LIVE: Georgia tries to forget SEC ending, close with win
Aaron Murray high-fives Xzavier Ward before the Capital One Bowl. (Brant Sanderlin)
ORLANDO — When asked the other day if he viewed this season as a missed opportunity to win SEC and BCS championships, Georgia coach Mark Richt said, “Every year is a missed opportunity, I think.” And that’s probably the right thing to say, even if it’s not every season the Bulldogs come within one tipped pass of winning the SEC title and going to the BCS championship game.
When Georgia faces Nebraska today in the Capital One Bowl, the question is whether we’ll witness any hangover from the last game. The Dogs (11-2, coming off a 32-28 loss to Alabama, No. 7 BCS) may be a more talented team than the Cornhuskers (10-3, coming off a 70-31 loss to Wisconsin, No. 16 BCS). But that doesn’t always mean anything in bowl games. Witness Georgia Tech vs. USC. Or witness Georgia’s last two bowl efforts — losses to Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl two years ago and Michigan State in the Outback last season.
I ran into this guy in the parking lot. Who's his dentist?
OK, a few quick things about today’s game and then I’ll open the cyber-venting lines:
– The Dogs’ defensive front will have to put up a better effort than it did against Alabama (350 yards rushing). Nebraska ranks ninth in the nation in rushing at 254.5 yards per game but only 81st passing, although quarterback Taylor Martinez has thrown 21 touchdown passes.
– The defensive line will be missing nose tackle John Jenkins, who is academically ineligible, and possibly end Abry Jones (ankle), who is questionable. Kwame Geathers will start for Jenkins.
– Nebraska’s defense ranks first against the pass, but that’s a little misleading. Opponents seldom have had to throw against the Huskers because they’re so weak against the run (97th, 194.8 per game). Also, the Big Ten is not full of wide open offenses. So expect a heavy dose of Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall today.
Final thought: I think Georgia wins today. Finishing the year with a win and losing the last two bowl games should be motivation enough. A victory also could leave the Dogs as one of the top five ranked teams in the nation.
But if Georgia players are thinking about the SEC championship or the NFL draft, everything goes out the window, and they’ll lose today.
What are your thoughts? The floor is yours.
– Jeff Schultz
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
1,585 comments Add your comment
GFY
January 1st, 2013
3:49 pm
Must burn your arse that the SEC will win another National Championship eh Suckeye….
Buckeye
January 1st, 2013
3:49 pm
Miss State
SEC! SEC!
Sid
January 1st, 2013
3:49 pm
Jesse Palmer may be on old Gator but he’s right….
50 ways to leave your lover
January 1st, 2013
3:50 pm
The UGA defense is too lazy to even end down to make a tackle.
Buckeye
January 1st, 2013
3:50 pm
Nice d dogs
Hot dogs, frankfurters, and wieners!!!
January 1st, 2013
3:50 pm
Burkhead runs angry
Jason
January 1st, 2013
3:50 pm
Good luck trying to stop Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins next season in Death Valley. Not to mention Tajh Boyd.
son's who?
January 1st, 2013
3:50 pm
I’d rather watch Samantha Steele.
Georgia
January 1st, 2013
3:50 pm
Georgia Defensive Coordinator Todd Grantham. just got saved by the fumble. Todd Grantham is a new breed of idiot. WTF with the untimely substitutions. The lazy approach to the defensive lineup and stance? I’ve never seen anything like that not even in Pee Wee League Football.
ugafan13
January 1st, 2013
3:50 pm
I am sick of the this team’s performance. Tons of talent and potential and little execution! We suck @ the fundmentals. We can’t even get the defense alignment right!
doug
January 1st, 2013
3:50 pm
Game over Dogs Lose.
Erk Russell's Dog
January 1st, 2013
3:51 pm
Buckeye
Isn’t there a live blog of the Ohio State bowl game. Oh no my bad , just thought Ohio State won the little 10 .
Buckeye
January 1st, 2013
3:51 pm
“Tub” Jenkins:
Snacks!
Wet Willie...keep on smiling
January 1st, 2013
3:51 pm
we’re going to find just what these Dawgs are made of in the next 15 minutes.
Scrappy
January 1st, 2013
3:51 pm
First defensive stop in a while…
tmc
January 1st, 2013
3:51 pm
Can never applaud a gator… but Jesse Palmer is exactly correct for continuing to point out Georgia’s problems. It’s been that way all year.
