2008 Woodie Awards
GOING BOWLING
JASON BUTT
Issue date: 12/5/08 Section: Sports
It's not official, but everything points to Georgia tripping down to Orlando for the Capital One Bowl on New Year's Day.
The Bulldogs will wait to hear from the Capital One Bowl committee, who attended last Saturday's 45-42 loss to Georgia Tech, but Georgia seems to be the early favorite.
The Capital One Bowl holds the first selection for the Southeastern Conference after the BCS bowls have been selected, and Georgia falls next in line behind Alabama and Florida (both figure to land BCS bowl spots).
This leaves Ole Miss as Georgia's lone SEC competition, which finished 5-3 in the SEC. The Rebels finished strong though, beating LSU 31-13 and Mississippi State 45-0.
Georgia's opponent likely will be Michigan State if, in fact, the Bulldogs are selected for the Capital One Bowl. The Big Ten will probably send two teams to BCS games with Penn State in the Rose Bowl, and Ohio State receiving an at-large bid. But, if Southern Cal loses to UCLA Saturday, Oregon State will head to Pasadena and USC could get the nod over the Buckeyes for the last at-large spot.
Michigan State boasts a powerful running game led by Javon Ringer, who has joined Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno as a Doak Walker Award finalist. The Spartans, like Georgia, lost their final regular season game to a rival in embarrassing defensive fashion. Penn State beat Michigan State 49-18, never allowing the Spartans to hang in the game. The knock on Michigan State is that in its biggest games, the Spartans fell flat. Michigan State was also demolished by Ohio State 45-7.
The rest of the Big Ten was mediocre.
Georgia may still have its hands full with Ringer if this is the Bulldogs' bowl matchup. Ringer is second in the Big Ten in rushing, earning 1,590 yards on the ground this year. Ringer ranks third nationally in total rushing yards behind Iowa's Shonn Greene and Connecticut's Donald Brown.
Ohio State would be a better matchup, and a better game, than Michigan State simply because it would pit the nation's best linebacker, James Laurinaitis, against the nation's best running back, Moreno.
Ohio State's secondary, led by cornerback Malcolm Jenkins, would be an interesting matchup for Georgia's receiving corps. Ohio State's pass defense ranks eighth in the nation and only gives up 164.3 yards a game through the air. The Buckeyes also have 14 interceptions for the year.
On offense, the Buckeyes are good at running the ball with Chris Wells and quarterback Terrelle Pryor. The good news for Georgia is that if it plays Ohio State, it would have a month to prepare for the read option that worked so well in Kentucky's favor.
The bad news is Pryor and Wells are better than Randall Cobb and his reserve backs.
If, for some odd reason, the Capital One Bowl wants Ole Miss, then Georgia's next possible destination is the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. In a perfect , the Capital One Bowl takes an East team and the Cotton Bowl takes a West team. But there have been years, quite a few recently, where the two bowls took teams outside of the norm.
Before Florida appeared in Orlando last year, the previous three Capital One Bowls featured three SEC West teams - Arkansas, Auburn and LSU. The last East team to head to Dallas was Tennessee, which beat Texas A&M 38-7 in the 2005 Cotton Bowl.
Both teams run the pass-happy version of the spread offense, with Texas Tech running it to perfection when it's clicking. The Cotton Bowl would be thrilled to have an 11-1 Texas Tech team if this scenario that plays out. This Texas Tech offense would be the best non-conference bunch Georgia would face since West Virginia in the 2005 Sugar Bowl.
Texas will get a BCS bid no matter what and Missouri would waltz its way into the Fiesta Bowl.
The Cotton Bowl would then pick Oklahoma, which has only won one of its last five bowl games. Georgia would then face Oklahoma's mammoth offensive line and quarterback Sam Bradford, who has picked apart each defense he's faced this year. Although a Sam Bradford-Matthew Stafford showdown is intriguing, a trip to Orlando against Michigan State is what's likely in store.
That may be what most Georgia fans want.
The Bulldogs will wait to hear from the Capital One Bowl committee, who attended last Saturday's 45-42 loss to Georgia Tech, but Georgia seems to be the early favorite.
The Capital One Bowl holds the first selection for the Southeastern Conference after the BCS bowls have been selected, and Georgia falls next in line behind Alabama and Florida (both figure to land BCS bowl spots).
