Georgia Stuns No.6 LSU

If Quincy Carter gets better with experience, Georgia is in for a great stretch.

The freshman played an almost flawless game Saturday night, completing 27 of 34 for 318 yards and two touchdowns as No. 12 Georgia beat No. 6 LSU 28-27 Saturday night.

Carter quieted the huge Tiger Stadium crowd by leading Georgia (4-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) to touchdowns on its first three possessions and 436 total yards.

"Quincy was on fire," Champ Bailey said. "He just doesn't let anything get to him. He makes plays constantly. He is an unbelievable player."

Carter, a 21-year-old making just his fourth start, completed his first 15 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown before his first incompletion - a ball Thad Parker caught out of bounds with 1:44 left in the half. He also rushed for 41 yards and caught a pass for 36 yards.

Carter was sacked three times and pressured frequently, but rarely stopped.

"The guy made plays," LSU nose guard Anthony McFarland said. "That's his job. It's my job to hit him and his job to make plays. He did his job better than I did mine."

Georgia needed a big offensive game after its vaunted defense, which had given up just one touchdown and two field goals in the first three games, allowed LSU (3-1, 1-1) to score three first-half touchdowns.

"The one thing we told our team at halftime was that we couldn't get down on our defense, our defense has been carrying us all season long," Georgia coach Jim Donnan said.

The Bulldogs went back ahead 28-21 on Carter's 17-yard pass to Tony Small with 8:16 left in the third quarter. LSU cut Georgia's lead on field goals of 34- and 41-yards by Christian Chauvin, but the Tigers never led in the game.

The Bulldogs marched 79 yards on their first possession, going up 7-0 on a 1 yard pass from Carter to Champ Bailey five minutes into the game.

Georgia wide receiver Champ Bailey spins away from LSU linebacker Thomas Dunson after catching a pass from Quincy Carter during the first half of the Bulldogs' 28-27 upset of the Tigers. (AP)

"We had to come out and score early," Bailey said. "They came right back and scored, then we came right back and scored, and it kept going for a while. It seemed like the defense was not even out there."

Bailey, Georgia's all-purpose player, was on the field for 96 plays - 34 on offense, 47 on defense and 15 on special teams. He set career highs with seven catches for 114 yards.

The Bulldogs added another first quarter score on a 1-yard run by Olandis Gary and Ronnie Bradley had a 1-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

Herb Tyler was almost as accurate for LSU, completing 11 of 15 for 169 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, 16 of 26 for 205 yards overall.

LSU's three first-half scores were a 20-yard run by Rondell Mealey in the first quarter, a 5-yard pass to Kyle Kipps in the second and a shoe-top catch by Reggie Robinson.

"Going into the game, I felt the team which played technically better would win," LSU coach Gerry DiNardo said. "I felt both sides would play hard, and that's what happened. They just played better."

The Tigers tied it at 21 with 14 seconds left in the half when Larry Foster bobbled a pass in the end zone, bouncing it off Bailey and Robinson made a diving catch grabbing the ball just above the turf for the touchdown.

Each team punted only once in the first half. LSU scored on all but one drive in the half, Georgia on all but two -- one of which was a 14-second drive at the end of the half.

Georgia obviously wanted to keep the ball away from Kevin Faulk, allowing LSU to start first-half drives on their 36, 34, 20, 43-yard lines rather than kick to Faulk.

Faulk's first return was a 36-yard run of the opening kick of the second half. He finished with 88 yards rushing on 17 carries. He had 50 yards on returns.

This is the second straight year Georgia has opened 4-0. It's also the second straight year they beat the No. 6 team. Last year they defeated then sixth-ranked Florida 37-17.

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