Georgia vs. Nebraska in Capital One Bowl (UPDATED w/ comments)
(Updated 10 p.m.)
A day after coming up five yards short of a trip to Miami for the national championship game, Georgia’s football team learned Sunday that it will play a bowl game in a different Florida city.
The Bulldogs (11-2) will play Nebraska (10-3) in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando on Jan. 1 in a matchup of the losers of the SEC and Big Ten championship games.
While Georgia lost the SEC title to Alabama 32-28 on the final play of a stirring game, Nebraska endured an embarrassing 70-31 loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game.
The Capital One, which holds first choice of SEC teams after the BCS games, had been rumored to be considering Texas A&M and its Heisman Trophy candidate, quarterback Johnny Manziel. But after Georgia’s strong performance against Alabama, the bowl opted to take the Bulldogs, who dropped from No. 3 to No. 7 in the final BCS standings released Sunday night.
Notre Dame and Alabama remained Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, and will meet in the national championship game on Jan. 7 in Miami. Alabama survived an SEC title game that saw the lead change hands five times and ended with Georgia on the Crimson Tide’s 5-yard line as time ran out.
Florida moved up to No. 3 in the BCS standings Sunday and, as the second highest ranked SEC team, will go to the Sugar Bowl to play Big East co-champ Louisville.
Other BCS games will match Pac-12 champion Stanford vs. Big Ten champ Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl, Big 12 co-champ Kansas State vs. BCS No. 4 Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl and ACC champ Florida State vs. Mid-American champ Northern Illinois in the Orange Bowl. In the latest controversial chapter of BCS history, Northern Illinois (12-1) received a BCS berth by being ranked in the top 16 (No. 15) and ahead of at least one champion of an automatic-qualifying conference.
After Florida passed Georgia in the rankings, UGA was locked out of a shot at a BCS game because of a rule allowing no more than two teams from a single league to get BCS bids, a rule that Alabama coach Nick Saban sharply criticized after beating the Bulldogs. Saban called it “a crying shame” and “ridiculous” that Georgia would be excluded from a BCS invitation.
Actually, Georgia appeared in danger of falling farther down the bowl pecking order than the Capital One. But that’s where the Bulldogs landed after some late scrambling among bowls triggered by Northern Illinois earning a BCS berth at the expense of Oklahoma.
“If we weren’t going to be in a BCS game, this is the location we wanted to be,” Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said Sunday night.
But McGarity added, “There’s no question — there’s absolutely no question — that we are deserving of a BCS bid. … There’s no question we played great the last half of the season and just to see the way we laid it on the line (Saturday) proved that we’re right there along with the best in college football.”
Capital One Bowl CEO Steve Hogan called the selection of Georgia “an easy decision” in the end.
“No offense to Texas A&M,” Hogan said. “I think they’ve had a fine first year in the conference, a 10-win team. And we have an opportunity to get an 11-win division champion, a few yards away from a national championship.
“The most important thing to our committee was, Georgia deserved this trip. And we’re fortunate to have a team, really, that is of BCS quality.”
After the Capital One selected Georgia, the Outback, which had the next pick from the SEC East, chose South Carolina to play Michigan. And the Cotton, with the next pick from the SEC West, chose Texas A&M to form a marquee matchup against surprisingly available Oklahoma.
The Capital One Bowl will be played at 1 p.m. on New Year’s Day in Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium and will be televised on ABC.
Georgia coach Mark Richt said he foresees no problem in getting the Bulldogs to bounce back from the disappointment of losing the SEC title game and their national championship aspirations.
“I think playing Nebraska is going to get everybody’s blood pumping,” Richt said. “There aren’t many teams in the history of Georgia football that have ever won 12 games in a season and it’s going to mean something to them. I know our guys want to finish on a high note.”
Georgia and Nebraska have met only once previously in football. Georgia lost to the Cornhuskers 45-6 in the 1969 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.
This will be Georgia’s sixth appearance in the Capital One Bowl. The Bulldogs are 3-1-1 in the Orlando game, most recently defeating Michigan State there at the end of the 2008 season.
In Saturday’s loss to Wisconsin, Nebraska’s defense allowed 640 total yards, including 539 yards rushing. Against Alabama, Georgia’s defense surrendered 512 yards, including 350 rushing.
– Tim Tucker, AJC
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841 comments Add your comment
Dawg Whisperer
December 2nd, 2012
11:30 pm
UF44… difference is UGA actually made it to the SEC championship game.
