WATCH: Jalen Carter lifts LSU QB Jayden Daniels aloft with one arm to celebrate sack
There’s a reason Georgia interior defensive lineman Jalen Carter is such a highly sought-after talent for NFL defenses. He showed it off on Saturday with a ridiculous single-handed — literally — effort to sack LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels in the SEC Championship Game.
Bursting through the interior on a second and long right before halftime, Carter got to Daniels and got the quarterback in a bear hug. As the refs blew the play dead, Carter smartly avoided a penalty by not just keeping Daniels upright, but using his left arm to pick him up off the ground.
At the same time, Carter stuck up his right hand and pointed a single finger to the rafters as the Georgia fans in Atlanta went wild.
Of more import to the play, Daniels was banged up and went to the injury tent after. Backup quarterback Garrett Nussmeier came in and nearly threw an interception on 3rd and 16. After a punt, the Georgia offense marched down the field and made it 35-7 shortly before halftime in the SEC Championship Game.
Getting sacked by Carter wasn’t the first forgettable moment for Daniels against Georgia
Sometimes teams create their own luck and Georgia certainly knows how. But the interception that gifted the Bulldogs a short field against LSU early in the second quarter of the SEC Championship Game was about as lucky as it gets.
LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels attempted to complete a fairly innocuous in-breaking look to receiver Jack Bech when the ball got tipped up as defender contested the catch. Bech fell down on his front side and the ball fell down and bounced right back up off the back of Bech’s helmet when it was tipped by Javon Bullard before Smael Mondon Jr. finally corralled it.
On the first play of the ensuing offensive drive, Georgia paid off the turnover to make it 21-7 when Stetson Bennett connected with Ladd McConkey for a touchdown.