Live from the Outback: UGA should win this bloomin’ bowl
The press box food preparation table, shown after hungry scribes descended. (Photo by M. Bradley)
Tampa – The nice thing about covering the Outback Bowl is the sponsor. It’s the only bowl that serves steak and a bloomin’ onion as a pregame meal. I mention this so you’ll know not to expect much in the way of back-and-forth from this correspondent over the next half-hour.
As for the game … well, here’s what you need to know about Michigan State. The Spartans are 7-14 in bowls. They haven’t won won since Dec. 31, 2001. They’re 0-4 under Mark Dantonio. Even Nick Saban was 0-3 in bowls as MSU’s coach.
The Spartans are 0-3 in bowls against teams from Georgia. (Lost to the Bulldogs in Vince Dooley’s final game and in the Capital One in 2008, lost to Georgia Tech in the old Hall of Fame Bowl in Birmingham in 1985. Georgia fans will remember that as the game in which John Dewberry, who transferred from UGA and became Tech’s quarterback, did not partake — he’d been suspended for missing curfew in Birmingham, which isn’t easy to do.)
It’s possible Michigan State could win today, but recent history shows it’s not smart to bet against the SEC in a bowl against the Big Ten. (Example: The Spartans lost to Alabama 49-7 in the Capital One last January. Though Michigan State did beat Florida in the Citrus on the first day of this century.)
Enough. Georgia should win. I make it 27-17, but I’m often wrong. Sometimes even bloomin’ wrong, which reminds me …
Discuss among yourselves. I’ll be back in a few. And happy bloomin’ New Year.
By Mark Bradley
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3,667 comments Add your comment
War Eagle
January 2nd, 2012
6:13 pm
Its hard to believe, as bad ae we were at times, Auburn(8-5) lost only one more game than Dawgs. I guess playing teams like LSU,12-0, Bama 11-1, Arkansas 10-2, Clemson 10-2, ??UGA??10-2, South carolna 11-2(win) 63-9 PAVES the way..UGA`s schedule next year is laughing joke of the SEC..
Oldbush
January 2nd, 2012
6:13 pm
Why in the BLEEP does anyone think that UGA will be a consistent winner without a
running game. UGA depends on the big pass plays to keep them in the game The defense plays
wellenough but without a consistent offense they are going to come up short. Yes, UGA went on a great winning streak this season but who did they really defeat. No real contenders.Hey, CMR is a great guy so lets give him an extension on his contract. Who was it that said nice guys finish last.
Think about it. How does UGA’s running game compare to Alabma’s or LSU’s —–NOT!!!!!
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
January 2nd, 2012
6:13 pm
chazzo
Hey man how did your favorite two coach’s perform today
I bet every major school will be wanting to sign Richt and Bobo to multi-year contracts ASAP
We had better sign them quickly right
!!
Knocking on the door of greatness?
January 2nd, 2012
6:13 pm
I don’t hear any knocking now, just some quiet, desperate whimpering…
Back to the Kool-Aid for the dawgtards.
3rd down???
January 2nd, 2012
6:13 pm
kicking on 3rd down, instead of trying another play to get closer??? are you serious???? Hello????? what a total choke! the special teams coach should be fired on the spot.
Dwayne
January 2nd, 2012
6:13 pm
JB…right on…plus Murray looked like crap today….no more hometown bowls..
Big Crimson 75
January 2nd, 2012
6:14 pm
Ya’ll can’t even beat a middle of the road Big 10 school !!!
And you wonder why all these Georgia Recruits are going to Alabama. Oh wait, I know – I know, it’s because we pay more or over recruit or don’t make our players go to class.
It has nothing to do with players wanting to go to a World Class Program vs. whatever you want to call GA.
Embarrassing absolutely embarrassing. Fla handled their business, Auburn handled their business, SC handled theirs. Leave it to the Dawgs to tarnish our beloved Conference.
01HAWK
January 2nd, 2012
6:14 pm
I keep hearing that Michigan State was a solid team,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,NOT !!!!!!!!!!!
BAMA put 2 QB out of action last year and they had to put a former QB that is a WR in at QB.
MICH ST was an average team just like the PUPPIES ARE
Fire Mike Bobo
January 2nd, 2012
6:14 pm
You really have to hope that the first thing that happened in the locker room post game was an apology from the coaching staff to the players. If Richt is so loyal to Bobo and won’t fire him, the only decent thing would be for Bobo to resign.
