2009 Capital One Bowl
Georgia (9-3) vs. Michigan State (9-3)
Jan. 1, 1:00 p.m. ET, ABC
Payout:
$4.25 million Location: Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium,
Orlando FL
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2009 Capital One 2009 Bowl
Player Profiles, Histories, & More
 |
|
National
Rankings |
|
Georgia |
Michigan State |
|
Total Offense |
|
20th 433.92 ypg |
67th 352.42 ypg |
|
Total Defense |
|
28th 318.33 ypg |
61st 357.92 ypg |
|
Scoring Offense |
|
29th 32.08 ppg |
56th 26.17 ppg |
|
Scoring Defense |
|
63rd 25.58 ppg |
40th 21.92 ppg |
|
Run Offense |
|
53rd 153.92 ypg |
67th 138.42 ypg |
|
Run Defense |
|
39th 129.92 ypg |
71st 147.58 ypg |
|
Pass Offense |
|
16th 280 ypg |
59th 214 ypg |
|
Pass Defense |
|
32nd 188.42 ypg |
62nd 210.33 ypg |
|
Turnover Margin |
|
72nd -0.17 |
55th 0.08 |
|
Georgia
Ga South W 45-21
Cent. Mich W 56-17
at S Carolina W 14-7
at Ariz St W 27-10
Alabama L 41-30
Tennessee W 26-14
Vanderbilt W 24-14
at LSU W 52-38
Florida L 49-10
at Kent. W 42-38
at Auburn W 17-13
Ga Tech L 45-42 |
Michigan State
at California L 38-31
East. Mich W 42-10
Fla Atlantic W 17-0
Notre Dame W 23-7
at Indiana W 42-29
Iowa W 16-13
at Nwestern W 37-20
Ohio St L 45-7
at Michigan W 35-21
Wisconsin W 25-24
Purdue W 21-7
at Penn St L 49-18 |
|
Position
Ratings
relative to each
other |
|
G |
5
highest
1 lowest |
S |
|
5 |
Quarterbacks |
3 |
|
5 |
RBs |
5 |
|
4.5 |
Receivers |
3 |
|
4 |
O
Line |
3.5 |
|
3 |
D
Line |
3.5 |
|
4 |
Linebackers |
4 |
|
3 |
Secondary |
4 |
|
4 |
Spec
Teams |
3 |
|
4 |
Coaching |
4.5 |
|
Finish the drill.
That’s always been the mantra
under Georgia head coach Mark
Richt, but his program hasn’t
been able to do that. Tennessee
got a national title in the last
decade, Florida is in its third
championship game in the last
three years, LSU has two
national championships in the
last five years, and Alabama
appears almost certain to win
one in the near future. This was
supposed to be Georgia’s turn at
bat.
After a demolition of Hawaii in
the 2008 Sugar Bowl and with a
slew of stars returning, led by
Detroit Lion-in-waiting, QB
Matthew Stafford, and
near-certain first round draft
pick, RB Matthew Stafford, this
was the preseason No. 1 team in
the country in what turned out
to be a down year for the SEC.
Instead, Georgia lost to the
three strong teams it faced,
Florida, Alabama and Georgia
Tech, with a defensive meltdown
in each one, and now this
appears to be the last hurrah
for a team and a program seeing
its window of opportunity slam
depressingly shut, at least for
the near future.
Oh sure, Georgia will always
have good teams under Richt, but
this was it. This was the year,
and it turned out to be Florida
and Alabama’s year. Those two
aren’t going anywhere, while Ole
Miss and Arkansas are
interesting programs rising up
in the West. The SEC might not
ever again have a year when LSU,
Tennessee and Auburn are all so
mediocre. So while a ten-win
season and a New Year’s Day win
is never anything to dismiss, it
might seem a bit empty in the
final analysis.
On the opposite side is Michigan
State, a team without any real
expectations of contending for
the Big Ten title, at least by
anyone outside of East Lansing,
and with a shot to take a huge
leap forward in the Mark
Dantonio era. There have been
far, far more talented Spartan
teams than this one over the
last 15 years, but none have
been able to maximize their
talent like this one.
RB Javon Ringer is a special
back, and there are some
big-time players here and there,
but the Spartans don’t do any
one thing well. This is an
above-average team that beat all
the average teams on the
schedule, the best win came at
home against Iowa, and lost to
the three really good teams
(Cal, Ohio State and Penn
State). Sound familiar? Georgia
and Michigan State might be more
similar than they appear.
