UGA vs. Michigan State in Outback Bowl; homecoming for Murray, Charles
Georgia and Michigan State, both with 10-3 records and losses in their conference championship games, will meet Jan. 2 in the Outback Bowl in Tampa.
The matchup was set Sunday, one day after Georgia lost 42-10 to No. 1 LSU in the SEC Championship game and Michigan State fell 42-39 to Wisconsin in the inaugural Big Ten title game.
Georgia was among three SEC teams, along with South Carolina and Arkansas, that were in the running for the Capital One, Outback and Cotton bowls.
Orlando’s Capital One Bowl, which had the next choice of SEC teams after LSU and Alabama were tabbed for the BCS national title game, selected South Carolina. The Gamecocks (10-2, 6-2 SEC) finished second to Georgia in the SEC East, but defeated the Bulldogs 45-42 in Athens on Sept. 10.
The Outback and Cotton bowls, equals in the SEC’s bowl pecking order, were next in line to make selections from the league. The Outback preferred the East team (Georgia) and the Cotton the West team (Arkansas).
The Outback, which will kick off at 1 p.m. and be televised on ABC, will be a homecoming for two of Georgia’s top players, quarterback Aaron Murray and tight end Orson Charles, who were teammates at Tampa’s Plant High School.
“Heading home for the Outback Bowl!” Murray said Sunday night via Twitter.
“It’s a great destination for our student-athletes and our fans –- warm weather, wonderful attractions, a first-class stadium -– and we look forward to competing against a great Michigan State team,” Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said in a statement. “Our fans have been a big part of our success this season, and I’m confident they will support the team with attendance in this bowl game.”
Michigan State is ranked ahead of Georgia in the latest polls, released Sunday. The Spartans are No. 12 in the Associated Press poll and No. 13 in the USA Today coaches’ poll, while the Bulldogs are No. 18 in both.
While Georgia won the SEC East, Michigan State won the Big Ten’s Legends division. Both teams were 7-1 in regular-season league play.
This is the 15th consecutive season that Georgia has reached a bowl. The Outback is a step up in the bowl landscape from the Bulldogs’ destinations the past two seasons, the Independence Bowl in 2009 and the Liberty Bowl last year.
Georgia and Michigan State have met twice previously in football, with Georgia winning both times.
The first meeting was in Jacksonville’s Gator Bowl at the end of the 1988 season. Georgia won that game, Vince Dooley’s last as the Bulldogs’ coach, 34-27.
The other meeting was in the Capital One Bowl at the end of the 2008 season. Georgia won 24-12 in the final college game for quarterback Matthew Stafford and tailback Knowshon Moreno. Stafford threw three touchdown passes in the second half, the last one to Moreno.
“This promises to be a great match-up,” Michigan State athletics director Mark Hollis said in a statement. “The last time these two teams met … the outcome wasn’t decided until the fourth quarter, so we anticipate another competitive game.”
Georgia has played in the Outback Bowl three times previously, winning all three, while this will be Michigan State’s first trip to the Tampa game.
Michigan State seemed on the cusp of a potential game-winning touchdown in Saturday’s Big Ten title game when the Spartans returned a Wisconsin punt inside the 5-yard line with less than two minutes to play. But a running-into-the-punter penalty negated the return and gave Wisconsin a first down, ensuring its victory and a Rose Bowl berth.
Georgia coach Mark Richt and Michigan State coach Coach Mark Dantonio will discuss the Outback matchup in a joint media teleconference Monday. In a news release from the bowl Sunday night, Richt was quoted: “… Playing a top quality opponent like Michigan State will be a challenge we’ll look forward to.”
Both teams rank in the nation’s top five in total defense. Georgia is No. 3, allowing 268.5 yards per game, and Michigan State is No. 5, giving up 272.7 yards per game.
– Tim Tucker
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
522 comments Add your comment
katherine
December 4th, 2011
9:43 pm
you mean strip clubs
Mobile Dawg
December 4th, 2011
9:44 pm
Check out the pirate ship @ John’s Pass.
I can see steaks falling from the sky!
December 4th, 2011
9:44 pm
@ hit a single – amen brother! In the game against the Badgers it was 80+ degrees and sunny. Also I agree with what Tampa Gator said about our area. Great place to visit, lots to do, and of course I’m hoping for that awesome weather when y’all roll into town. Go Dawgs! (btw, it will be nice to see a real team in our stadium as the Bucs are just terrible…)
PMC
December 4th, 2011
9:44 pm
This should be an excellent match up though MSU vs Georgia. Very evenly matched.
