The Georgia Bulldogs will take on the LSU Tigers in the 2022 SEC Championship Game. Below you can find live updates about the week, injury news and practice notes for the game.
This will be the fifth time Georgia and LSU have met for the SEC championship. LSU won the last time back in 2019, winning 37-10.
Georgia football-LSU live updates, practice notes for 2022 SEC Championship Game
1:30 p.m. Thursday update: Georgia coach Kirby Smart and LSU coach Brian Kelly will speak to the media. Updates will follow.
- “Every team is going to be player-led. I don’t know a good team that isn’t player-led. That’s the way you should want it. If you do your job, players follow your directive. They’ve set a standard and try to emulate that.” -- Smart on it being a player-led team.
- “There’s such a long break between this step and the next step. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” -- Smart on the possibility of playing the College Football Playoff semifinal in Atlanta.
- “Very similar to recent weeks. He’s been able to go there and rep. The hope is that he’s able to go out there and contribute.” -- Smart on AD Mitchell.
- “Very twitchy. We’ve had a crossover with them on several teams this year and he’s just extremely athletic. They do a tremendous job utilizing his skillset. He’s a force to be reckoned with.” -- He’s very talented.
- “We’re really focused on LSU. That’s where our concentration is.” -- Smart not answering a question regarding the transfer portal.
- “I don’t think this game is going to be a make-or-break game to get you in most cases.” -- Smart on the SEC going divisionless in the future.
- “Both were hard-fought physical football games in both those instances.” -- Smart on past games against Brian Kelly when he was at Notre Dame.
- “I’m into doing the best job for our young men.” -- Smart on the job he’s done at Georgia.
- “When their staff got hired and put in place, I would argue they did the best job of filling holes and creating roster opportunities for guys coming in. The quarterback has played phenomenal for them. They hit on the right guys. If they don’t do as good a job as they did it’s hard to say where they’d be right now.” -- Smart on LSU’s transfer portal success.
- “They both have great high school football. They’ve got New Orleans, we’ve got Atlanta. That has a lot to do with the strength of the program.” -- Smart on LSU and Georgia’s sustained success in the SEC.
- “It’s not something I’ve got a huge opinion.” -- Smart on playoff expansion.
- “Have a great deal of respect for Kirby and what he’s accomplished. We have a great deal of respect for this team we’re playing. We look forward to the challenge.” -- Brian Kelly
- “He’s going to be good too. He’ll play for us on Saturday.” -- Kelly on Jayden Daniels
- “You need the best players to embrace that. Led both on and off the field. He’s been an edge playmaker for us. When you talk excellence on and off the field, BJ fits that for us.” -- Brian Kelly on BJ Ojulari.
- “I would say Greg Sankey would be the best one to put us on the right path for what’s best for us as a conference.” -- Brian Kelly on the future of the SEC after having been in the conference for a year.
- “We had opportunities. We were right on the doorstep of playing for and winning national championships. What makes LSU different is the in-state recruiting. At Notre Dame we didn’t have that. You have it right here in Louisiana.” -- Kelly on the difference between Notre Dame and LSU.
- “We’re all in a situation where it’s uncharted territory. I think everybody is very conscious. You have to re-recruit your own roster. Retention is as important as recruiting is right now. The NIL is a part of this. The portal is going to be a tool that everyone is going to look at. But with that it has the potential to upset the chemistry of your football team. It’s going to be a very interesting next couple of weeks.” -- Kelly on the transfer portal.
- “We’re preparing as if this a 13th game. Obviously against the best team in the country but it’s the next game.”
- “It’s just really good college football. We’re going to play a physical football team. That’s the nature of a well-coached football team that’s won a national championship and is competing for another one. You’re going to get a well-coached football team.” -- Brian Kelly on past games against Georgia.
- “The two tight ends make it very difficult. They take away some of your calls from a defensive perspective.” -- Brian Kelly on Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington.
- “You have to game plan for them or they’ll wreck your day. It’s as simple as that. You have to have a gameplan. If you don’t you’re going to have some problems.” -- Brian Kelly on the Georgia tight ends.
11:30 a.m. Monday update: Georgia coach Kirby Smart will speak with the media, as will offensive tackle Warren McClendon, Chris Smith and Ladd McConkey.
- “Really talented team. Always had respect for Brian Kelly’s teams. They do a great job in all areas. He knows how to run a program. He’s been tremendous.”
- “This is an incredible atmosphere. It’s a great venue and the SEC office does a great job putting on a tremendous event.”
- “Our goal is 35 or 38. We base that on college football history. You want to be No. 1 scoring offense, if you can hit that you’ll usually be near that.”