While it’s easy to dismiss
Michigan State’s wins, it’s not
like Georgia has beaten anyone
with a pulse outside of, maybe,
LSU, and this Tiger team is a
shell of the national title
powerhouse of last year. It’s
not Georgia’s fault that Arizona
State stunk or that Auburn was
awful, but there were too many
close wins over too many
mediocre teams. No, the winner
of this game won’t be a sham
10-win team, but the loser will
have to look back on its season
and wonder what it was really
able to accomplish.
For Georgia, take out a
mystifying first half in the
2006 Sugar Bowl loss to West
Virginia and this has been one
of the best bowl teams in recent
years with nine wins in the last
11. While history is on
Georgia’s side, Capital One Bowl
history isn’t with the Big Ten
winning the last four, often in
stunning fashion. Whether it was
the performance by Michigan to
hold off Tim Tebow and Florida
last year, the fumble return for
a score to lead Penn State over
Tennessee in 2007, or the
miracle Drew Tate pass to lead
Iowa to a last second win over
LSU in 2005, the Big Ten has
represented itself well.
Michigan State has lost its last
two bowls and hasn’t won one
since beating Fresno State in
something called the Silicon
Valley Classic back in 2001.
Players to watch:
This is the best matchup of
running backs of the bowl season
with Javon Ringer and
Knowshon Moreno each needing
big final games to show off for
the NFL scouts. Ringer wasn’t
supposed to be a workhorse or a
goal line back, but he carried
the ball a whopping 370 times
for 1,590 yards and 21 scores
despite getting little support
from the passing game. He’s a
speed back who could be used as
a return man and a third down
back at the next level, while
Moreno has special NFL feature
back type of talent. It’s no
coincidence that he was held to
under 100 yards in the three
losses as the offense had to
bomb its way to keep up, but
when he’s rolling, the offense
is unstoppable. A third-year
sophomore, he’ll be one of the
leaders in the 2009 Heisman
chase if he chooses to come
back, but he was ready to turn
pro last year.
Also ready for the next level is
Matthew Stafford, the
rare NFL passing quarterback in
a day and age of spread players
the scouts don’t know what to do
with. The disappointing season
was hardly Stafford’s fault as
he came up with a brilliant
season throwing for 3,209 yards
and 22 touchdowns with just nine
interceptions. He threw for 407
yards and five scores in the
loss to Georgia Tech and was
decent against Alabama, but his
three interceptions against
Florida proved costly. Even so,
with his size, arm, intangibles
and attitude, he’s Matt Ryan
with an even better arm.
Lost in the Stafford’s spotlight
is Michigan State senior QB
Brian Hoyer, a decent
veteran who had a strangely bad
year. He came up with some of
the big throws needed to pull
out a few games, like the
miracle against Wisconsin, but
he only threw for 2,235 yards
and nine touchdowns with eight
interceptions, including four
picks in the last two games. To
be fair, it’s not like he has
Charles Rogers and Andre Rison
to throw to, but he’s going to
have to prove early on that he’s
able to get the passing game
going or else Georgia will throw
everyone at Ringer.
Georgia will win if...
Moreno and running mate Caleb
King control the game from
the start. Michigan State’s run
defense wasn’t awful this year,
but it gave up big yards to the
teams, like Wisconsin, who could
pound the ball. Ohio State ran
for 216 yards and three
touchdowns and Jahvid Best led
Cal to 230 yards in the
season-opener. Penn State ran
effectively, but it spent most
of its time throwing at will on
the MSU secondary. Stafford and
his excellent receiving corps
can certainly win this game
through the air, but the Dawgs
likely can’t win if the running
game is shut down.
Michigan State will win if...
the defensive front can control
the game. This isn’t an elite
pass rushing force, but the
Spartans haven’t been bad at
making plays behind the line and
they get streaky when it comes
to hitting the quarterback. The
Georgia offensive line has
overcome injuries to have a
great year, and Stafford is
excellent at getting the ball
out of his hands early, but MSU
has to get creative to make sure
the Dawg offense is out of its
rhythm. If Stafford gets time …
ball game. If Moreno gets
consistent holes to dart through
… ball game. If star MSU LB
Greg Jones and future pro
safety Otis Wiley are
making all the plays, this could
be ugly.
What will happen:
Georgia will play like the
preseason No. 1 team in the
country. After the Georgia Tech
loss, motivation is hardly a
problem for a team that’s so
good in bowl games under Richt.
MSU will try to get creative
with passing game, but it’ll
have to lean on the crutch that
is Ringer; it won’t be enough.
Stafford is a special player
who’ll show off why he’s such a
hot prospect with a coldly
efficient game to balance out a
125-yard day from Moreno.
Georgia will pull away in the
fourth quarter to make the final
score uglier than the game will
be.
Line: Georgia -7.5
... CFN Prediction:
Georgia 34 … Michigan State
10
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2009 Capital One 2009 Bowl
Player Profiles, Histories, & More