2009 Independence Bowl - Texas A&M vs Georgia

Can Georgia overcome a rough year to close out with a strong bowl win, or is the team really that mediocre? Can the Texas A&M offense get rolling and make this the start of a big 2010? The 2009 Independence Bowl is one of the big early matchups. Check out the CFN preview and prediction.

2009 AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl

Texas A&M (6-6) vs. Georgia (7-5)

Shreveport, LA, Dec. 28, 5 pm ESPN2

Scroll Down For Bowl Histories & Best Moments

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Team Pages and 2009 Season
Georgia | Texas A&M

- 2008 CFN Independence Bowl Preview
- 2007 CFN Independence Bowl Preview
- 2006 CFN Independence Bowl Preview

National Rankings
G		A&M
73rd	Total Offense	5th
30th	Total Defense	107th
58th	Scoring Offense	15th
70th	Scoring Defense	104th
54th	Rushing Offense	25th
41st	Run Defense	87th
78th	Passing Offense	22nd
33rd	Passing Defense	111th
119th	Turnover Margin	66th

Position Ratings relative to each other
G	5 highest 1 lowest	AM
3	Quarterbacks	4.5
3	RBs	3.5
4	Receivers	4
4	O Line	3
4	D Line	4
4	Linebackers	3
3	Secondary	2
4.5	Spec Teams	2.5
4.5	Coaching	4

Independence Bowl History

2008	La Tech 17, No Illinois 10
2007	Alabama 30, Colorado 24
2006	Oklahoma St 34, Alabama 31
2005	South Carolina 38, Missouri 31
2004	Iowa State 17, Miami-Ohio 13
2003	Arkansas 27, Missouri 14
2002	Mississippi 27, Nebraska 23
2001	Alabama 14, Iowa State 13
2000	Miss St. 43, Texas A&M 41
1999	Mississippi 27, Oklahoma 25
1998	Mississippi 35, Texas Tech 18
1997	LSU 27, Notre Dame 9
1996	Auburn 32, Army 29
1995	LSU 45, Michigan St 26
1994	Virginia 20, TCU 10
1993	Virginia Tech 45, Indiana 20
1992	Wake Forest 39, Oregon 35
1991	Georgia 24, Arkansas 15
1990	Louisiana Tech 34, Maryland 34
1989	Oregon 27, Tulsa 24
1988	Southern Miss 38, UTEP 18
1987	Washington 24, Tulane 12
1986	Mississippi 20, Texas Tech 17
1985	Minnesota 20, Clemson 13
1984	Air Force 23, Virginia Tech 7
1983	Air Force 9, Mississippi 3
1982	Wisconsin 14, Kansas State 3
1981	Texas A&M 33, Oklahoma St 16
1980	Southern Miss 16, McNeese State 14
1979	Syracuse 31, McNeese State 14
1978	East Carolina 35, Louisiana Tech 13
1977	Louisiana Tech 24, Louisville 14
1976	McNeese State 20, Tulsa 16

It’s all about the perception of the moment. The Independence Bowl might not be the be-all, end-all Holy Grail of bowl games, but to a program like Texas A&M with several key young players and with a fun and exciting future, this is the type of game that can be used as a true stepping stone. A big win would set the tone for a potentially big 2010, and while a loss would certainly hurt, just getting here after years of struggling to get back to respectability is a plus. But for Georgia, this means even more.

2008 was supposed to be the national title season. With stars like Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno leading the way, the Dawgs were supposed to have the year Florida ended up having and Alabama came up with this season, but it was a disappointing campaign followed up by a nearly disastrous 2009. Georgia considers itself among the national superpowers and on the yearly short list of teams in the chase for the BCS Championship, and 7-5 doesn’t taste so great even with three wins in the final four and a victory at Georgia Tech.

To be fair, this was supposed to be a bit of a rebuilding season for Mark Richt’s team and the schedule over the first half of the year was brutal. Over the first eight games, the Bulldogs faced six bowl bound teams, Arizona State, and Vanderbilt on the road, and had to deal with five games away from Athens. Texas A&M will be the tenth bowl team Georgia faces, and while losing to Kentucky might not be acceptable and getting blasted by Florida 41-17 and Tennessee 45-19 are ugly, just getting to a bowl game when things didn’t exactly mesh really is a decent accomplishment.

As it turned out, Georgia couldn’t replace Stafford and Moreno really was missed, but the biggest issue was a defense that inexplicably went bye-bye for long, key stretches. While that’s not a good thing for Dawg fans, it could be a big plus for bowl watchers who should get a wild and crazy Independence Bowl.

Georgia canned its defensive coordinator, Willie Martinez, along with defensive ends coach Jon Fabris and co-coordinator Jon Janceck just in time to face one of the most explosive offenses in America. The Aggies finished first in the Big 12 and fifth in the nation in total offense averaging 465 yards per game, but while it blew up over the second half of the season and gave Texas all it could handle, there were inexplicable clunkers. Oklahoma crushed the Aggies 65-10, Kansas State came up with a 62-14 pasting, and Arkansas rolled to a 47-19 win, feeding the belief that A&M struggled to show up against the better teams. There was a 52-30 win over Texas Tech (famous for Red Raider head coach blaming the loss on his players’ “fat little girlfriends”), but the rest of the wins weren’t any big deal. Beating Georgia would be the highlight of the season, and it would also buck a major trend.