JB
January 2nd, 2012
6:14 pm
Murray was in his home town and in front of his family and all his friends. If he would of thrown 5 picks in the first half, he wouldn’t of pulled him. That’s Richt’s MO. He would worry about his feelings more than UGA football…..And at Y camp, that’s great….. In big boy Div 1 football with a 90 million dollar budget, it’s not.
tell me again
January 2nd, 2012
6:14 pm
The only piece of the puzzle UGA is lacking is not an addition but a subtraction – Bobo has got to go. Leave him as the QB coach and recruiter – he seems to do well there – as an OC – give me a break……….he was promoted into that position with NO experience and in the years he has been there he has NOT shown he has all SEC potential. Richt has gotten rid of all of his other mistakes – he just has one more to go – I think McGarity will help him with this one.
stendek
January 2nd, 2012
6:14 pm
The Georgia Bulldogs are an embarrassment to SEC! So very sad.
In Da Hunt
January 2nd, 2012
6:14 pm
All the Richt apologist make me laugh so hard with their kudos and saying next year will be better.
Alphare
January 2nd, 2012
6:14 pm
I can do the play-calling duty for UGA for a fraction of the cost you are paying now.
Give me a ring if you are interested. Thanx.
Made famous by Herschel
January 2nd, 2012
6:14 pm
…and the dawgs still haven’t beat anybody good. Joke
top 5
January 2nd, 2012
6:15 pm
ga will be ranked in the top 5 to start the season!!! YES!!! Richt and bobo–on fire!!! YeS!!!! top 5!!!!! Yes!!!!
SAL
January 2nd, 2012
6:15 pm
Braves and Bulldogs….losers at BIG TIME!!!!!!!!!!
Gainesville Dawg
January 2nd, 2012
6:15 pm
All of you naysayers!!!!! Where are you from? You are not UGA fans, or if you pretend to be, then you are anti everything. Yes, UGA lost to a great M S team with a 5th year senior quarterback and with a defense that is ranked third in the nation. So all of you chair coaches need to apply to McGarity. I am sure he will hire all of you.
Also, all of you bloggers who pretend to be UGA fans, you are soooo weak. Get a life.
I say, Go, Dawgs!!!! Sorry you did not pull it out. A lot of if’s—–
we steal ruin this state
January 2nd, 2012
6:15 pm
This makes two bowl losses in a row, doesn’t it?
Proud-Dawg
January 2nd, 2012
6:15 pm
@01HAWK,
Puppies are average? You’re too generous, but they are below average to the rational fan.
Bob
January 2nd, 2012
6:15 pm
The solution is simple…we need a change of coaching culture. And who told Grantham that a “prevent defense” would work? If not, next year we’ll go 10-2 and contend for nothing but a meaningless bowl.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
January 2nd, 2012
6:16 pm
chazzo
Where is your buddy Altamaha Dawg, Columbus, and Low Country Bulldog
Jimmy C
January 2nd, 2012
6:16 pm
Maybe the fact that UGA has 5-star recruits is the problem and not the solution. All those egomaniacs trying to preen for the NFL. Take a page from Chris Peterson at Boise State and find moldable athletes that can work as part of a team!
BuzzMan
January 2nd, 2012
6:16 pm
tech—better in their bowl game than georgia!!! Utah–better than mich state!! Arrogant ga fans—are now quiet in their trailers, wondering what happened! They didn’t beat 1 good team all year—but still are arrogant!!!!
The Joke on the Oconee
January 2nd, 2012
6:16 pm
UGA`s schedule next year is laughing joke of the SEC.
UGA has been a joke ever since Muck Richt came to Athens.
Buzz 2011
January 2nd, 2012
6:16 pm
The Dawgs have a quarterback named Houston Mason… I watched hin recently and he is a real quarterback with smarts and size. Maybe a Dawg fan can tell me why he doesn’t start? The little Murray is…..well not very good….
bitter QB
January 2nd, 2012
6:16 pm
@primrose——close your trailer door——————troll——–mason is twice the QB turnover murry is
Hoss Cartwright
January 2nd, 2012
6:16 pm
A pick 6 and a int that led to a td. It was turnovers by the QB and a deadpan placekicker that were the most signicant reasons for the loss.
Snoop Dawg
January 2nd, 2012
6:17 pm
I hate to say it, but Hutson Mason, you should transfer after such treatment. You do not deserve such discrimatory treatment.
the entire UGA leadership should be replaced: Adams, McGarity, Richt and Bobo. With double digit unemployment, it is obscene that these losers are being paid the salaries they are receiving for such mediocre or less results.
NOT
January 2nd, 2012
6:17 pm
Don’t care about today (that was fun to watch MSU drop the bomb) but the bottom line is that it has been since 1980 and the Dawgs ain’t peed a drop, oh yea that’s right, Dawgs win NC next year… LOL!!
