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
ga gator
December 3rd, 2012
8:56 am
UGA should NOT have dropped to #7 in the BCS ranking; they got hosed plain and simple. Secondly there should not be a rule against more than 2 schools from a conference getting a BCS bid. Northern Illinois? You got to be kidding me.
Boycott the Bowl
December 3rd, 2012
8:57 am
This is a slap in the face to Georgia. If the University has any cojones they would boycott ALL lower Tier Bowls and demand a BCS Bowl. When you have Nick Saban saying Georgia deserves a BCS Bowl (even after beating them) then you know somethings up. Northern Illinois in the Orange Bowl? Really? Georgia v. Florida State would be a 100% better draw. Your gonna take a MAC team over a SEC Team? Really? I hope Greg Magarity and the University grow a set and stay at home this bowl season. If we kowtow to this BS then Georgia will never earn anyone’s respect. BOYCOTT!!!!!!!!
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
8:58 am
Georgia and Georgia Tech both played great games this past weekend but the teams they played were just better. Great efforts just Tech didn’t have the Talent to beat FSU and Georgia didn’t have the Coaching to beat Bama.
ga gator
December 3rd, 2012
8:59 am
Five More Yards… did you not see Murray motioning to the sidelines to spike the ball? He did what he was told and if the Bama lineman had not stripped the ball it may have been a TD pass.
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
9:02 am
You people really don’t know Crap about the BCS.
It is not about UGa and the SEC making money. It is about getting #1 vs #2 ONLY. You know the crap you were Crying about years ago. The rest of the BCS games are to give All the Conferences Money and Bowl games.
Stop CRYING.
Bad Dawg, Bad Dawg
December 3rd, 2012
9:02 am
UGA football is back? Now this is SUPPOSED
Pat Way
December 3rd, 2012
9:03 am
Only reason Tech is playing is because they promised USC if they can not score from the one they will step aside and let them. Hey Tech nerds you will always be the third best in the state behind the Dawgs and Georgia Southern
GLHSCDAWG
December 3rd, 2012
9:04 am
I don’t understand all the crappy -one bowl comments, this is the top bowl after BCS bowls. I don’t like who we are playing and many teams like Oklahoma got the screwed but as the system is now we are playing the #2 team from the Big 10.
Bad Dawg, Bad Dawg
December 3rd, 2012
9:06 am
Dawg Footbal is Back? Agree….back to 2nd Tier SEC. 2011 dawgs backed into SEC Championship and this year played a very weak schedule. No BCS Bowl. Seems like it’s a musical chair dance between the Libery, Chick-fil-A, Outback and Capital One but not the BCS. Still an elite program? No….that’s LSU, Bama and Gators.
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
9:07 am
Pat Way the ONLY reason UGa is playing is because the weak butt schedule you played.
Murray is now 3-10 against top 25 teams.
23 SEC Titles
December 3rd, 2012
9:09 am
Ga deserves better but the college fb postseason is a joke anyway. Perhaps the Dawgs will do a little
less woofing at Nebraska before kickoff. 350 yds rushing WOW. 23 and counting
macrotech
December 3rd, 2012
9:10 am
Certainly, I’m not a UGA fan, but I think y’all got hosed in the bowl selection process. The dawgs proved in the SEC Championship game that y’all belong in any of the bcs bowls this season. I have no problem giving y’all props for getting better each week this season and I believe that y’all would’ve given ND a hell of a fight for the big trophy….wow, that didn’t hurt to say as bad as I’d have thought.
Dawg4Life
December 3rd, 2012
9:13 am
Who cares, anything less than a Nat’l is worth celebrating.
Iceman and Slider
December 3rd, 2012
9:14 am
Hey Dawgs…the trophy for the alternates is in the ladies room.
1969 Graduate
December 3rd, 2012
9:15 am
I don’t care what bowl we’re in. It isn’t the NC bowl, and only that mattered. Come to think of it, we were already in the NC bowl, and we lost. We almost won, but we lost.