Ace
December 2nd, 2012
11:30 pm
Bama runs all over your butt and you still think they didn’t win, stupid is way strong here.
Put in Timeout by Ken Sugiura,Filtered by Mark Bradley, Banned once by Bill King & Chip Towers but only slightly loved by Jeff Schultz.
December 2nd, 2012
11:33 pm
Murray and the “5 yards short of being a Dream Team” boys still can’t beat highly ranked teams.
heymoney
December 2nd, 2012
11:35 pm
The way I understand it the Orange bowl got last choice and had no other option. The BCS God’s said this is what the Sugar turned down and it is your team vs FSU.
BowlSnub
December 2nd, 2012
11:36 pm
@ Seldon Seen
Not sure I see your point about ND not being worthy. We had our chance to go undefeated and we blew it. Not only did we get stomped by 4 scores @ SC, we somehow still had the good fortune of have a path to the Championship game…..any of this sound familiar to you yet?
Maybe less whining about the only undefeated team in the nation, and more focus on how / why s many of our fans and athletic department think that Grantham is a top Defensive Coordinator. With our elite, NFL bound talent — can’t believe we can’t play better against top competition.
Let’s be happy we are going to the Cap One / Citrus Bowl and try to end this year with a win.
Dawg Whisperer
December 2nd, 2012
11:37 pm
Ace… stick to playing solitaire, your comment makes no sense.
Paul in NH
December 2nd, 2012
11:38 pm
“Oregon would be a 7-5 team in the SEC”
The SEC is undoubtedly the strongest conference but anyone who thinks that Oregon would lose to 5 of the SEC teams UGA played (KY, Auburn, Mizzou, Tennessee, Vandy, Ole Miss, USC, UF) has a serious case of homerism.
Put in Timeout's Mom
December 2nd, 2012
11:39 pm
I apologize. My son is in idiot. We keep him chained up in the basement.
Dawg Whisperer
December 2nd, 2012
11:40 pm
Timeout…GT was also put in timeout, filtered and banned by UGA. Something you have have in common with the North Ave. Trade School.
Put in Timeout by Ken Sugiura,Filtered by Mark Bradley, Banned once by Bill King & Chip Towers but only slightly loved by Jeff Schultz.
December 2nd, 2012
11:44 pm
So what does that make Pad My Stats(against crappy teams) Murray record against top 25 teams? 3-10 right.
Put in Timeout by Ken Sugiura,Filtered by Mark Bradley, Banned once by Bill King & Chip Towers but only slightly loved by Jeff Schultz.
December 2nd, 2012
11:46 pm
Who will not be at the bowl game for UGa? Who will not pass their classes or get arrested? You know RICHT will not Pee Test these guys until the season is over.
UF44
December 2nd, 2012
11:47 pm
Dawg Whisperer
December 2nd, 2012
11:30 pm
UF44… difference is UGA actually made it to the SEC championship game.
Good for you! Maybe next time. You have also won 2 in a row in Jax. Nice to be able to call that game a rivalry again.
Hate Mark Richt
December 2nd, 2012
11:47 pm
Fire Richt now.
Fire Bobo now.
They are the worst ever.
Seldon Seen
December 2nd, 2012
11:48 pm
@BowlSnub
Not sure I see you point. The point as stated is that Notre Dame does not have to go through a conference (any conference schedule) much less an SEC conference schedule. Bama will crush them as would have Georgia had they won the conference championship game. They are for, reasons unknown to me, a “media darling” of the national press based on what? Knute Rockne? I think was like 50 some odd years or ago.
Hate Mark Richt
December 2nd, 2012
11:49 pm
Richt couldn’t even cuss out a reporter…………………the whimp
OnSide Kick
December 2nd, 2012
11:52 pm
Listen up some of you Whiners.
As an actual graduate Student Athlete at the University of Georgia, with a Degree in hand, I am sick of reading post from blowhards who want to talk about officiating, how the SEC or ESPN wanted the other team to win, how the Dawgs get the bad end of the rope and on and on. Every game there are calls that are made and those that are missed, some change games( Notre Dame-Stanford) most do not. There was not a single call or missed call last night that would have changed the game. Stop the whining and crying and learn to grow up and be a classy UGA fan. I know for those who actually did not attend UGA it may be hard for you to understand what collegiate athletics is all about without a decent college or for some high school education.
