Sam Pittman gives take on Georgia SEC Championship Game opponent LSU

ATHENS — The SEC Championship Game is more than a week away, and both Georgia and LSU have unfinished regular-season business left this Saturday.

The Bulldogs will battle Georgia Tech at noon, while the Bayou Bengals will tangle at Texas A&M at 7 p.m.

But it has been hard not to look ahead to the 4 p.m. game on Dec. 3 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for everyone, including a few SEC coaches that have shared their take on how the league’s title game might look.

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman offered last week that this version of a Brian Kelly offense looks a bit different than the last one Georgia saw when the Bulldogs played host to Notre Dame in 2019.

“I think looking at Coach Kelly, he’s throwing the ball more than he has in the past,” said Pittman, who was on that 2019 UGA staff and faced Kelly earlier this season when the Razorbacks and Tigers squared off in Fayetteville.

“Certainly, they still have at it with the big, try-to-be-physical downhill running game.”

LSU is averaging 245.6 yards passing per game this season, sixth in the SEC, with four 300-yard games and a 299-yard performance in the 41-10 win over UAB last Saturday.

Pittman noted that part of the reason for Kelly’s willingness to throw the ball is junior Arizona State transfer Jayden Daniels.

“He has a new weapon in a dual-threat quarterback which they are using extremely well, and they should,” Pittman said. “He’s a great runner along with a thrower.”

Daniels has rushed for 740 yards this season — the most among FBS quarterbacks this season.

Daniels was at his best in a 45-35 win at Florida earlier this season, throwing for 349 yards and 3 touchdowns and rushing for another 44 yards and 3 touchdowns.

“Defensively they are still a four-man front,” Pittman said. “A lot of the times, still use their nickel (4-2-5), and then their third-down packages are still very good.

“They had a good plan against us with (Harold) Perkins, he’s a difference maker.”

Perkins, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound freshman, has 9 TFLs, 6.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles for the Tigers this season.

“Other than that,” Pittman said, “they’ve got Brian Kelly all over them because they are a physical, well-coached football team.”