Death Valley is where Georgia’s College Football Playoff dreams come to die

LSU was one step ahead of Georgia all afternoon from Death Valley as the Tigers SEC and Playoff hopes are still very much alive and well.

One of my favorite quotes in a long line of great quotes from former LSU head coach is when he affectionately referred to Death Valley as the place where dreams come to die.

I couldn’t help but think about that quote all week as LSU prepared to host No. 2 Georgia and after four quarters of play, sure enough, that old quote from Miles, came to fruition as LSU handed last year’s SEC East champions and the national runners-up their first loss of the year.

Quarterback Joe Burrow wasn’t spectacular through the air, but he displayed uncanny leadership and a gritty toughness that was shown on his two rushing touchdowns. No, he won’t be confused for past LSU physical backs, but Burrow’s ability to lower his shoulder and deliver the boom was instrumental in LSU’s bounce-back win after suffering their first loss of the year last week at Florida.

Winning on the road in college football is the hardest thing to do in sports, and winning at Death Valley is at the top of the toughest stadiums to play in college football. Perhaps we should have seen this coming.

After all, Georgia was a 7.5 point favorite entering the game and knowing that you have to think Ed Orgeron delivered a heckuva pre-game speech to his team, preaching about being disrespected in their own stadium.

LSU made Georgia look like a far cry from the No. 2 team in the country. While Georgia still controls their destiny in the SEC East. Their dream season has come to a crushing end. They still have plenty to play for, including needing to beat Florida in a game that suddenly might not be a gimme for the Dawgs.

Plus, assuming they get to the SEC Championship Game, they’ll need to either beat LSU or beat Alabama. Not exactly a cakewalk.

Death Valley is the place where dreams come to die and Georgia is going to have nightmares about this game while LSU will be celebrating with the Tiger faithful who helped create the atmosphere that led to a convincing home win.