with
the help of Green and tailback Shyrone Carey. Mauck connected with Green for a
31-yard pass down the middle of the field on the fourth play of the drive and
Carey capped the drive with a 21-yard touchdown run giving the Tigers their
first score. The PAT made it 7-3 Tigers with 3:10 to play in the first half.
Carey finished the contest with 73 yards on the ground on 18 carries and the
touchdown. Green ended the game with 78 receiving yards on four catches and his
game-winning touchdown.
The Tiger drive awakened the Bulldog offense as well as Green connected on five
out of eight passes setting up another Bennett field goal attempt. But Bennett
failed for the third time in the first half, this time hitting the left upright
from 36 yards out.
LSU stopped the Bulldogs short of the 50-yard line on the first drive of the
second half and used the momentum from the end of the first half to go on a
10-play, 51-yard drive culminating in a 47-yard
Ryan Gaudet field goal. Gaudet's career-long effort gave the Tigers a 10-7
lead with 6:23 left in the third.
On the ensuing drive the Tiger defense knocked Greene out of the game on a near
sack and then knocked the Bulldogs back to their 2-yard line when back-up
quarterback D.J. Shockley was called for intentional grounding on third down.
The LSU offense took over at the Georgia 49 but was stopped after three plays.
Shockley felt the LSU wrath again as he was sacked by tackle
Chad Lavalais on the first play of the next drive for a loss of eight yards
forcing the Bulldogs to again punt from their own endzone.
LSU punted the ball back to Georgia with Greene back at quarterback but the
Bulldog starting signal caller turned it back to the Tigers when linebacker
Lionel Turner picked off a deflected pass at the Bulldog 40. Turner's pick
broke Greene's streak of 176 consecutive pass attempts without an interception,
tying a Georgia record.
The Tigers failed to convert on their chance to extend the lead however, as a
48-yard field goal attempt by Gaudet was blocked.
Georgia attempted a fake punt at mid-field after its next drive stalled but the
Tigers dragged upback Joe Tereshinski off his feet one yard shy of the first
down marker. LSU drove the ball down to the Georgia 15-yard line but Mauck took
his turn to turn over the ball, fumbling after picking up a first down on a
quarterback draw.
The Bulldogs then stunned all on-lookers as Greene connected Browning on the
long screen pass for a touchdown. The PAT tied the score at 10.
But the Tigers were not knocked down as
Devery Henderson returned the kick-off to midfield giving Mauck the chance
to connect with Green six plays later for the winning score.
LSU returns to action next week at Mississippi State. Game time is set for 8
p.m. CDT and will be televised by ESPN2. Georgia takes next week off before
hosting Alabama in Athens.