This leaves Ole Miss as Georgia's lone SEC competition, which finished 5-3 in the SEC. The Rebels finished strong though, beating LSU 31-13 and Mississippi State 45-0.
Georgia's opponent likely will be Michigan State if, in fact, the Bulldogs are selected for the Capital One Bowl. The Big Ten will probably send two teams to BCS games with Penn State in the Rose Bowl, and Ohio State receiving an at-large bid. But, if Southern Cal loses to UCLA Saturday, Oregon State will head to Pasadena and USC could get the nod over the Buckeyes for the last at-large spot.
Michigan State boasts a powerful running game led by Javon Ringer, who has joined Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno as a Doak Walker Award finalist. The Spartans, like Georgia, lost their final regular season game to a rival in embarrassing defensive fashion. Penn State beat Michigan State 49-18, never allowing the Spartans to hang in the game. The knock on Michigan State is that in its biggest games, the Spartans fell flat. Michigan State was also demolished by Ohio State 45-7.
The rest of the Big Ten was mediocre.
Georgia may still have its hands full with Ringer if this is the Bulldogs' bowl matchup. Ringer is second in the Big Ten in rushing, earning 1,590 yards on the ground this year. Ringer ranks third nationally in total rushing yards behind Iowa's Shonn Greene and Connecticut's Donald Brown.
MSU not the only possible opponent in Orlando
If the BCS passes on Ohio State for Boise State, or if USC loses to UCLA, then the Buckeyes would fall to the Capital One Bowl.Ohio State would be a better matchup, and a better game, than Michigan State simply because it would pit the nation's best linebacker, James Laurinaitis, against the nation's best running back, Moreno.
Ohio State's secondary, led by cornerback Malcolm Jenkins, would be an interesting matchup for Georgia's receiving corps. Ohio State's pass defense ranks eighth in the nation and only gives up 164.3 yards a game through the air. The Buckeyes also have 14 interceptions for the year.
On offense, the Buckeyes are good at running the ball with Chris Wells and quarterback Terrelle Pryor. The good news for Georgia is that if it plays Ohio State, it would have a month to prepare for the read option that worked so well in Kentucky's favor.
The bad news is Pryor and Wells are better than Randall Cobb and his reserve backs.
What if the Capital One Bowl pulls a fast one?
It's not set in stone, but it is highly unlikely Georgia won't be in Orlando on New Year's Day.If, for some odd reason, the Capital One Bowl wants Ole Miss, then Georgia's next possible destination is the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. In a perfect , the Capital One Bowl takes an East team and the Cotton Bowl takes a West team. But there have been years, quite a few recently, where the two bowls took teams outside of the norm.
Before Florida appeared in Orlando last year, the previous three Capital One Bowls featured three SEC West teams - Arkansas, Auburn and LSU. The last East team to head to Dallas was Tennessee, which beat Texas A&M 38-7 in the 2005 Cotton Bowl.
So who would the Dogs play in Dallas?
Assuming Oklahoma beats Missouri in the Big 12 Championship, and Oklahoma and Texas both earn BCS bids, there are two options for the Cotton Bowl committee: Texas Tech and Missouri.Both teams run the pass-happy version of the spread offense, with Texas Tech running it to perfection when it's clicking. The Cotton Bowl would be thrilled to have an 11-1 Texas Tech team if this scenario that plays out. This Texas Tech offense would be the best non-conference bunch Georgia would face since West Virginia in the 2005 Sugar Bowl.
What if Missouri pulls off an upset Saturday?
If Missouri beats Oklahoma (which everyone and their grandmother should root for due to BCS implications and disasters), then the Bulldogs' opponent would be Oklahoma.Texas will get a BCS bid no matter what and Missouri would waltz its way into the Fiesta Bowl.
The Cotton Bowl would then pick Oklahoma, which has only won one of its last five bowl games. Georgia would then face Oklahoma's mammoth offensive line and quarterback Sam Bradford, who has picked apart each defense he's faced this year. Although a Sam Bradford-Matthew Stafford showdown is intriguing, a trip to Orlando against Michigan State is what's likely in store.
That may be what most Georgia fans want.
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