Now we’re in the first game of next season! Go, Dawgs! It’s not a bowl. We have an unworthy opponent (perhaps), but it’s a football game, and our team needs to see it as important to win. Nebraska should be up for us. It’s a great honor for them to be on the field with Georgia, and they have a lot to atone for, having been the team that “should” have won their championship.
Yeah, we got screwed by the refs, but let’s get past that.
There are some great bowls coming up. We’re not in one of them. Our non-bowl game will be horrible if we forget to show up though, and that would suck. Let’s show up, and show some real class. Let’s end up in the top five! That will set us up for next year.
I wish Alabama the best against Notre Dame.
Go, Dawgs!
someone who knows
December 3rd, 2012
9:16 am
all Georgia had to do was win the game…sthu crybabies, and try not to embarrass the conference in a bowl AGAIN!
Richt, one day later: ‘We spent ourselves in a worthy cause…. You’ve got to kind of get over the heartbreak’ | UGA sports blog
December 3rd, 2012
9:18 am
[...] Click here for full story on Georgia’s Capital One Bowl invitation [...]
Iceman and Slider
December 3rd, 2012
9:18 am
UGA got screwed by the refs? You Mutts are unbelieveable WHINERS!!! The no-call on the Murray hit cost you the game, huh? And yes, it was called, but how about the cheap shot by Ogletree on McCarron in the 2nd quarter? Helmet to helmet. Also, I saw plenty of holding on both sides…but then again I wasn’t drinking Bulldog Kool-aid at the game either.
Hate GT and Tide too
December 3rd, 2012
9:19 am
YellowJacket
You can kiss my A$$!
You suck and you guys back into the ACC game.
ACC stands for ALMOST COLLEGE CONFERENCE!
someone who knows
December 3rd, 2012
9:20 am
so you lost to the worst Bama team in 5 years and want praise?? how about this…35-7 stupid…1-11…1980…losers cry, winners celebrate.
ARdawg
December 3rd, 2012
9:21 am
macrotech
Surprising coming from you but, thanks for the honest words. We really didn’t get hosed. We knew what the end result of losing would be even if it meant we’d go to Shreveport. It’s the system we have. We wanted Miami and it wasn’t in the cards so we’ll just have to go where the chips fall.
ARdawg
December 3rd, 2012
9:25 am
If there are any crybabies on this blog, it’s you paper bagged head tech trolls somehow hoping to somehow disrespect a fine Georgia institution and football program. You guys are the definition of losers. Now clean your pocket protectors, wipe your lenses and put away your little weeners
Neutral
December 3rd, 2012
9:28 am
I’m amazed at all the jealous GT fans beating-up on UGa. What a bunch of insecure idiots you Yechies are!!! Just remember, it was your choice to leave the SEC for greed and you have been wandering in the wilderness ever since!!!
Columbus Dawg
December 3rd, 2012
9:29 am
Does anyone know the future of UGA Football? Murray going? Geathers going? Are there any players on UGA’s roster that can plug holes left from HUGE exodus of defensive players? Hopefully Bennett will heal properly and return to form, but that’s 50/50. Did Mark “I know what the hell I’m doing” Richt learn anything from the dome? Jury is still out on that one. From here it looks as if UGA will be at least three years out from being competitive again. Richt will not survive that. Did Richt promise Mason the starting job if he hung around, like he did Cox? (If so, 2013 another throw away year). Is Grantham really the man? Up the gut run defense no where to be found at UGA, even against Kentucky. I know that the university wants the discussion to be about the joke bowl game that they are stuck in, but these and other questions are the ones important to all the Dawgs I know.
Rooty Tooty
December 3rd, 2012
9:32 am
You UGA people are so aragant. Your never satisfied. You play one of the softest schedules in the country, you win 9-10 games a year and when you have the opportunity to step up, you don’t. You would not be happy IF you won the BCS NC and UGA jumped up and licked u in the arss…
Silver Fox
December 3rd, 2012
9:33 am
Please quit whining about the BCS rules….a waste of time. I’m very proud to be a loyal Dawg fan and proud of the effort of our team in the SECCG.
