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BI From the Editor : Vance Leavy

Well the 2013 regular college football season has comeand gone in a flash. And while our boys in red and black did-n’t make it to Pasadena like we all hoped and prayed for, there’sstill a ton to be proud of in the Bulldog Nation.

First and foremost, as ourcover reflects, there’s nothing likebeating the Bees in Atlanta. Thosesmiles you see on our players’ faceswere certainly earned as they re-bounded like true Bulldogs from a20-0 deficit. And for the fans, howsweet was it to walk out of BobbyDodd seeing the dejection on thesame Jacket fans that were talkingso much trash? As Jeff Dantzlersays, you really can’t put up aChristmas tree when we lose toTech. Thankfully for all of us thatyuletide tradition is once again safefor all who love the University ofGeorgia.

Now, it’s time to move into thebowl season and for the 17th timein a row our Bulldogs are includedin the party. For some, playing inthe Gator Bowl will be met withdisappointment, which I com-pletely understand. However, this2013 team wasn’t dealt the easiesthand this season as far as injuriesgo. Yet despite that, they scratchedand clawed for a respectable 8-4season.

Now, I’m not going all homeron you.

Without question, Mark Richt and his staff must do somereal soul-searching thisoff-season to determinewhat tweaks must bemade to produce asound brand of football.The talent at Georgia istoo great to continuouslyhave silly mistakes thwartthem from the promisedland.

However, when youattend the annual SeniorGala that occurred this

past weekend (December 14), you get a true feeling for thebrotherhood shared in our football program. No one wanted tobring the Bulldog Nation a national championship more thanthis senior class did. While they fell short, the optimist in you

has to hope that the tenacity they showed iswhat propels next year’s seniors to some-thing magical.

I certainly encourage all our readers tocheck out our photos from the Gala (pages8 and 9). And while you will see playerslike Aaron Murray, Garrison Smith andArthur Lynch, we should also praise thecommitment of the seniors whose nameswe might have never known. I know every-one here at Bulldawg Illustrated under-stands what it’s like to fight your hardestweek in and week out during the season.

Thankfully, for the players and thefans, there’s still one more Georgia footballgame in the 2013 season. I certainly hopeeveryone out there is planning to representUGA accordingly and make the trip for theGator Bowl. And while I have nothingagainst Jacksonville, I hope the Golden Islesis on the top of your list for your stay.

By now, we all know making the hourdrive to Jacksonville is nothing on game-day, so go ahead and get on your laptop andbook a few days to ring in your new year inone of the coolest areas in the state of Geor-gia.

Now, it’s time for me to wrap thingsup, so as I do every issue I certainly en-courage you to look to our pages for plentyof entertaining sports and fan coverage.

However, since this is our last issue of 2013, I want to extenda warm thank you to all our readers and advertisers. You are thebest! This issue caps our 11th year and we certainly wouldn’tbe here without our staff members, so a big salute to them aswell for everything they do.

Finally, while this will be our last print issue until thingscrank up in 2014, I encourage everyone to keep up with allUGA happenings on our website. The final push to SigningDay 2014 is amongst us and our BI online team will certainlyguide you all the way until the first Wednesday in February.

Now, let’s go whip the Cornhuskers for the second year ina row and send these 2013 seniors off into the sunset as win-ners. Happy Holidays to all and see you in Jacksonville (and theGolden Isles) for the new year. Go Dawgs!

Cha Cha Cha Publishing Inc.

Editor Vance Leavy

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Bowl Preview, December 17, 2013

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Place to Retire in AthensThe Retirement & Personal Care

Jeff DantzlerDooley’s contributions continue 50 years later

A half century ago, the University of Georgiahired Vince Dooley as the school’s head footballcoach. It was December 3, 1963, and the course ofthe Bulldogs football and athletic fortunes weresteered for greatness.

At the time, no one could have imagined whatwould transpire.

Dooley, age 31 at the time, was not exactly ahigh profile hire. In fact, University President Dr.O.C. Aderhold forgot his name at the introductorypress conference, and referred to Dooley as “thatbright young coach.”

Nick Saban from the Miami Dolphins to Al-abama this was not.

But Georgia’s new athletics director saw some-thing special in his protégé. Joel Eaves, a success-ful basketball coach and administrator at Auburn,had just been hired to take over the Bulldogs ath-letic department, on November 22, 1963 - not ex-actly an insignificant date to those who know theirAmerican history. His first order of business wasto get the Georgia football program back on track,and Eaves turned to that bright young coach whohad headed up Auburn’s freshman team.