- “I do think the resilience has shown through. I don’t have an explanation as to why we don’t play with consistency. We haven’t really had consistency or performance of this year compared to I think last year’s team.”
- “Momentum is a really thing. Shooters are that way in basketball. Hitters are that way in baseball. Kickers are like that in football, defenses too. You try to find the thing that makes you more consistent.”
- “I think he’s played well. He’s done what we’ve asked him to do. He’s had a couple of decisions he’d like to have back. He also has some really incredible plays.” -- Smart on Stetson Bennett.
- “By this time of year, they’re no longer young. They’ve got two tackles that aren’t really freshmen anymore. That’s what you’re trying to do in winning and SEC championship.”
- “He’s a groin issue. He’ll be back this week at practice.” -- Smart on De’Nylon Morrissette.
- “It’s about putting a number on the wall. You don’t belittle those. They’re hard to come by. Winning a Southeastern Conference championship is extremely impressive. I think our players take a lot of pride on that.” -- Smart on winning the SEC.
- “He has a quality of toughness about him.” -- Smart on Tate Ratledge.
- “I’ve been proud of how our guys have done. Pur
5 p.m., Sunday update: Georgia coach Kirby Smart and LSU coach Brian Kelly will speak to reporters to preview Saturday’s game.
- “It’s the next game. For us it’s been about the next one all year. The great teams worry about the next one more than the last one. That’s what we’re trying to be, is a team that worries more about the next one than the last one.” -- Smart on the SEC championship game.
- “We’re worried about winning the SEC championship. That’s the most important thing on our agenda, is to have an opportunity to do something that rarely gets done. I mean, it’s tough to win an SEC championship. I’ve been part of this league for a long time. I have almost as many national championships as I do SEC championships. They’re really hard to come by. We’re focused on LSU.” -- Smart on not looking ahead.
- “He was a tremendous leader that all the players had a lot of respect for. He embodied toughness. He was a guy that never shied away from contact. All the guys on the team respected him. He was almost a unanimous captain. Had the most votes we’ve had at the time for a captain. He was a great leader. He’s a great young man.” --”Smart on Azeez Ojulari, whose brother BJ plays for LSU
- “We had good leadership last year, and we’ve got good leadership this year. If you have good leadership, then you’ve got an opportunity to grow and get better. This group was not where it needed to be in the spring. We had some long days in spring practice. But they filled in the holes nicely that we needed. They’ve improved throughout the year.” -- Smart on the GEorgia defense.
The Bulldogs will take on the LSU Tigers on Saturday. Georgia enters the game with a 12-0 record and looking to do something last season’s team could not do. That would be win the SEC championship.
Georgia will be facing off against Kelly and the Tigers. LSU is entering the game coming off a puzzling loss to Texas A&M but do not expect that result to lead Georgia to overlook the Tigers.
LSU is one of just two SEC teams Kirby Smart has not beaten and Kelly has experience against Smart at Georgia. While Smart is 2-0 against Kelly, both of those contests were one-score games.
“He’s an incredible coach. He was an incredible coach when he was at Notre Dame and he’s an incredible coach at LSU,” Smart said. “He came to this league because he wanted an opportunity to play the best and get opportunities to go to the playoffs and win SEC championships. He’s at a storied place that’s got a lot of tradition and history.”
This is the fifth time in six seasons Georgia will play for an SEC championship. But Georgia has only won one of the previous trips, coming back in 2017 against Auburn. The Bulldogs lost 41-23 last season in Atlanta against Alabama.
LSU’s loss sucks much of the College Football Playoff intrigue from the game, as Georgia is one of three unbeaten teams. There is a very real chance we know the four College Football Playoff teams by the time the game starts, as No. 4 USC plays No. 12 Utah on Friday evening. Georgia lost this game last year and still made the College Football Play
Georgia football-LSU injury report for 2022 SEC Championship Game
- Andrew Paul (knee, out)
- CJ Washington (neck, out)
- Dan Jackson (foot, out)
- Earnest Greene (back, out)
- Drew Bobo (labrum, out)
- CJ Smith (ankle, doubtful)
- Nolan Smith (Pec, out)
- Zion Logue (questionable)
- Marvin Jones Jr. (questionable)
- AD Mitchell (ankle, questionable)
- De’Nylon Morrissette (knee/hamstring, questionable)
- Tate Ratledge (shoulder, probable)
Georgia football-LSU game time for 2022 SEC Championship Game
The 2022 SEC Championship Game is set for a 4 p.m. ET start.
Georgia football-LSU tv channel for 2022 SEC Championship Game
The 2022 SEC Championship game will be broadcast on CBS.
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