JB
January 2nd, 2012
6:17 pm
We’ve always……………and I mean always, got Tech to beat…..That helps the off season…..because Tech wants it so bad.
GTBob
January 2nd, 2012
6:17 pm
Dream team. Knocking on the door of greatness. Top 10 next season. Maybe today will bring some of you back to reality.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
January 2nd, 2012
6:17 pm
Bob
The defense won the game twice for us
The defense was worn out thanks to Richt and Bonehead
Boom Boom
January 2nd, 2012
6:17 pm
The comments about Alabama needing a Kicker applies today to UGA.
The funniest thing is that Our OC at Alabama is better than UGA’s and our job is VACANT!
Pollster guy
January 2nd, 2012
6:17 pm
Uga is an average program with an easy schedule. And will be next yr too.
Bobo must go, period for the next step to be taken.
Snoop Dawg
January 2nd, 2012
6:17 pm
I am writing Georgia’s senators and my Congressional representative tomorrow to insist that Adams, McGarrity, and Richt be fired immediately.
E=mc2
January 2nd, 2012
6:17 pm
Ga–another mediocre season—wins over a bunch of patsies and losses to every good team they played! but still—their redneck fans are arrogant! how bout em.
SCDAWG
January 2nd, 2012
6:18 pm
This game was lost by the OC. The offense struggled due to Bobos unrelenting desire to run the ball up the middle when it was clearly the strength of MSU AND Ga’s weakness!
The Joke on the Oconee
January 2nd, 2012
6:18 pm
Practice spelling the word “irrelevant.”
dawgs01
January 2nd, 2012
6:18 pm
The ROSE BOWL is a match up of two of the worse power conferences. The PAC12 is 1-4 their one win coming against georgia tech. The BIG10 is 3-5 with UGA giving them one win, one win coming against Western Michigan by five points and their other win coming against UCLA which is a conference that has one win and four losses. The BIG10 got lucky that they played UGA a team that is absolutely loaded with talent but has coaches that could not coach their way out of a bathroom.
JB
January 2nd, 2012
6:18 pm
We’re waving from the back of the bus again.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
January 2nd, 2012
6:18 pm
chazzo???
Altamaha Dawg????
Low Country????
TampaDawg????
Tennessee Dawg
January 2nd, 2012
6:19 pm
Richt will always win just enough to keep his job. Let’s face it, unfortunately, we are stuck with mediocrity.
Xenophon
January 2nd, 2012
6:19 pm
Thank God we had an easy schedule this year. Who knows? We might make it to 10-2 next year and finish somewhere around number 20 again. We’re definitely second tier now.
chazzo
January 2nd, 2012
6:19 pm
STENDECK: YOU DIDN’T NEED TO EXPLAIN IT TO ME!!!
MSU’s QB threw 3 picks. UGA had the game won and opted to run it up the middle 3 times and punt instead of going for a first down. UGA had it won a second time and chose to kick a field goal on third down instad of trying to get closer. Neither was Murray’s fault.
I say Murray played a pretty darn good game. I agree that the turnovers sucked. But 20-32 for 288 yds, 2 TDs, 2 INTs, and a fumble… It really isn’t that bad especially when you consider how those interceptions went down.
As far as the pick six. That is the worse route in history. Cornerbacks masturbate at bedtime dreaming of that route. Why any team runs it is beyond me. UGA almost got a pick 6 on the same play from MSU.
I know everyone’s pissed. I am too. My wife and my dawg don’t want to be around me, but all in all it was a great match up and a great team.
But everyone can feel pissed and indignant if they want to.
Boom Boom
January 2nd, 2012
6:19 pm
3 callers on the Post Game show and 3 negative comments and complaining. This is going to be a fun nite to listen and read the negative from the UGA all in family.
FIRE BOBO
January 2nd, 2012
6:19 pm
“I’m trying to study an effective offense, but those Oregon helmets are so shinny. So pretty. So distrac…….” — UGA Offensive Coordinator Mike Bobo
Buckeye
January 2nd, 2012
6:19 pm
Hey dogs, what do you think of the Big 10 now?
evil empire
January 2nd, 2012
6:19 pm
hey keith marshall…welcome to your future…
Mobile Dawg
January 2nd, 2012
6:19 pm
JB, we’re not committed to big boy football. If we were McGarity would show a set and fire Mark Richt. What’s the chance of that happening. We’re happy with being almost there consistently. We’re afraid of the what if’s, kinda like kicking a field goal on third down.