Alabama won on the field, now as loyal Dawg fans we should win off the field, support our team as they travel to play Nebraska, display our Red and Black proudly and support Alabama to win the title for the SEC once again. The more they win, the bigger they win, the better we look.
UofOverrated
December 2nd, 2012
11:53 pm
Let’s be real – UGA beat FL this year. End of story. FL, a team with a strong defense and a pretty anemic offense.
Quit they whining about a New Year’s Day bowl. It could be worse and fortunately bowl selection does not factor in strength of schedule.
Dirty Dawg
December 2nd, 2012
11:56 pm
Hey hate mark richt…guess what? God hates you…and he has instructed me to be ‘his hand’…so don’t ever reveal yourself to us…that all makes about as much sense as your posts.
Atlanta Gator
December 3rd, 2012
12:06 am
Hey, Dawg fans, look around and see with whom the other SEC teams are paired.
Other than Alabama, the other top five SEC teams are paired with lower ranked opponents: #3 Florida vs. #21 Louisville; #7 Georgia vs. #16 Nebraska; #8 LSU vs. #14 Clemson; #9 Texas A&M vs. #11 Oklahoma; and #10 South Carolina vs. #18 Michigan. Anybody else see a pattern here? Part of the problem, of course, is that with SIX SEC teams in the top ten of the BCS rankings, there aren’t enough quality non-SEC opponents to go around, guys.
Oh, and stop complaining about the quality of your opponents—-that’s a formula for your Dawgs (or other favorite SEC team) being upset by one of those “lesser” and “unworthy” opponents. I remember when the Gators were ranked #3 and were b!tching about playing an unworthy #18 Notre Dame after the 1991 season. Guess what? The Gators got upset by the “unworthy” Fighting Irish.
Attitude matters in preparation.
RTR4ever
December 3rd, 2012
12:07 am
Bama vs ND is the big one now, and the one you all want to be in. But the rest of you are just going to have to wait until next year to see who will get their shot at the Mighty Tide. Go luck dogs, gators, aTm, lsu. Bring your best boys you’re going to need it. See ya next year with yet another ring.
Atlanta Gator
December 3rd, 2012
12:13 am
“Let’s be real – UGA beat FL this year. End of story. FL, a team with a strong defense and a pretty anemic offense.”
Perhaps. But I also watched the Georgia-South Carolina game, too. South Carolina thumped Georgia 35-7, and the Gamecocks’ only other loss was a two-point edging by a highly ranked LSU. A two-loss South Carolina can make a reasonable claim they deserve a better bowl than a two-loss UGA. Just sayin’, y’all.
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
December 3rd, 2012
12:14 am
Calm down. “Hate Mark Richt” is being sarcastic about the haters who come on here and show that they shouldn’t be taken seriously.
Atlanta Gator
December 3rd, 2012
12:15 am
“Bring your best boys you’re going to need it. See ya next year with yet another ring.”
Yeah, RTR4ever. See you in Atlanta in 2013, and bring your best game. You’re going to need it.
Atlanta Gator
December 3rd, 2012
12:17 am
@OnSide Kick (11:52 pm)
Exactly right, sir.
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
December 3rd, 2012
12:17 am
I wish the BCS rules could be broken because the game I would have liked to have seen (over than a UGA-ND rematch for NC) would be a Gator-Dawg rematch in the Sugar Bowl. Now, that would be one fun party in the Crescent City!!!!!!!!!!. P.S. For Gator fans, they don’t like it in New Orleans when people call it “The Big Easy.”
Put in Timeout by Ken Sugiura,Filtered by Mark Bradley, Banned once by Bill King & Chip Towers but only slightly loved by Jeff Schultz.
December 3rd, 2012
12:22 am
Hey UGA fans you could always ask Ohio State to play a Scrimmage Game in the dome with the proceeds going to the Children’s Hospital.
You think you OWN Ohio State so maybe that would be a good game for you.
Atlanta Gator
December 3rd, 2012
12:24 am
@UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
Roger that.
BTW, it will be warmer in Orlando than New Orleans, and you will be far less likely to be mugged, urinated on, or have your car burglarized. Catch a beach day for me. By January 1st, I’ll be ready for a short break from the Atlanta weather.
Daytonauf
December 3rd, 2012
12:25 am
I’m fine with the part uga won the game, I get that. It just gets under my skin when some (not all) act like they beat the $hit out of us and like they are 100% better than we are. What game were they watching? I did see a good uga team, but i also saw another team that self-destructed and 50% of it was on their own,not because uga did anything to cause it. Ga made a good play at the end or we score and good chance we go to atlanta. Our bad day was not like your’s in SC by a long shot.
av8rdawg
December 3rd, 2012
12:31 am
Worst BCS Games ever scheduled !
