Despite a second half rally, LSU fell short to Georgia in the SEC Championship by a score of 50-30.
LSU showed some signs of life and momentum early in the game, but mistakes and missed opportunities held the Tigers back. On just LSU’s second offensive drive, the Tigers had a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown, a massive swing early in the game. 
“Some key plays obviously, in the game were pivotal, obviously,” Head Coach Brian Kelly said. “The special teams play early and ability to get off the field on third down, fourth down, a couple of opportunities that we had to convert.” 
While LSU did respond to that score with a touchdown of its own, the Georgia offense was rolling from that point forward. The Bulldogs finished the game with 50 points and 529 yards of total offense. Quarterback Stetson Bennett was running the show for Georgia, finishing the game going 23-29 with 274 yards and four touchdowns. 
Even in the loss, though, LSU’s offense had an impressive game, especially through the air. Both Jayden Daniels and Garrett Nussmeier saw playing time after Daniels left the game injured at half time. Daniels finished the game going 16-24 with 208 yards and one touchdown and an interception. Nussmeier added 294 yards and two touchdowns with one interception on 15-27 passing.
Kelly was complimentary of Nussmeier’s performance, especially considering the circumstances.
“He did some really good things, he was called upon to come in and be aggressive, which he was, and for a guy that that’s coming in off not playing a lot of football, [I’m] really pleased.”
Overall, LSU just couldn’t keep up with Georgia’s offense, despite the LSU offense putting up an impressive showing. This puts an end to LSU’s run at an SEC Championship in year one under Brian Kelly, and the Tigers will now wait to see what bowl game they will play in.
“We’re not happy that we’re not the SEC champs. That’s not what we wanted today. We wanted to win this game. But we know where we’re at,” Kelly said. “We’ve clearly talked about what we need to do to be the SEC champs. And that’s okay, we need to go to work and get better at the things necessary for us to be better collectively individually and as a football program.”