ATLANTA — One year after winning a national championship, unranked LSU found renewed reason to hope for a return to glory.

Charles Scott ran for three touchdowns, freshman quarterback Jordan Jefferson completed his first nine passes and LSU made big plays on special teams in a surprisingly easy 38-3 victory win over No. 14 Georgia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl last night.

The Tigers outscored the Yellow Jackets 28-0 in the second quarter and led 35-3 at halftime. Scott, who had 65 yards rushing, had two touchdowns in the decisive quarter.

LSU (8-5) lost three of its last four games but regrouped for the dominant bowl victory.

"I was real comfortable," Jefferson said after only his second start. "I had faith in my line."

Jefferson was 16-of-25 for 142 yards and a touchdown. He added nine carries for 33 yards.

"He wasn't a freshman tonight," Scott said. "He was poised. He was smooth."

The biggest special teams plays all fell in LSU's favor. The Tigers recovered an onside kick and a Georgia Tech fumbled punt return and made a fourth-down stop on the Yellow Jackets' surprising fake punt from their own 22.

"We felt like we needed to maybe steal some possessions and keep the ball away from their offense," LSU coach Les Miles said.

LSU turned the fumbled punt and stop on the fake punt into quick scores to take a 28-0 lead.

"We can beat anybody," said LSU tight end Richard Dickson, who had a 25-yard touchdown catch. "We just had to come out and put it all together."

As if to affirm its mastery of special teams, LSU pulled off a successful fake punt in the fourth quarter, with punter Brady Dalfrey running for 21 yards for the first down. LSU led 38-3 when Miles called for the fake, and Georgia Tech fans booed.

"We've kind of had that fake ready to go for a while," Miles said. "End of the season, we were getting itchy."

Georgia Tech (9-4) was denied its first 10-win season since 1998.

"I think the turning point in the game was when we lined it up and kicked it off," said Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson.

He wasn't kidding.

The opening kickoff by Scott Blair bounced out of bounds, setting the stage for what Johnson called "the worst special teams game I can remember."