Halftime report: What we’ve learned so far in UGA-LSU SEC Championship matchup

Not much has gone in Georgia’s favor through 30 minutes inside the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. LSU holds a 17-3 lead at the intermission and looks the part of the nation’s No. 2 team.

Here are five observations at the half.

1) Jake Fromm goes down with injury, but catches a break. His leg twisted on a sack by LSU safety Grant Delpit after an aggressive blitz on second down. Fromm tried to walk toward the sideline, but instead sat on the turf for a few moments while being evaluated by head athletic trainer Ron Courson. Eventually walking off with assistance, the junior quarterback exited.

Backup quarterback Stetson Bennett replaced him, and threw a third-down incompletion to Matt Landers on the following play. Bennett appeared in four games entering Saturday’s game and recorded 260 yards and two interceptions. Fromm tallied 2,385 passing yards and 21 touchdowns entering play, and returned on the following drive.

2) Georgia has pulled out all of the defensive stops. But not to much success. The Bulldogs opened up against LSU’s potent spread offense attack with seven defensive backs — freshmen Lewis Cine and Tyrique Stevenson received a starting assignment. Georgia knew it had a tough test against Tigers’ quarterback Joe Burrow and tried to confuse him in a different set.

But alas, Burrow kept chugging along as the Heisman contender that he is. Burrow finished the half 17 of 25 with 205 yards, including a 16-yard pass to himself on a deflection. His two touchdown passes went to Ja’Marr Chase and Terrace Marshall, and Marshall’s was wide open after a Bulldogs’ busted assignment. Georgia held LSU’s run game in check, but the Tigers amassed 255 first-half yards and gained separation.

3) Georgia gets bitten by the dreaded injury bug once more. Freshman Dominick Blaylock came down with a third-down catch to keep a first-quarter drive alive. He went to the ground clutching his knee, and eventually exited the field on a cart. Suddenly, Georgia found itself without its three leading receivers — graduate transfer Lawrence Cager and freshman George Pickens being the others — who combined for 1,273 yards and 15 touchdowns on the season.

Linebacker Quay Walker also went down with a shoulder injury. His return is questionable.

4) With attrition at receiver, Georgia’s offense looks shaky. Fromm’s first two drives boldly showed it, and summed up the recent stretch of Georgia’s season — so close, yet not enough. Fromm had receiver Tyler Simmons open on the first play, but the senior dropped it. He had Matt Landers on second down, but he stepped out of bounds before maintaining possession. A third-down pass to Demetris Robertson was underthrown. On the following drive, Fromm overthrew Blaylock before the Bulldogs had to punt, and the missed opportunities continued.

Georgia’s first drive of the second quarter, however, had some life. Fromm had consecutive completions to Simmons, Robertson and running back D’Andre Swift. Georgia awaits the return of Pickens for the second half, because Fromm is in need of a go-to target. He entered the locker room with 117 yards on 10 of 20 passing. Fromm’s final drive of the second half resulted in an intercepted pass by LSU cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. on a pass intended for Simmons down the sideline.

5) D’Andre Swift receiving a small workload. His injury might be a tad more substantial than head coach Kirby Smart led on. At least, based on his workload through a half, that’s a fair conclusion. Senior Brian Herrien received the start, and Zamir White and James Cook rotated earlier than usual. Swift suffered a shoulder contusion at Georgia Tech, and recorded one rushing touch for no yards. He does have three receptions for 18 yards, however.

This story was originally published December 7, 2019 at 6:00 PM.