Georgia survives LSU offensive blast

BATON ROUGE, La. — His defense scored two touchdowns. His defense allowed 497 total yards.

Yet he was in the winning locker room, which is always the tiebreaker for Georgia defensive coordinator Willie Martinez.

“The bottom line is that we won the game,” a relieved Martinez said following Saturday’s 52-38 win at LSU. “We came to a place where they don’t lose very much. We wanted to start fast and we did, taking it to the house on the first play of the game. We did a lot of great things, and the bottom line is that we won.”

The Bulldogs have their conference goals and national aspirations very much intact after winning in Tiger Stadium. Their defensive statistics, however, took a beating after LSU amassed 309 yards through the air and 188 on the ground.

Georgia entered Saturday ranked third nationally in rushing defense, allowing 61 yards a game.

“They did some new things, there is no doubt about it,” Martinez said. “They got out of 21 personnel and started running the ball out of 11 personnel, which is a one-back set. They hurt us in some ’backer-trap plays, and there were times we were thinking pass and they ran the ball, which kept us a little off guard. They did a nice job with that and got some yards there.

“They put Charles Scott back there in a one-back set, and he’s a pretty physical runner who’s tough to bring down.”

The Bulldogs entered Saturday 12th in total defense, allowing 269.7 yards a game. Their past two opponents, Tennessee (209) and Vanderbilt (245), didn’t even combine for 497 yards.

While nearly 200 of Lee’s 287 passing yards came in the fourth quarter, Scott was efficient from the onset. He had 41 yards on LSU’s drive that tied the game at 7 in the first quarter and finished with 21 carries for 144 yards and two scores.

Georgia weakside linebacker Rennie Curran met Scott several times, recording 14 tackles.

“I was definitely impressed with their running backs and their ability to pound the ball,” Curran said. “Scott is probably one of the best backs we’ve faced. He’s a very punishing runner. He doesn’t make too many moves, but he’s definitely effective, and that line was definitely impressive.

“We have some positives that we can look at, but we made mistakes and definitely got tired.”

Bulldogs middle linebacker Darryl Gamble returned two interceptions for touchdowns and was rewarded with a postgame interview on CBS, which did ease some of the defense’s pain. Had those interceptions not occurred, might the two teams still be playing?

“Their tempo was quick, and we couldn’t always get our calls in,” Gamble said. “That’s why they got the big plays that they did. We had some missed opportunities out there, but we made some plays, too.”