Georgia is one of college football’s top bowl teams over the last few decades winning ten of the 12 played since 1996, 15 of the last 19 since 1983, and six of the last eight including three January games in a row. On the flip side, A&M has often outkicked its coverage in bowl games, often getting exposed losing seven of its last eight with the one win coming against TCU in the 2001 Galleryfurniture.com Bowl. The Aggies have lost their last three bowls by a combined score of 107 to 34, and going back to 1986, they have won just four of 12 games. One of those losses was the classic snow game against Mississippi State in the 2000 Independence Bowl.

While it doesn’t get much respect, partially because last year’s matchup was Louisiana Tech vs. Northern Illinois and partially because it usually gets the mid-tier SEC and Big 12 schools, the Independence Bowl has been as good as any this decade. Since 1999, only one of the ten games (a 2003 Arkansas 27-14 win over Missouri) was decided by more than a touchdown. Even if this one isn’t close, it should be worth watching because of all the fireworks, all the big plays, and all the post-game analysis on where two big name programs might be heading.

Players to Watch: This could be the coming out party for Jerrod Johnson, the multi-talented A&M quarterback who bombed away for 3,217 yards and 28 touchdowns with just six interceptions, and ran for 455 yards and eight scores. The star recruit of a few years ago is playing like it with more consistency, more command, and more big plays. While he’s not necessarily a running quarterback, he’ll take off when the chances are there with 180 yards and a score over the final two games of the regular season. The key will be to keep the interceptions to a minimum. Three game in the disastrous loss to Kansas State and the other three game in the final four games.

This should also be a spotlight game for Rennie Curran , one of the SEC’s most underappreciated talents despite earning First Team All-SEC honors. The Georgia junior led the conference in tackles, making 122 including 12 against Auburn, 13 against Kentucky, and 15 against Georgia Tech to close out the regular season, and he has had to do more with less around him to work with than more celebrated stars like Alabama’s Rolando McClain and Florida’s Brandon Spikes. While he's not all that big, he's extremely tough and he doesn't miss an open-field stop.

Needing to get into the backfield early and often is Von Miller, the nation’s leader in sacks. The A&M junior came up with 17 sacks and 21 tackles for loss, but he didn’t do much in the big games. 11 of his sacks came against New Mexico, Utah State, UAB, Colorado, and Iowa State, and while he came up with a few big plays against Texas and Texas Tech, he was invisible for too many stretches. He’ll have his work cut out for him against a Georgia offense that led the SEC in sacks allowed.

Georgia will win if ... the run defense shows up and the defensive front keeps Johnson from moving around. Johnson is at his best when he’s on the move with the option of taking off or buying himself time to allow his speedy receivers to get downfield, but Georgia is strong at getting into the backfield and need to make him a pure-pocket passer. Oklahoma’s strong defense was able to shut down the run and got to Johnson consistently, and the results were disastrous for the Aggies. Kansas State came up with four sacks and 15 tackles for loss, and even though Johnson threw for 314 yards, it was an ugly blowout.

A&M needs its running game to work. The Aggies are 0-6 when running for 190 yards or fewer, and 6-0 when running for more. Part of that is Johnson scrambling, part of that is the balance the offense needs to give the passing game a break, and part of that is the offense working. Georgia’s defense has had the most problems against decent passing teams, but the run D has been solid.

Texas A&M will win if ... the defense forces takeaways early. Georgia has been a disaster this season in turnover margin and A&M has to take advantage. There has been at least one Dawg giveaway in every game but one, the win over Auburn, and there were at least three turnovers in seven games. A&M hasn’t been great at taking the ball away on a consistent basis, but it needs to be at least +2 in turnover margin to get the win.

Simply put, the offense has to work. The defense hasn’t been good enough against offenses with a pulse to expect anything less than a shootout. Georgia will score at least 30 points and will roll up at least 450 yards, and A&M has to keep up. With time to rest and time to prepare, the Dawgs should come up with just enough defense to not be awful, so while A&M won’t bomb away for big numbers it needs to be effective, needs to take advantage of every opportunity, and needs to keep up the pace.

What will happen: Georgia will rely on its offensive line and the running game to control the clock and keep Johnson and the Aggie offense on the sidelines. There will be moments of big plays and back-and-forth punches being thrown, but Georgia will be more consistent, will keep the turnover margin to around even, will stop the Aggie backs, and will come up with the big win needed to cap off a rough year on a high note.

CFN Prediction: Georgia 38 … Texas A&M 27 ... Line: Georgia -7

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Best Bulldog Bowl Moment: Georgia has a very rich bowl tradition that includes 45 invites and victories in the Rose Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Gator Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Sugar Bowl. Fueled by freshman sensation Herschel Walker, the Dawgs took a perfect mark into the 1981 Sugar Bowl, where No. 7 Notre Dame awaited. Walker shook off a dislocated shoulder in the first quarter to score a pair of touchdowns, leading Georgia to a 17-10 win and the national title.

