6 takeaways from LSU outplaying *and* outcoaching Georgia

LSU beat Georgia 36-16 Saturday in Baton Rouge, dealing a major blow to the Bulldogs’ Playoff chances and keeping the Tigers’ own chances alive.

Here are some observations.

The LSU head coach repeatedly faced choices about what to do on fourth down, and he repeatedly made the right decision to not punt the ball away. College football coaches often make the punting decision, which is seen as safe. It keeps the coach from being criticized in the media. But is actually a gamble, because punting the ball away on fourth-and-short from your own zone often reduces win expectancy.

In the second quarter, up 3-0, LSU had fourth and goal from the Georgia 1-yard line. The Tigers didn’t hesitate, and QB Joe Burrow plunged in for the TD.

Then, up 13-0, LSU went for fourth and inches at its own 38. It is overwhelmingly the correct statistical call, but it is one very few coaches make. Orgeron went for it and Burrow again snuck for the first down. Later on the drive, LSU converted fourth-and-1 from the Georgia 36. LSU would go up 16-0 on the drive.

And a few drives later, LSU again went for and converted a fourth down

Orgeron did decide to punt on fourth-and-2 from the Georgia 44. But the Tigers made the right decision more often than not. They finished 4-for-4 on fourth downs.

At some point, this will be seen as normal. Much like how sacrifice bunting is not almost completely gone from baseball, coaching decisions which reduce win probability will eventually be removed from the game.

Orgeron’s squad also did a great job of selectively using tempo to keep Georgia off balance.

LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda doesn’t have the best pass rush this year. But he did a tremendous job of mixing coverage. Georgia’s passing game looked confused, and players were rarely wide open. When LSU did elect to blitz, it seemed to catch Georgia off guard. The Dawgs’ ugly passing day had something to do with how LSU played against it.

Following a Burrow scramble that looked for all the world to have been spotted incorrectly by three or four feet in LSU’s favor, Georgia had choices. Kirby Smart could have used a timeout to give the review booth more time to look at, or challenge it. Instead, the play went un-changed, and LSU picked up the very short fourth down.

Georgia also failed to give its running backs the ball enough. Elijah Holyfield and D’Andre Swift had 128 yards on 19 carries. And it wasn’t all on big runs. The pair were consistently successful. Yet Georgia instead had 39 passing plays for just 192 yards. I couldn’t understand why Georgia wasn’t just pounding the football more. The game ended up being a blowout, but it was close for much of the contest.

Additionally, I found the use of No. 2 QB Justin Fields to be curious. He was in for five or six plays, all of them runs. Fields is an awesome thrower of the football. I’d like to see him throw a pass. Fields was the No. 2 recruit in the class of 2018.

Last year, Georgia was one of the sharpest, most disciplined units in the nation.

This year, it still has special athletes and special players, but this squad makes a lot more mistakes. The Bulldogs had numerous drops that put the team behind the chains. Defensive backs were badly out of position leading to explosive plays of 49, 47, 50, and 36 yards.

Last year’s Georgia team just didn’t make mistakes like that. You had to earn every yard against the 2017 Bulldogs. Nothing was free. That is not the case this year.

The Bulldogs also don’t have the same level of players up front on defense. The result is that teams are able to be a bit more consistent against them, staying out of third and very long. LSU, for instance, faced third and nine or more just twice.

This was one of the loosest-called games I have watched in a while. The Bulldogs and Tigers got away with a ton of pass interference. On the offensive side, there were a lot of uncalled holding penalties. In total, the game had six penalty calls for 39 yards, split almost exactly evenly (four for 20 on UGA, two for 19 on LSU).

LSU’s playoff hopes are still in play, provided it can beat the Tide in three weeks in Baton Rouge. That game’s setting up as a huge one.