TampaGator
December 4th, 2011
9:46 pm
Cuz…..there wasn’t much difference between Florida and Georgia most years during those 22 years of 18 out of 22….except a couple of years under Spurrier when they just crushed Georgia…..up in Athens and then again in Gainesville. And there will not be too much difference in the two teams in the years to come. I do think Georgia will have the edge on the Gators next year due to the depth issues Florida has now…..on 59 players on scholarship after the season ends. Not good.
mayorbob
December 4th, 2011
9:47 pm
McGarity….find Bobo a job at some D-2 school….Let’s get a new offense OC…with the level of fire and competitiveness we have with our defense OC…
To have an offense game plan against LSU like we did with Ky…it proved…we are out coached and manned….Bobo would not be a OC with any ohte D1 school….why is he at UGA…GET HIM A JOB at Coastal Carolina….or….James Madision… no big time running back…or QB will play for this clown..or this offense…..also…call Crowell’s Mom and tell her to come get her son….he can’t man up in this league…
TampaGator
December 4th, 2011
9:48 pm
Have a nice evening folks…..have fun on the beach. It is nice in January down here….most years.
jack bull
December 4th, 2011
9:48 pm
N Saban needs to eat his words from a few years back. I really hope the LSU people keep bringing that up for the next month…
‘if you don’t even win your conference, you have NO business playing in for the National Championship’…too funny..
Hutch
December 4th, 2011
9:49 pm
Hey JB, you’re right on about Bobo. Glad someone else sees that problem.
Wish Richt would.
Hit A Single
December 4th, 2011
9:49 pm
Great athletic complex with Raymond James and the Yankee Spring Training home. Food is great and riding out to the beach was great too. Man I can’t wait.
Cuz
December 4th, 2011
9:49 pm
TG, I agree about the not much difference in the teams the last ten years at least. We just had this monkey on our back before we ran out on the field. The same monkey Florida carried in the Dooley era. I just have a feeling that the Dawgs put that monkey back in it’s cage after last year’s win. I could be wrong. I have been wrong before.
jack bull
December 4th, 2011
9:50 pm
i mean ’shoe shows’..
Cuz
December 4th, 2011
9:51 pm
Out of here too Tampa, goodnight.
@ jack bull
December 4th, 2011
9:52 pm
Shoe shoppin’
TampaGator
December 4th, 2011
9:52 pm
Oh….I did just read something else that Dawg fans have been posting about…..Meyer taking a bunch of Florida coaches to OSU….
Well…..other than the strength and conditioning coach leaving…….the RBs coach, the special teams coach….both of whom came to Florida with Meyer……and were invited by Meyer to come to Ohio State….are staying put in Gainesville. Also….Meyer went after the WR coach…..and he also said no. Mariotti is going….the S&C guy. But I am not sure Muschamp is not happy about that…..because Muschamp said at the end of the season that his team was “soft”…..and that was a slap in Mariotti’s face as the S&C guy. The Gators need someone who can come in and add weight and strength….especially on the OL and DL…..Mariotti was unable to build bulk like what is needed in the pro style system….like Georgia’s OL and DL. Muschamp will go get that guy for Florida.
TampaGator
December 4th, 2011
9:54 pm
Now good night….I need to eat.
Mobile Dawg
December 4th, 2011
9:55 pm
Hard to believe Meyer left the program in such disarray after such a long run of solid teams.
Honey Badger
December 4th, 2011
9:56 pm
Good luck renecks!!!! Just think, this week the honey badger cant roast yall and crowell can smoke some more dope. rednecks!!!!
Russell Hall
December 4th, 2011
9:56 pm
Does anybody know why Capital One passed Arkansas for South Carolina?
Honey Badger
December 4th, 2011
9:57 pm
rednecks
jack bull
December 4th, 2011
9:57 pm
And there’s the Salvador Dali museum over in St Pete, which is “interesting”, to say the least…That man was, well, shall we say, different..
Honey Badger
December 4th, 2011
9:58 pm
Honey Badger dominates the rednecks and G
Honey Badger
December 4th, 2011
9:59 pm
honey badger dominates the rednecks and gt still ownes the state of uga in national titles….hahahahaha rednecks
bringinbvgfornextUGAcoach
December 4th, 2011
9:59 pm
This is embarrassing….UGa should decline bowl invitation after the pathetic performance against LSU. At least I hope UGa keeps close tabs on drug addict IC in Florida….lots of drug lords down there
Honey Badger
December 4th, 2011
9:59 pm
ga
UGAFAN
December 4th, 2011
9:59 pm
It’s not the Sugar Bowl, but a great bowl nonetheless and a New Years Day (well they are all on Jan. 2nd this year). UGA is getting back to where they belong. We will be making the trip for sure.
Honey Badger
December 4th, 2011
10:00 pm
Lsu Lsu Lsu Lsu Lsu
bvgfornextUGAcoach
December 4th, 2011
10:01 pm
Michigan State is gonna run all over the dogs…..they are a real team just like the other 3 we played this year and LOST to……I was hoping for a rematch against New Mexico State in the Kohler Toilet Bowl
bvgfornextUGAcoach
December 4th, 2011
10:02 pm
UGAFAN……you are wasting your money
Honey Badger's mammy
December 4th, 2011
10:02 pm
Honey, it’s time for you to get to bed. Be sure and stop by the bathroom on your way. You know you will have an “accident” with the sheets. Most 27 year olds have outgrown it but not my lil’Honey Badger
Old Dog
December 4th, 2011
10:03 pm
I hope we win. If we lose, well, they will stll give Richt an extension, and we hae to deal with 7 more years of mediocrity. And Bobo will have a job for at least 7 years.
