2009 Capital One Bowl
Georgia 24 ... Michigan State 12
GAME RECAP:
Georgia & Stafford come through late
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2009 CFN Capital One Bowl
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2009 Capital One 2009 Bowl
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1. The three
early games on New Year's Day
were not very complicated at
all. Iowa woke up for an 11 a.m.
kickoff in the Outback Bowl.
Nebraska and Clemson fought to
see who would make fewer
colossal mistakes in the Gator
Bowl. In this battle between
Georgia and Michigan State, the
game turned when Bulldog signal
caller Matthew Stafford snapped
out of a funk, flipped the focus
switch in the third quarter, and
generally decided to compete.
After two and a half quarters of
looking like Jeff George,
Stafford made a conscious choice
to regain the form of the best
NFL quarterback prospect in the
country. The Spartans didn't
fare too badly at most
positions--much better than I
expected, in fact--but the one
spot on the field where they
simply couldn't match up was
under center. When Stafford got
fed up with mediocrity and
rediscovered excellence, Georgia
pulled away.
-
Matthew
Zemek
2.
The old adage is that coaches
like the bowls because 34 teams
end on a high note, but that
means there are 34 teams that
end the year down. It's the hard
part of the bowl season that a
great year can suddenly look in
a different light by losing the
final game, but Michigan State
needs to take the season
half-full approach. Three years
ago, MSU was a flaky program
that showed no ability to
bounceback from any adversity.
Two years ago, under head coach
Mark Dantonio, the team couldn't
win the close games. This year,
MSU couldn't beat the big boys.
However, MSU made a great step
forward in the progression to
get to a New Year's Day, and now
the tweaking has to continue for
a team that had a fantastic year
that can't be cast in a poor
light just because of a loss
like this. Georgia's defense
swarmed, MSU didn't have the
passing game to get things going
to take the heat off of Javon
Ringer, and the defense, while
it held up for the most part,
couldn't stop the possible No. 1
pick in the draft, Matthew
Stafford, in the final 20
minutes. It was that simple, but
it also showed that the team
isn't that far off from being
good enough to be a regular on
the New Year's Day bowl circuit.
-
Pete
Fiutak
3.
While it came a little late in
the season, the Georgia defense
and its coordinator, Willie
Martinez, gained some redemption
in the Capital One Bowl. The
unit kept the Dawgs in the game
in the first half and then ended
any chance for a Michigan State
comeback in the final two
quarters. The front four, in
particular, was fantastic,
harassing Brian Hoyer all
afternoon and holding Javon
Ringer to his worst game of the
2008 season. Knowshon Moreno and
Matt Stafford will be featured
in most of the recap footage,
but some of the lesser-known
Bulldogs, like senior linemen
Jarius Wynn and Corvey Irvin,
were the unsung heroes of this
victory.
-
Richard Cirminiello
4. Yes, Georgia made loads
of miscues in the first half,
but all in all, the coaching in
this game proved to be
very good. Mark Dantonio and the
Michigan State staff came up
with a great defensive scheme to
contain Knowshon Moreno while
confusing Matthew Stafford. It
was hard for UGA coach Mark
Richt to face the fact that he
couldn't consistently run his
stud tailback between the
tackles, and with Stafford in a
fog, it took a long time for
Georgia to get going.
To his credit, Richt finally got
the memo, and in the third
quarter, a steady diet of bubble
screens--quick, safe passes
designed to stretch the MSU
defense while also blunting the
forward push of the Spartans'
superb front four--enabled
Georgia to find an opening and
hit paydirt. Shortly after a few
of these bubble screens,
Stafford used pump fakes and
ball fakes to set up post
patterns and wheel routes that
scored touchdowns. Richt's
offensive adjustment proved to
be crucial in paving the way for
Georgia's second-half surge.
Dantonio--while having a quality
defensive plan--also used some
big-league thinking on the
offensive side of the ball. With
11 minutes left in the game,
Dantonio ordered his team to go
into hurry-up mode. Instead of
waiting until the final few
minutes of regulation, the
Spartan boss boldly opted to
change up the pace sooner
than 98 percent of other
coaches. The sped-up approach
clearly allowed the Spartans to
hold off Georgia's defensive
front, which completely
dominated Michigan
State's offensive line for most
of the afternoon. It was not an
idle coincidence that MSU's one
hurry-up drive was the one
touchdown drive the Spartans
mustered. Georgia was the better
team, but Dantonio's alert mind
kept his team competitive deep
into the fourth quarter.
2. Earlier in the
week, I was told on the air that I had a man-crush on Matt Stafford.
Yeah, I believe he has all of the tools to be an elite NFL
quarterback, and apparently I’ve made that point a few too many
times. That said, I think he should return to Athens for his senior
year. I realize I’m in the minority and he’s likely to be a top 5
pick, but he still has plenty to learn. Why go through that
education process as a member of the Detroit Lions or Kansas City
Chiefs? The money will still be there in 2010, and with injuries
forcing so much youth to the top of the depth chart, the Dawgs will
be right back in the national title picture next fall.
-
Richard Cirminiello