I am not proud, however, of many of you so called fans with your vitriolic remarks which serve no purpose or their than to make you look stupid and tarnish the image of the Bulldog Nation. You, and you know who you are, are losers (a kind description I might add).
Art
December 3rd, 2012
9:37 am
Well, if Georgia is going to go down there and give up 350 years rushing then why watch, Georgia needs some help on the defensive line, Bama ran like they were playing a high school team.
macrotech
December 3rd, 2012
9:38 am
ARdawg, though I’m not a fan of the Dawgs, I’m not a ‘hater’….I just get rowdy when Dawg fans blow up Tech boards. I even got an autograph from Vince Dooley a couple of years ago….in BIG font, he wrote ‘Go Dawgs’…but above his name he signed, “Go Jackets”. I understand what you’re saying. I just don’t believe that the teams that got into bcs bowls are better than the Dawgs. I know there’s a system in place and with them come rules…that said, this is one of those times when the selection committee SHOULD’VE skirted the ‘rules’ a bit. Best wishes to you and yours!
Paul
December 3rd, 2012
9:39 am
What difference does it really make as to what bowl your team is going to?! If you are not playing for the gold on Jan 7…..really what diffence does it really make?
No Two Ways
December 3rd, 2012
9:41 am
You can’t have it both ways ladies. You want to play in the big bad SEC with all the advantages that go with it? Tons of $$$$, easy majors for athletes, huge state school fan bases, recruiting for minor league NFL teams?
Sorry, you played three decent teams in your weight class and lost to two of them. Tough shi%. Life is hard.
Enough of the pity party.
Honey Badger Has the Munchies
December 3rd, 2012
9:48 am
Hard fought game Georgia! What a great SEC Title game! Good luck Bama from a Dawg fan. SIX SEC teams in the TOP 10 BCS….a lot of other teams got screwed too. Look at A&M, LSU, SC and Oklahoma. Happens every year folks in an imperfect system. The FIESTA Bowl got it right!
flo-ri-duh
December 3rd, 2012
9:49 am
This is the age of Obama where “redistribution of the wealth” is the by word and teams like Georgia, Texas A&M, LSU, Oklahoma and South Carolina that earned a BCS birth, are passed over for teams like Northern Illinois who lost to Kentucky by 30 points. Political correctness run amuck.
Seldon Seen
December 3rd, 2012
9:50 am
Saw the GUR and he had a great game against a great defense! Where was the SHALL? I thought “Gurshall” is what got us here in the first place?
DeezNutz
December 3rd, 2012
9:51 am
Timeout, Murray’s not a pansy, you are. Murray didn’t complain about the hit and the lack of a penalty. Murray got up and played like a man the rest of the game and almost helped us win it. And for all you dumb fools out there that think UGA was awarded 7 points because the refs called the pass tipped, you’re dumber than what’s in the bottom of my toilet. Since when is a FG being blocked and returned for a TD a sure thing. It’s an exceptional play and rightly deserved. Bama won the game Sat. night because it dominated the running game in the second half and made the plays to win. WE played damn too, but as Richt so correctly stated we just ran out of time. GO DAWGS! Win the Citrus Bowl and cap off a GREAT season!!! One last thing, Timeout, you suck.
ARdawg
December 3rd, 2012
9:52 am
macrotech
I know you are not a hater or a troll there guy. I’ve seen you on these boards for years. I’ve got no problem with you or the masses of Tech fans and I even admire you guys if the truth be told. There are however a number of hating Tech trolls that don’t wish to discuss football, just hoping to put someone else down so they can feel better about their own miserable station in life. Yes, I know some of the same sort of Dawg fans do it on your blogs too. No excuse for any of it.
dawg52
December 3rd, 2012
9:54 am
” the refs kept us in the game” Are you friggin kidding me? One of the dirtiest, cheap-shot hits on our QB I’ve ever seen, right in front of the zebra, and its a no-call? Hell, we get flagged for a clean hit on McCarron, and their drive stays alive…..what game were you watching man??