Joe
December 4th, 2011
10:06 pm
Great! We get to beat Michigan State yet again! I would have preferred Nebraska or K-State. I also hate the Outback as they passed on us a few times when we deserved it more.
Mike
December 4th, 2011
10:06 pm
I heard after the game,during Dawg Talk,that the Dawgs at half time were celebrating,for what?!!,football is made up of 2 halves,what were these guys thinking.?very disappointing,next game leave Crowell home he always hurting,always signaling to come out of game,so sorry to be negative,been a Dawg fan for a long time just hate to see us lose a game like this. This was a good year,hope to be even better next year.
UGAFAN
December 4th, 2011
10:07 pm
I don’t agree, Tampa will be fun and UGA will beat Michigan State like they did Auburn.
kmwilliams98@att.net
December 4th, 2011
10:07 pm
Lets experiment here.. Leave Bobo and Crowell behind…. Run Boo’s ass off and Start Mason… Murray sucks… he obviously cant be a top ranked team and makes way too many mistakes under pressure… He gave LSU 14 points… and 21 TO Carolina… 14 to Boise… thats 49 total people… All I keep hearing is what a good Qb he is…. Saban would of pulled his ass out… Mark my words.. We will never win the SEC or a national title with Bobo and Murray…And certainly not Crowell’s dope smoking capabilities…
Mister Charlie
December 4th, 2011
10:08 pm
Maybe Cap One passed on Arkansas because they were afraid those Hog fans’ pickup trucks couldn’t make it all the way to Orlando.
UGAFAN
December 4th, 2011
10:08 pm
I would agree to leave Crowell and Bobo behind. No loss there for sure. Get the former A and M coach and bring him in to run the offense.
UGAFAN
December 4th, 2011
10:09 pm
BTW, can the Falcons OC stay home next week as well.
BobDawg
December 4th, 2011
10:11 pm
TG, Orlando Sentinel confirming S& C Coach going with Meyer. that is HUGE. RB Davis decommits also. Your wheels are falling off my friend
CHDawg
December 4th, 2011
10:12 pm
OK, so we had 78 yards on 34 carries as a team. Of that total Malcome had 37 yards on 5 carries. So the rest of the Georgia Bulldogs had 41 yards on 29 carries. So it begs the question: why didn’t they run Malcome more and sooner? Malcome runs his own rugby matches–he has pushed the rugby piles in all four games he has played in. Kind of odd looking, don’t you think? I will say this, that if he hadn’t dropped Mason’s pass that hit him in both hands, he would still be running. Then he could have had a major portion of the passing yardage, too. Malcome needs about 10 more pounds of muscle and some more explosiveness. If he will do the work, he is going to be a great one imo.
kmwilliams98@att.net
December 4th, 2011
10:12 pm
We need to cut Crowell and give the scholarship to a real SEC conference style running back….Fire BoBo the Bozo retarded clown that drives the shortbus… OMG u suck Bobo….. We all knew this game was absolutely to big for u.
Dodger Dawg
December 4th, 2011
10:13 pm
Hey Tim, Nice slap at UGA by reporting that ” Michigan State is ranked ahead of Georgia in the latest polls, released Sunday”. Seeing your post time, I assume you are forgetting the most important ranking…the BCS, where UGA is ranked ahead of MSU. Rise above the Hate
42-10
December 4th, 2011
10:17 pm
The Longest Yard team will get beat by Michigan just like LSU beat’em.
Crowell will maybe play 3 r 4 plays..lol
Class of 86
December 4th, 2011
10:20 pm
Did any of you watch the Wisconsin/Michigan State game? The Spartans are GOOD. I think our defense will be able to handle them ok, but it will be a helluva game. MSU defense isn’t that great, but we gotta have a running game. Will Samuel be ready to play?
Brainiac(Dawg for life/Richt fan for life)
December 4th, 2011
10:20 pm
@frank: Put a sock in it please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dawg Fan
December 4th, 2011
10:22 pm
Hey MURRAY – put the Tweet account away and practice some!
flo-ri-duh
December 4th, 2011
10:24 pm
Michigan State is every bit as good as Wisconsin and, except for a couple of questionable call, would have won the game. They are none of the top 10 teams in the country and will be a tough match up. They are very good on defense.
Alpha23
December 4th, 2011
10:28 pm
Let’s see, Ga was embarrased last year in a bowl game by some second tier team from Fla. Why does Ga. always get so excited about a bowl game, only to perform at their worst? Ga. has pretty much been a joke against the good teams for the last several years! This bowl game will probably end up like the LSU game, good for one quarter, then lay down and lick’em!!!
jaxdawgfan
December 4th, 2011
10:31 pm
Remember the bowl game where some student assistants coached the D and helped us win? Let’s try that on offense this year!
Brainiac(Dawg for life/Richt fan for life)
December 4th, 2011
10:35 pm
@kmwilliams98@: You are one bigtime a$$hole with a single digit IQ. Saban DOES NOT coach UGA and NOBODY gives a rat’s a$$ what you and Saban think or would have done. If you are a Saban SUCKUP why don;t you sell your doublewide and move Aladambama.