Field Level Media
Dec 7, 2019
Joe Burrow continued his historic season by throwing four touchdown passes as No. 2 LSU routed No. 4 Georgia 37-10 in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday in Atlanta.
Burrow's first touchdown pass was his 45th of the season, breaking a tie with former Missouri quarterback Drew Lock (2017) for the most in SEC history, as LSU (13-0) staked its claim to being the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff.
No. 1 Ohio State rallied from a 14-0 deficit in the second quarter to defeat No. 8 Wisconsin 34-21 in the Big Ten Championship Game later Saturday. The four seeds will be released Sunday.
"This is not our final destination," LSU coach Ed Orgeron said. "We have two more games to play, and we'll get back to work tomorrow.
"Wherever they tell us to play and whoever they tell us to play, we'll be ready."
Burrow, the overwhelming favorite to win the Heisman Trophy next week, completed 28 of 38 passes for 349 yards. He had already broken the SEC single-season record for passing yards.
Terrace Marshall Jr. (89 receiving yards) caught two of Burrow's touchdown passes, while Ja'Marr Chase (41) and Justin Jefferson (115) had one each against a defense that had not allowed more than 20 points in a game this season.
Freshman Derek Stingley Jr. had two interceptions of Jake Fromm, who completed 20 of 42 attempts for 225 yards. The Bulldogs (11-2) likely will play in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
Cade York kicked a 28-yard field goal to extend LSU's lead to 20-3 midway through the third quarter. Georgia missed a chance to answer when Rodrigo Blankenship missed a 37-yard kick.
Burrow then put the Tigers in command by throwing a 4-yard touchdown strike to Marshall. After Stingley made his second interception, Burrow found Jefferson for an 8-yard touchdown to make it a 34-3 lead.
"I love (Orgeron)," Burrow said. "If you don't want to fight for him, something's wrong with you.
"This is a dream come true. This doesn't come as a surprise to anybody (on this team). You can't do any better than 13-0, but we're not done yet."
Fromm threw a 2-yard pass to George Pickens early in the fourth quarter, and then York added a 50-yard field goal for LSU to finish the scoring.
Burrow went right to work on the Tigers' first possession, driving them 75 yards and throwing a 23-yard touchdown pass to Chase.
After Georgia missed a 52-yard field goal, Burrow added a 7-yard touchdown pass to Marshall to give LSU a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
"Unfortunately, we just couldn't make enough plays tonight," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. "That is a really good football team, and we knew that coming in. We were going to have to play well. We were going to have to make explosive plays. We were unable to do that."
Blankenship bounced back from his miss to hit a 39-yard field goal for the Bulldogs' first points. But York answered with a 41-yarder before missing a 48-yarder as the Tigers took a 17-3 halftime lead.
--Field Level Media