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ATLANTA — As sugar packets rained down on the Georgia dome turf and the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard, LSU players ran to celebrate their Southeastern conference championship with the throng of LSU fans in attendance.
Ben Wilkerson carried a logo that was torn off a wall, players waved LSU flags and donned championship caps and Tigers’ coach Nick Saban did his customary jog to give thanks to the fans. The Tigers rise to SEC and national glory was complete.
“We’ve done what no team in LSU history has ever done,” said LSU wide receiver Michael Clayton. “The guys on this team have been together so long and it warms my heart to know they’re leaving with a bang.”
No. 3 LSU proved it could beat a team twice in the same season, running away from Georgia, 34-13 to capture its second SEC title in three years. The win propelled LSU to No. 2 in the BCS, thanks to Syracuse’s 38-12 win over Notre Dame and Boise State’s win against Hawaii.
The Tigers (12-1) will take on Oklahoma in the Nokia Sugar Bowl for a chance at the team’s first national title since 1958. Saban said the players were not focused on the BCS implications coming into the game.
“I think our players wanted to prove they were the best team in this league,” Saban said. “There was never any talk about what bowl game we were going to. We knew what we needed to do was win this football game. That takes a lot of maturity for young players to do that, especially when everybody is talking about it everywhere we go. That’s probably why we can play the kind of football we do.”
Behind freshman Justin Vincent’s SEC title game record 201 yards rushing on 18 carries, the Tigers outplayed the Bulldogs (10-3) in the teams’ second meeting of the season. LSU outgained Georgia 444 to 249 in total yards, and the Tigers’ defense limited UGA to 50 rushing yards, the team’s lowest margin of the season.
“You don’t want to far behind these guys and that’s for sure,” said Georgia coach Mark Richt. “There’s not much to say, we got whipped.”
Vincent, who earned the game’s MVP award, electrified the LSU crowd with an 87-yard touchdown run off a toss sweep, racing up the far sideline to give the Tigers a 6-0 lead.
Special teams gave LSU a safety when Georgia punter Gordon Ely-Kelso mishandled the snap and was tackled in the endzone.
LSU quarterback Matt Mauck then hit Michael Clayton for a 43-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter, and a second missed extra point made the score 14-0. Mauck completed 14-of-22 passes for 154 yards.
Clayton finished the game with five receptions for 81 yards, including a one-handed grab to give LSU a crucial first down.
“One was a scramble drill and [Mauck] made an excellent throw and I made a good catch,” Clayton said. “I’ve done it before and I don’t feel any pressure to perform.”
The teams traded field goals and the Tigers went into halftime with a 17-3 lead.
Georgia appeared to be shifting momentum back onto its side in the second half after Billy Bennett hit a 49-yard field goal to cut the lead to 17-6. But LSU linebacker Lionel Turner intercepted a David Greene pass and took it in for the score to put the Bulldogs farther behind.
Georgia responded with a four-play, 72-yard drive that was capped off with a David Greene touchdown pass to Ben Watson. Greene finished the game 17-of-41 for 199 yards with three interceptions. He was sacked six times.
Vincent proved to be too much for the Georgia defense, all but sealing with the win with a three-yard touchdown to make the score 31-13, and a 62-yard run on LSU’s next possession that set up a Ryan Gaudet field goal.
“Everybody played their hearts out tonight,” Clayton said. “We got the victory, we won it respectably and we’ll just go on from there.”