You have got to be kidding me!
Good , Now I don’t have to watch any of these BS games. The “lesser” games will be much better…..no really!
WE NEED an 8 game play off A.S.A.P
p.s. It can’t come soon enough!
Georgia got hosed among many others!
FORMATION 4 SUCCESS
December 3rd, 2012
12:41 am
JUST SAYING, AFTER ALL THE LOSSES THAT GT HAS HAD TO UGA, THERE HAS ONLY BEEN ONE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SINCE 1990 AND THAT TROPHY HAS GEORGIA TECH’S NAME ON IT. UGA, YOU STILL HAVE TO LOOK UP TO US BECAUSE WE STILL SIT ON TOP OF THAT MOUNTAIN. IF I COULD JUST GET THIS THROUGH THE HEADS OF MY BOYS ON THE FLATS WE CAN GET THIS THING TURNED AROUND. IN THE MEANTIME UGA FOLKS, MY DARLING DAUGHTER SAYS IT BEST. SSHHH!!!
Tdawg
December 3rd, 2012
12:47 am
Has no one noticed that by far with the exception of the Alabama/Notre Dame match up. The best bowl games will be played in the lower tier bowls? The so called major bowls just pretty much made themselves irrelevant. I use to watch all the major bowl games. This season I’ll watch a few of the lower tier bowl match ups and probably catch only the Bama/Dame match up from the major bowls.
John
December 3rd, 2012
12:48 am
I love to see how if things don’t go your teams way, you got “robbed” when in reality the only reason GA was ranked 3rd was only because the other highly ranked teams were losing and GA just eased their way into the top 5. You had a good team this year, pretty easy schedule and this was your chance to make it to play for the NC but choked after playing a great game. Next year will prob not be so easy.
Rabbit
December 3rd, 2012
12:50 am
UGA came out on the wrong end of the SEC championship. They’ll have to accept and get ready for Nebraska. But they have put to rest the notion they can’t go toe to toe with the nation’s best team. (yes, that is a prediction about the Miami NC game). UF is a good SEC team. Not deserving of jumping Dogs in the polls.
av8rdawg
December 3rd, 2012
12:52 am
Terrible time management last night by CMR. Spike the ball & then you have two throws to the end zone.
Oh well, I am starting to realize maybe I should not be going to these games after all. I mean, I missed getting SEC game tickets by 200 points; but I bet they will ask me If I want 8 tickets again to all of next years home games; I don’t think so. Game was much cheaper to watch on T.V., besides no traffic to worry about in my living room!
7576DAWG
December 3rd, 2012
12:56 am
I would much rather go to Orlando , Disney and Universal and end with a few days at the Gulf where it will be warm than New Orleans. It will be cold and there is not much to New Orleans unless you are overweight and like to eat or get drunk. Two real healthy habits. I’ll take Orlando any day.
Tdawg
December 3rd, 2012
12:59 am
Daytonauf, you are right. The game was much closer than it should have been. The dawgs actually should have won by at least 3 TD’s. Only for a team like Florida would the powers that be over look your pathetic performances against that small college team from Louisiana and not to mention the game against that mighty Jacksonville team. Wow that was a tough game wasn’t it?
TRAIN
December 3rd, 2012
1:10 am
Dawgs almost won.Get nother chance vs NEB to redeem the team!
hbvandy
December 3rd, 2012
1:35 am
Congrats to Georgia and its fans!
What a great game! And the national championship has some big hurdles to jump over to surpass the SEC championship game. Too bad Georgia fell just a bit short… as Coach Richt said, “we just ran out of time.”
On another matter, as a transplanted Atlantan who became a Vandy fan when I settled in Nashville after moving to Nashville to attend school, I know there are a few Vandy fans floating around Atlanta.
New territory for Vandy fans… Vandy in its history had NEVER been to a bowl game in two consecutive seasons! Can you believe it? Til this year. So a little celebration tonight as Vandy announced a new contract with Coach Franklin… and had a bowl party announcing their bowl selection to a standing room audience.
