ATLANTA – Isaiah Crowell was hoping to be a factor in Saturday’s Southeastern Conference title game, but Georgia’s freshman tailback struggled with 10 carries for 15 yards.
Crowell, who injured his ankle two carries into the win over Kentucky on Nov. 19, hobbled off the field several times during the title game. The 5-foot-11, 215-pounder had an 11-yard carry in the first quarter, but his other nine runs produced a net of 4 yards.
“When he’s in there, I call the plays I think he can execute well, and when he’s not, I move on to whoever else is in there,” Bulldogs offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said after LSU’s 42-10 victory. “That’s the situation we’re in, and hopefully we will have him healthy at the bowl game.”
Redshirt junior Carlton Thomas got the tailback start and had a 16-yard gain in the first quarter, but his remaining six carries produced 12 yards. Thomas injured his left knee in the third quarter and did not return.
In the second and third quarters combined, Georgia had 18 rushes for 3 yards.
“They just read some first-and second-down run calls there in the second half, and we didn’t get anything,” Bobo said. “We got behind and had to change philosophies a little bit, and you just can’t be one-dimensional against this team. We pretty much lost our balance there in the second half.
“I thought they were one of the best I’ve ever seen on defense coming into the game, and I knew it would be a challenge for us to have some successful plays.”
With two minutes left in the third quarter, Crowell was met with booing by Bulldogs fans as he left the field. He said afterward that he didn’t pay any attention to that.
Crowell had a goal of a 1,000-yard season but will enter a bowl with 847.
“We won all these games, but to get here and lose it, it doesn’t really mean anything,” said Crowell, who was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct early in the fourth quarter.
Airing it out
Georgia’s inability to run forced quarterback Aaron Murray to throw a career-high 40 times.
Murray had a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Aron White in the final minute of the first quarter to put the Bulldogs up 10-0, but that would be one of just 16 completions. He threw for 163 yards, was sacked four times and was intercepted twice.
“Against a team like LSU, you’ve got to take points when you can get them,” Murray said. “We definitely missed a couple of shots early in the game, and then they did a great job of stopping us.”
The touchdown to White did extend Murray’s school single-season touchdown mark to 33.
Odds and ends
Saturday was a monster showdown for the punters, with Georgia’s Drew Butler averaging an SEC title-game record 51.6 yards on eight attempts and LSU’s Brad Wing averaging 50.4 on eight. … Blair Walsh’s 40-yard field goal that opened the scoring gave him an NCAA-record 44 career games with at least one field goal. Walsh has 404 career points and will need six in a bowl to break Billy Bennett’s school and SEC record. … Bulldogs inside linebacker Michael Gilliard injured his right ankle in the second quarter and did not return. … The past two SEC title games have been the two biggest blowouts, with LSU’s 32-point margin second behind Auburn’s 56-17 thumping of South Carolina last season.