Best Aggie Bowl Moment: In one of the most important wins of the modern era, the Aggies shackled Heisman winner Tim Brown and defeated No. 12 Notre Dame, 35-10, in the 1988 Cotton Bowl. The A&M attack was spearheaded by a couple of freshmen, QB Bucky Richardson, who was named game MVP, and RB Darren Lewis, who tossed a game-tying touchdown pass on a halfback option.

Georgia Bowl History (25-16-3)

2009	Capital One	Georgia 24, Mich St 12
2008	Sugar	Georgia 41, Hawaii 10
2007	Chick-fil-A	Georgia 31, Virginia Tech 24
2006	Sugar	West Virginia 38, Georgia 35
2004	Outback	Georgia 24, Wisconsin 21
2003	Capital One	Georgia 34, Purdue 27 OT
2002	Sugar	Georgia 26, Florida St 13
2001	Music City	Boston College 20, Georgia 16
2000	Oahu	Georgia 37, Virginia 14
1999	Outback	Georgia 28, Purdue 25 OT
1998	Peach	Georgia 35, Virginia 33
1997	Outback	Georgia 33, Wisconsin 6
1995	Peach	Virginia 34, Georgia 27
1992	Citrus	Georgia 21, Ohio St 14
1991	Independence	Georgia 24, Arkansas 15
1989	Peach	Syracuse 19, Georgia 18
1988	Gator	Georgia 34, Michigan State 27
1987	Liberty	Georgia 20, Arkansas 17
1986	Hall of Fame	Boston College 27, Georgia 24
1985	Sun	Georgia 13, Arizona 13
1984	Citrus	Georgia 17, Florida St 17
1983	Cotton	Georgia 10, Texas 9
1982	Sugar	Penn St 27, Georgia 23
1981	Sugar	Pitt 24, Georgia 20
1980	Sugar	Georgia 17, Notre Dame 10
1978	Bluebonnet	Stanford 25, Georgia 22
1976	Sugar	Pitt 27, Georgia 3
1975	Cotton	Arkansas 31, Georgia 10
1974	Tangerine	Miami (Ohio) 21, Georgia 10
1973	Peach	Georgia 17, Maryland 16
1971	Gator	Georgia 7, North Carolina 3
1969	Sun	Nebraska 45, Georgia 6
1968	Sugar	Arkansas 16, Georgia 2
1967	Liberty	N.C. State 14, Georgia 7
1966	Cotton	Georgia 24, SMU 9
1964	Sun	Georgia 7, Texas 0
1959	Orange	Georgia 14, Missouri 0
1950	Presidential Cup	Texas A&M 40, Georgia 20
1948	Orange	Texas 41, Georgia 28
1947	Gator	Georgia 20, Maryland 20
1946	Sugar	Georgia 20, North Carolina 10
1945	Oil	Georgia 20, Tulsa 6
1942	Rose	Georgia 9, UCLA 0
1941	Orange	Georgia 40, TCU 26

Texas A&M Bowl History (13-17)

2007	Alamo	Penn St 24, Texas A&M 17
2006	Holiday	California 45, Texas A&M 10
2004	Cotton	Tennessee 38, Texas A&M 7
2001	Gallery furniture.com	Texas A&M 28, TCU 9
2000	Independence	Miss St 43, Texas A&M 41 (OT)
1999	Alamo	Penn State 24, Texas A&M 0
1998	Sugar	Ohio State 24, Texas A&M 14
1997	Cotton	UCLA 29, Texas A&M 23
1995	Alamo	Texas A&M 22, Michigan 20
1993	Cotton	Notre Dame 24, Texas A&M 21
1992	Cotton	Notre Dame 28, Texas A&M 3
1991	Cotton	Florida State 10, Texas A&M 2
1990	Holiday	Texas A&M 65, BYU 14
1989	John Hancock	Pittsburgh 31, Texas A&M 28
1987	Cotton	Texas A&M 35, Notre Dame 10
1986	Cotton	Ohio State 28, Texas A&M 12
1985	Cotton	Texas A&M 36, Auburn 16
1981	Independence	Texas A&M 33, Oklahoma State 16
1978	Hall of Fame	Texas A&M 28, Iowa State 12
1977	Bluebonnet	USC 47, Texas A&M 28
1976	Sun	Texas A&M 37, Florida 14
1975	Liberty	USC 20, Texas A&M 0
1967	Cotton	Alabama 20, Texas A&M 16
1957	Gator	Tennessee 3, Texas A&M 0
1950	Presidential	Texas A&M 40, Georgia 20
1943	Orange	LSU 19, Texas A&M 14
1941	Cotton	Alabama 29, Texas A&M 21
1940	Cotton	Texas A&M 13, Fordham 12
1939	Sugar	Texas A&M 14, Tulane 13
1921	Dixie Classic	Texas A&M 22, Centre 14