Buckeye
January 1st, 2013
3:51 pm
erk,
Again, ouch.
Glory Between the Hedges
January 1st, 2013
3:52 pm
Georgia will never win anything big because will never stay motivated an entire season. Got to find us a coach that can keep us hungry every game.
SpikeTheBallStupid!!!
January 1st, 2013
3:52 pm
Have to score here
Dawg Patrol
January 1st, 2013
3:52 pm
Did I just hear the announcer say that this is a great display by Todd Grantham? He oughta be shot for saying something like that.
Reese Bobby
January 1st, 2013
3:53 pm
Impressive catch
goFalcons
January 1st, 2013
3:53 pm
Beautiful pass and catch
Hairy Dawg
January 1st, 2013
3:53 pm
Good drive going right now.
Buckeye
January 1st, 2013
3:53 pm
dogs,
Just think Michigan State
Jason
January 1st, 2013
3:53 pm
Another 100 yard game for Gurley! The usual!
SpikeTheBallStupid!!!
January 1st, 2013
3:54 pm
Run run run
Jason
January 1st, 2013
3:54 pm
Gurley gives us hope. He’s the best player we have. Yes, better than Jarvis Jones.
goFalcons
January 1st, 2013
3:54 pm
Gurly is doing a hostile takeover of this game….woooooo hoooooo
GT Fan
January 1st, 2013
3:55 pm
did someone turn the lights on?
Marquis de Mercury
January 1st, 2013
3:55 pm
the SEC is struggling in bowl season…should have seen the conference was down…overlooked a key indicator…when UGA is up, the rest of the conference is down…been that way forever…
UGA89
January 1st, 2013
3:55 pm
Buckeye keeps avoiding the question of where his team is playing. Why?? Because his team is a bunch of cheaters.
Buckeye
January 1st, 2013
3:55 pm
dogs can’t count to four with their fingers.
Must be an upper level Math class
Hairy Dawg
January 1st, 2013
3:55 pm
I love watching Gurley run. He is a man, folks. If Marshall settles down in 2013 and keeps his feet in space, we will be able to pound the rock against anybody.
Jason
January 1st, 2013
3:55 pm
IMO Jarvis Jones is overrated. He’s not a big time player.
AUTGRZ
January 1st, 2013
3:55 pm
SEC teams are hurting my bowl picks. Fine with me. Goooo Cornhuskers and Irish for 2 days in 2013…
UGA89
January 1st, 2013
3:56 pm
Go Dawgs!
phil
January 1st, 2013
3:56 pm
Pathetic….
DawgNole
January 1st, 2013
3:56 pm
Jason
January 1st, 2013
3:11 pm
Anybody else wanna just bust a fat one on Samantha Steele?
____________________
Too late; it’s Samantha Ponder now. An FSU guy beat you to it.
Buckeye
January 1st, 2013
3:56 pm
NO 89,
Cheaters are gone just like your felons are gone.
50 ways to leave your lover
January 1st, 2013
3:56 pm
Eye of the tiger. UGA don’t have it.
Teams assume the personality of their coaches.
What is Richt’s personality, folks?
Sid
January 1st, 2013
3:56 pm
Gurley’s running is working too well…which means more Murray passes on the next series.
SpikeTheBallStupid!!!
January 1st, 2013
3:56 pm
Jarvis hasn’t shown up today….don’t blame him…he is outta here
rockdawg
January 1st, 2013
3:57 pm
Is it against Bobo’s religion to call two running plays in a row?
phil
January 1st, 2013
3:57 pm
I agree on Jarvis….
Useless against the run. Wasted draft pick coming up.
Buckeye
January 1st, 2013
3:57 pm
89,
12-0 #3 in the AP
Will be higher ranked than dogs regardless
Smoke that ( or make some more brownies)
SpikeTheBallStupid!!!
January 1st, 2013
3:57 pm
Run run run……no more int for murray
blamegame
January 1st, 2013
3:57 pm
Bungeye should’nt you be getting lubed up?
Nobody cares about Blohio state
get somewhere boy
UGA89
January 1st, 2013
3:57 pm
Buckeye talk about classless fans. What do you say about your own fans that burn cars when they lose.
Buckeye
January 1st, 2013
3:58 pm
89,
Gainfully employed yet?
Jemer
January 1st, 2013
3:58 pm
Why in the hell don’t we rotate RB’s during the series when the back gets winded? we have 3 good backs. Bobo is so stupid.