LSU kicks it into gear to rally past Georgia for SEC title

Reporting from Atlanta -- Louisiana State got off to a slow start Saturday in the Southeastern Conference championship game.

That’s slow as in molasses.

The nation’s No. 1 team was held to 12 first-half yards and zero first downs before shifting out of neutral and into national championship drive.

It happened fast and furiously, and sometimes viciously.

Trailing 10-0 at one point, LSU scored 42 unanswered points en route to a 42-10 win over Georgia before a crowd of 74,515 at the Georgia Dome.

LSU capped a 13-0 regular season and earned a spot in the Bowl Championship Series title game Jan. 9 in New Orleans.

It might be an all-SEC affair if Alabama holds tight to its No. 2 BCS ranking.

Georgia (10-3) had won 10 straight consecutive after an 0-2 start.

LSU had been down before, spotting Arkansas a 14-0 lead last week before winning in a runaway.

“Frankly,” LSU Coach Les Miles said after Saturday’s game, “it was only a matter of time.”

It is when you have cornerback and punt returner extraordinaire Tyrann Mathieu, whose 62-yard punt return for a touchdown shook his team out of its first-half slumber.

Mathieu, nicknamed “The Honey Badger,” also had a 47-yard return that set up a third-quarter touchdown.

Mathieu’s punt return for a score last week sparked the comeback against Arkansas.

“It’s just about me trying to shift the momentum,” Mathieu said.

Mathieu earned game most-valuable-player honors and may have earned an invitation to next week’s Heisman Trophy ceremony.

“I definitely think I’d be honored to represent LSU and the program,” Mathieu said.

LSU probably was going to make the BCS title game even if it had lost to Georgia, but it didn’t want to advance on the heels of its worst performance of the year.

The symmetry of LSU’s season now continues toward New Orleans, where it won BCS titles after the 2003 and 2007 seasons.

Georgia had a chance to make things interesting early but two Bulldogs receivers dropped potential touchdown passes.

Instead of a 14-0 lead, Georgia led only 3-0. The Bulldogs went up 10-0 before Mathieu’s punt return put LSU right back in the game.

“We had our shots to put points on the board,” Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray said. “With a team like that you have to get points when you can.”

Georgia, leading 10-7 after the first half, imploded in the second.

Murray’s fumble on his team’s opening possession set LSU up at the Bulldogs’ 21.

With 13:35 left in the third quarter, LSU finally picked up a first down. One play later, Kenny Hilliard rushed 15 yards for the touchdown that put LSU up, 14-10.

Georgia’s punt on its next possession was returned 47 yards by Mathieu to the 17. That led to a four-yard Hilliard score.

LSU scored again late in the quarter, on an eight-yard pass from Jordan Jefferson to Hilliard, and the game had completely turned.

The Tigers entered the game as one of the most dominant No. 1 teams in the 14-year history of the BCS. For the last two weeks, they have held a perfect 1.000 average in the BCS standings.

They weren’t perfect against Georgia. LSU passed for only 30 yards and Jefferson completed only five of 13 passes.

This team, though, is deep on many levels.

Mathieu was MVP but it easily could have been freshman punter Brad Wing, who averaged 50.4 yards on eight kicks.

Wing’s 67-yard punt, an SEC title-game record, pinned Georgia at its 13 and set up Mathieu’s touchdown return with 5:48 left in the half.

Wing’s 72-yard punt late in the Alabama game Nov. 5 helped LSU hang on to win, 9-6, in overtime.

Early on, Wing was the best offense LSU had Saturday as Jefferson and Co. had seven straight drives of “three and out.”

“He’s definitely a weapon for us,” Miles said.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com

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