LSU vs Georgia: Preview and Players to watch

By: Rich Douglas

Georgia comes in off a ho hum win against North Texas, while LSU enters this matchup of SEC powerhouses having just played and beaten convincingly Auburn.  While this game likely doesn't have SEC title game implications directly, both teams will want this win to keep pace with the other top teams in their respective divisions.  

When Georgia has the ball:

The matchup between the Dawgs offense and the LSU defense is a battle of titanic strengths.  Georgia’s offense has managed 40 points a game so far this season, picking up 7.8 yards per play.  They’ve kept drives alive, converting 39% of their third downs.  They’ve also finished drives, scoring on 84% of their red zone attempts.  Georgia works its offense on the ground,  with Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall running 94 times for 494 yards and 5 TDs so far.  Todd Gurley is a scary man, averaging 5.98 yards per carry, and 5.75 in the fourth quarter specifically.  In the Redzone, Gurley has averaged 5.11 yards per carry, but surprisingly is just 1 for 5 on third down attempts, 0-2 in 3^rd and short.  Aaron Murray might be the best QB in the SEC, he’s averaging 12.7 yards per attempt, and has completed 72% of his pass attempts.  He’s converted half of his third down attempts, and has 12 completions of more than 25 yards so far.  His main target so far has been Justin Scott Wesley, who has a pair of those 25+ yard bombs, and 9 first downs on his 10 catches.  LSU should also watch TE Jordan Lynch, who is averaging 16.3 yards per catch this season.  The Georgia offensive line will need to be better at keeping Murray’s jersey cleaning after allowing a 7.3% adjusted sack rate.

The LSU defense has so far answered all the questions about whether or not they could keep the continuity going for another year with again so many players leaving for the NFL.  They’ve given up just 4.6  yards per play to opposing offenses, and only 3.6 on the ground.  They’ve allowed only 9 TDs through their four games, but have allowed 3 red zone trips a game, and 83.33% of them have been successful.  Ego Ferguson and Anthiny Johnson both have 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the team, and 14 different players have at least .5 TFL.  Jordan Allen leads the team in sacks with 2, and Jemauria Rasco leads the team with 12 QB hurries.  Lamin Barrow leads the team with 22 tackles, 19 of the assists to go along with a pass defended, half a sack and a QB hurry.  The secondary has only 3 Ints, but 21 passes defended, lead by Dwayne Thomas who has 4. 

When LSU has the ball:

One of the biggest surprises this college season has been the efficiency of Zach Mettenberger.  Zach is currently averaging 11.3 yards per attempt, with a 64.8% completion rating and 10 TDs with just a single int on his 91 attempts so far.  He;s gone 16 for 30 on converting his third down passes, and has 29 passes of 15 yards or more.  The emergence of Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry has gone hand in hand with Mettenberger’s breakout.  Beckham has averaged nearly 20 yards per catch with 6 catches of 25 yards or more, whiel Jarvis Landry has been the third down machine, converting all 10 of his catches.  Jeremy Hill running the ball has been everything everyone expected, averaging 8.4 yards per carry with 12 carries of 10 yards or more and a punishing 6 yards per carry in the red zone.  The offensive line has been fantastic in both pass protection (just 6 pressure/sacks all season) and in opening holes for the run game.

Georgia’s defense has been much less heralded, but this unit has been solid against a couple of the nation;s best offensive attacks.  They’ve given up 5.7 yards per play, and have allowed 10 red zone drives all season. (but they’ve stopped just 1 of them).  They do make plays in the backfield, with 17 players recording .5 tackles for loss, and 5 sacks so far.  Jordan Jenkins has 4 tackles for loss to lead the team amongst his 15 stops, and has 4 QB hurries as well.  LB Leonard Floyd has 2 sacks to lead the team, but should have more after posting 7 QB hurries so far.  Ramik Wilson leads the team with 31 tackles (2.5 for loss), while fellow backer Amarlo Herrera has 30 tackles and leads the team in passes defended with 3.  Tray Mathews has the only interception for the defense

What’s our take:

LSU so far has done what they’ve been asked, dominating weaker opponents (TCU has been possibly their most talnted opponent and is 1-2).  Georgia has played two very close games with top top tier teams, and has been very impressive and very flat at different points.  LSU has had problems with teams converting third downs at better than a 40% rate, and they have not brought the pressure in the passing game.  But Georgia’s defense has surrendered 30 points twice already this season, and the Tigers are an extremely big physical team.  Pretty easily should be the game of the weekend.