ATLANTA — No. 1 Georgia made a case for staying at the top of the college football playoff rankings as the Bulldogs defeated No. 14 LSU 50-30 in the 2022 SEC Championship game. The Dawgs improved to 13-0 for the first time in program history ahead of Sunday’s release of the final CFP rankings. The reigning national champion never fell behind as Georgia won the program’s fourth SEC championship and first since 2017.
Even last season’s Georgia team, with its historically dominant defense, didn’t win the SEC crown. This is the first time the Dawgs have emerged from the SEC title game with an unbeaten record; The 2002 and 2017 teams each suffered a regular-season loss, while the 2005 team lost twice before winning the conference.
The steady hand of six-year-old senior quarterback Stetson Bennett IV — coupled with some terrible breaks for LSU — helped the Bulldogs open a 35-10 halftime lead. In particular, a 95-yard touchdown return from Christopher Smith after a blocked field goal and an interception deflected by an LSU player’s helmet helped ignite Georgia in the first half.
After the break, UGA withstood an onslaught from a resilient LSU squad. Tigers QB Jayden Daniels left the game at half-time after apparently suffering an ankle injury. With backup Garrett Nussmeier in play, LSU drew within 35-17 and threatened to draw even closer when the Dawgs came up with a critical stop on fourth and 1 to keep LSU out of the endzone midway through the third quarter.
Georgia closed the door from there with scoring drives of 95 and 75 yards for its 12th double-digit win in 13 games this season and advanced to the playoffs.
CBS Sports will update this story with takeaways.