BATON ROUGE — On September 20, LSU and Georgia met for the first time in 2003 in Tiger Stadium. No. 10 LSU vs. No. 7 Georgia. Both teams were undefeated, ESPN’s GameDay was on campus, CBS televised the game to a national audience, and the stakes were high.
A little over 72 days later, the stakes are even higher. This time its No. 3 LSU (11-1, 7-1 SEC, Western Division Champions) and No. 5 Georgia (10-2, 6-2 SEC, Eastern Division Champions) battling for the 2003 SEC Championship and a possible spot in the national title game at the 2004 Nokia Sugar Bowl. A national audience will be watching on CBS for what proves to be an even better game than their first meeting.
While it will be hard for most fans to stay away from reading the BCS bowl projections, or cheering for certain teams to lose on Saturday, head coach Nick Saban commented on the Tigers’ focus leading up to Saturday’s game at the SEC Coaches Luncheon held Friday at the Atlanta Hyatt Regency Hotel.
“Our focus is on what we can control. We have two more games to play to the best of our ability and that is what we are going to concentrate on”, Saban said.
Saban continued, “Our team has shown more focus and has played with consistency. They have been really good at not being affected by things that are going on around them. We just focus on playing the strengths we have as a team. You have to develop somewhat of a hateful attitude to compete in this game. It’s somewhat of us against the world and we have been able to do that. Again, back to the first question about being focused as a team. We have been able to do that.”
Consistency is something the Tigers will definitely try to maintain, especially on defense. LSU’s defense, rated No. 1 in scoring and No. 2 in total defense, will look to avenge some aspects of the Sept. 20 game. On that day, LSU gave up its longest play of the year when Georgia quarterback David Greene found running back Tyson Browning on a 93 yard, touchdown-scoring screen pass. Greene went on to pass for 314 yards that day, the most passing yards against LSU by any quarterback this season.
On offense, starting quarterback Matt Mauck, the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Week, will look to continue on his success last week against Arkansas. Mauck torched the Hogs secondary for four touchdowns, all to different receivers, including three in the second quarter. Mauck finished the game 12-19 for 186 yards and zero interceptions.
This year’s game will also feature the last two MVP’s in quarterbacks Mauck and Greene. Greene led Georgia to a 30-3 victory over Arkansas in 2002. Mauck, coming of the bench just before halftime for injured quarterback Rohan Davey, rallied the Tigers for a 31-20 victory in 2001 over No. 2 Tennessee. Mauck passed for 67 yards and rushed for 43 yards and two game-deciding touchdowns.
Although Greene and Georgia’s passing game was successful the last time around, Saban gives credit to Georgia’s running game.
“Georgia’s running game has been effective. It just shows the patience they’ve been willing to take. I’ve seen a lot more play-action passes and seen the offensive line trying to do a better job of protecting David Greene more. Those plays might not be as exciting as others but they are more effective.”
Saban also commented on Georgia’s defense, rated No. 2 in scoring and No. 4 in total defense.
“Georgia has an outstanding defense as a whole. They are aggressive. They are very physical at safety, they have two great safeties – the kind I love. They are a physical team and an excellent secondary overall.”
Mauck has the LSU offense running on all cylinders over the last six games, and at just the right time of the year. Since the loss to Florida, Mauck has completed 68.5% of his passes for 1,360 yards and 17 touchdowns. The Tiger offense is averaging 460.5 yards and 35.3 points during this six-game winning streak that has claimed victories over South Carolina, Auburn, Louisiana Tech, Alabama, Ole Miss, and Arkansas.
LSU is also rushing for 220.3 yards over this 6-game stretch with true freshmen Justin Vincent (551 yards, 5 TDs) and Alley Broussard (328 yards, 3 TDs) leading the way. Additionally, LSU has gotten 100-yard rushing performances five times during the streak, three by Vincent (Auburn, Ole Miss, and Arkansas) and two by Broussard (South Carolina and Louisiana Tech).
Saban also spoke briefly on LSU and the success of the program this year, “I came to LSU with the goal to take the people that were there and grow and develop them. We’re proud of the players in general that we have been able to establish up to now. I still feel that we will continue be a consistent program in the future.”
“I love LSU, love being at LSU. It’s a great place to be. It takes a lot of support to be successful and as long we have that support it would take a lot to look at taking anything else,” Saban said. “I love coaching college football. I love to see them (players) getting an education, and to see them growing and developing as players.”