Here’s a couple of links for those interested to those events…
~~~> http://www.vucommodores.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120212aaa.html
~~~> http://www.vucommodores.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120212aax.html
Many have said Franklin would be gone cuz Vanderbilt wouldn’t pay him when others came after him. Many have said Vanderbilt wouldn’t provide the resources necessary to compete.
There’s a different culture developing at Vanderbilt, from the chancellor on down. I think we’ll continue to see Vanderbilt climb up the mountain to having a top-level program. Enjoy the links.
And for the dawg fans, wouldn’t we love to have had just 30 more seconds down at the game end?!!
John
December 3rd, 2012
1:52 am
Hbvandy. The time was on the clock, even if they were given another minute, you have to know clock management and that’s where they slipped up by not using what time they had left.
William G. Little
December 3rd, 2012
2:40 am
Cap 1 is better than the Orange Bowl — BCS, or not.
William G. Little
December 3rd, 2012
2:44 am
If one is going to engage in imagining 30 more seconds on the game clock, then just be careful not to add 120 seconds instead. The score then could have been 39 – 35.
You only get 60 minutes.
Eric C.
December 3rd, 2012
2:56 am
The Gator offense will not be good enough to win an SEC Championship next season.
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
December 3rd, 2012
3:06 am
The BCS was to make sure that the Number 1 played against the Number 2. In the old days, for example, you’d have #1 playing #19 in the Rose Bowl and #2 versus #5 in the Sugar Bowl or whatever. Then when both #1 and #2 won, people couldn’t decide if #1 should be #1 for beating a weaker team or #2 should jump to #1 for having beat a stronger team. So, the BCS did it’s job. HOWEVER (and notice that’s a big HOWEVER) this year seems to have produce an inordinately high number of grotesque mismatches. Kansas State v. Oregon was a good match because it would have otherwise been the NC, so that will be interesting. Gators versus Louisville. Really? Pity the poor Orange Bowl where FSU v. Oklahoma would have been a reminder of some great football games with real ramifications. Northern Illinois? Really?
P.S. Atlanta Gator. Atlanta Gator. Just a question if you don’t mind: When Alabama beat Florida at the SEC Championship (the year of the white helmets), were there Gator fans on the posts saying that Urban Meyer should be fired and that he was the most terrible coach in America and that the Gators were losers, etc.? I thought not. Something to think about for the supposed “Dawg” fans here who aren’t just pathetic Tech troll posers.
Bobito
December 3rd, 2012
3:12 am
A whole year to think about bad coaching and one stupid play – catching the ball at the five and watching the clock run out …
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
December 3rd, 2012
3:35 am
Somebody/anybody cite for me in the history of football where a receiver caught a spiked ball for a touchdown. Thought not.
On the other hand, how awesome would it have been to have faked like we were spiking the ball and then thrown the fade? That would have been crazy awesome.
If Conley had batted the ball down, think of all the posts who would have been screaming, “why didn’t you catch that ball? you could have scored! what an idiot for having knocked that ball down when you could have caught it and scored?!”
face it, any time you lose, anything you would have done differently might have changed the outcome (even if in reality it wouldn’t have).
David Pollock
December 3rd, 2012
4:22 am
UGA is a slim second to Bama. And no, Lsu and Texas A&M are not better than UGA. Lsu = no quarterback and very over rated. A & M is good but a rookie in this conference.
And believe this, Saban was pissing his pants when UGA was marching down that field getting ready to score and win the game. He knows he is very very fortunate to get the “W.”
Eric C.
December 3rd, 2012
4:22 am
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986…I think you are on to something with fake spiked ball play, it has worked before. No one in their right mind would think Conley could have scored on that play.
It wouldn’t be nearly as agonizing if the Dawgs could have had at least one throw into the end zone…if it fell incomplete, then so be it. It would be a lot easier to accept than the clock just running out.
uncomitted
December 3rd, 2012
5:19 am
I agree with HuskerDawg. Don’t knock Nebraska.I lived there and now in GA. UGA is good this year, but they have 1 national championship and Nebraska has 5. It is considered a premier football program. So who’s Crappy! Get your head out of the SEC and look around there are a lot of good teams in the rest of the country.
jim davis
December 3rd, 2012
5:33 am
As usual, virtually none of the matchups are interesting…once the automatic bid system of the BCS went into effect, all the really good potential matchups always go down the potty. How about Oregon versus either Georgia or Florida? Kansas State versus G or F? Tons of great possibilities but now, outside of the national championship game, most are snoozers
jim davis
December 3rd, 2012
5:34 am
And that includes Nebraska