ARdawg
December 3rd, 2012
9:55 am
Columbus Dawg
Yes, UGA will be competitive next year. Yeah we’re losing a few but we’ve got superior talent still. Who knows who is leaving at this juncture is only a guess. Grantham is the man. I’ve no doubt that Bama’s running game would’a pasted 600 yards on any other defense.
ARdawg
December 3rd, 2012
9:59 am
Georgia should have won that game but hey, Bama played it just one better. I question how Grantham let their only reciever get that wide open deep with a lead but, it happens. Thats football.
anon1
December 3rd, 2012
10:00 am
Nebraska could not stop Wisconsin run game so “Gurshall” should run wild. Hopefully they won’t change their name to “Marley” before next year by hanging around with some of the smokers at GA.
anon1
December 3rd, 2012
10:02 am
ARDawg, does that mean all the other teams that Alabama played have a better run defense than GA?
SteveW
December 3rd, 2012
10:03 am
I’m not sure how a team plays the #2, 3, and 10 ranked teams in the BCS, as well as an 8-4 Vandy team, and the schedule is weak? That does not compute.
UGA = Yawn
December 3rd, 2012
10:03 am
You have that all wrong. They STILL wanted A&M. The SEC intervened and felt sorry that UGA would drop even further in the bowl picture and got the bowl to select them instead of Johnny football. From possible NC game, to possible BCS game to nothing. Nebraska? Lol. they are so sorry. But i will be rooting for them. PS: the last 15 seconds of the Bama – UGA game were priceless. What a bunch of bonehead coaches. The QB was motioning to them to spike the ball. They didn’t listen. QB was right – they were wrong! You reap what you sow Richt! Assinine!
king
December 3rd, 2012
10:04 am
you know our high schools in Ga have it right when it comes to the 1 and 2 seeds in regions. Instead of a play in game for them – they play for a seed – either first or second in region and no other consequence is put on that game. This means the seasons other 9 games all mean something and you have earned the right to be 1 or 2 in region — BCS should look and evaluate that avenue. There has to be a reward for playing a season out and being one of the best two in your conference – therefore, the BCS two teams. Surely, the Presidents of our fine institutions can see that?
UGA = Yawn
December 3rd, 2012
10:05 am
6-7 and playing Southern Cal. Wow. Two football schools steeped in tradition. 222-0, John Heisman, multiple Natl Championships.
anon1
December 3rd, 2012
10:08 am
flo-ri-duh They lost to Iowa by 1 point. Kent State lost to Kentucky.
UGA = Yawn
December 3rd, 2012
10:10 am
Right On ‘No Two Ways’. they didn’t have to play Bama, LSU or A&M during the regular season. They won’t get this opportunity again. It has been 32 years since their last NC. Soooo long ago. The only good teams they played in reg season were USC – totally smashed UGA (keep it going Spurrier – year after year) and UF who gave them 6 turnovers and they still only barely won.
Joe B.
December 3rd, 2012
10:13 am
Ga fans complain a lot about other teams hitting their QB’s.. What a whiny fanbase
Basspro2150
December 3rd, 2012
10:15 am
LOVE those DAWGS. Yes a few bad calls but those men played their hearts out. Nebraska seriously what a dump. The rest of you can Kiss my %&%$.
SteveW
December 3rd, 2012
10:16 am
So exactly how many current BCS Top 10 teams has Notre Dame played? How about the current media darling Ohio State, to sneak in as #1 in the AP poll if ‘Bama beats ND?
That’s what I thought. Nothing wrong with UGA’s schedule.
DeezNutz
December 3rd, 2012
10:17 am
“UGA = Yawn” = pathetic troll. There you go, I acknowledged your existence. Happy? If you consider the SEC east a tough schedule, then I’m sure the ACC coastal is the pinnacle of football. What a moron. Tech will be the ONLY football team playing in a bowl game this year with a losing record. Put that in your hallowed halls of tradition. BTW, don’t you at least feel some shame that Mid Tenn State whupped you guys on the field and Tech was given their bowl spot. At least Mid Tenn State won more games than they lost, by beating Tech. Get out of here troll.