When Dooley came to Athens for the inter-view and subsequently to take the job, the Georgia’slegendary sports information director, tennis coach,Bulldog Club chief and promotional and market-ing pioneer and master Dan Magill picked him upand gave strict instructions to stay in his hotel roomso no one in Athens would spot him walkingaround town.

This was the forerunner to fans who nowtrack tail numbers on private planes to see just whomay be visiting where.

As Dooley has often recounted, “I followedcoach Magill’s instructions, but I could have walkedover Athens with a nametag on and nobody wouldhave known who the hell I was.”

Georgia’s football program had fallen on hardtimes. The glorious days of the 1940’s, when coachWally Butts and a bevy of legendary players likeFrank Sinkwich, Charley Trippi, Johnny Rauch andLamar “Racehorse” Davis led the Bulldogs threeSoutheastern Conference champions, No. 1 na-tional rankings in both 1942 (consensus nationalchampions) and 1946 (Williamson Poll), and vic-tories in the Orange, Rose, Oil and Sugar Bowls,were but precious memories.

In the 1950s, Butts program slumped greatly,finishing with a winning record just twice between1951 and 1958. There was the infamous eightgame drought against Tech and four consecutivelosing seasons from ’55 to ’58.

Georgia would pull things together and winthe SEC crown in 1959, going 10-1 and finishingNo. 5 in the land. But that would be an outlier sea-son. In Butts’ final season of 1960, Georgia went 6-4. There was much infighting over who thesuccessor would be, and the Bulldogs hired formerstandout player Johnny Griffith, who never had achance. There were too many factors workingagainst him. In his three years, the Bulldogs suf-fered three losing records, a 1-8 mark against Tech,Florida and Auburn and the controversy of theButts-“Bear” Bryant Saturday Evening Post story.

When Dooley took over, Georgia had just twowinning seasons in its last nine campaigns.

But with the support of Magill, fellow Bull-dogs legend Bill Hartman, Eaves, and a stellar staffthat featured the iconic Erk Russell and brother BillDooley, Georgia quickly turned things aroundunder the watch of the bright young coach.

In his first season of 1964, which began witha 31-3 loss to Bryant, Joe Namath and Alabama inTuscaloosa, would climax with a 7-3-1 record, winsover Florida, Tech and Texas Tech in the Sun Bowl,just Georgia’s second postseason trip in the last 14years.

The next year, the Bulldogs beat defendingand eventual national champion Alabama on thefamous flea-flicker play and then won at Michigan.

In 1966, the Bulldogs went 10-1, finished No.4 nationally and captured the first of Dooley’s sixSEC championships. Two years later, the Bulldogs,featuring college football hall of famers Bill Stanfilland Jake Scott, won another. In his first five sea-sons, Dooley was 5-0 vs. Tech and had establishedhimself, in a league with legendary coaches likeBryant, his mentor Ralph “Shug” Jordan at Auburn,and Ole Miss’s Johnny Vaught, as one of the SEC’sbest chieftains.

There were up’s and down’s in the 1970’s, adecade highlighted by an 11-1 mark in 1971 andthe 1976 SEC championship.

But as the decade drew to a close, Dooley’s ca-reer took an enormous leap.

Georgia went just 6-5 in 1979 and Eaves re-tired as athletic director. Dooley was hired to sharethe A.D.’s job for two years with Dr. Reid Parker.

Then on Easter Sunday 1980, Herschel

Walker signed with Georgia. Headlining an amazing freshman class, that

merged with a magnificent senior class and nu-merous other front-line players, the Bulldogs wonthe 1980 national and SEC championships with aperfect 12-0 record, featuring a half-dozen unfor-gettable victories – highlighted by Buck Belue’s 93-yard touchdown pass to Lindsay Scott to beatFlorida and the 17-10 Sugar Bowl victory overNotre Dame.

The Dogs would win the next two SEC titlesand come oh-so-close to national championships in1981, 1982 and 1983. Over that four year stretch,the Bulldogs were a remarkable 43-4-1, with eachloss coming to a team that would finish in the na-tion’s top four. From 1980-83, Georgia’s footballprogram, with Dooley and fellow future collegefootball hall of famers Walker, Terry Hoage andKevin Butler headlining incredibly talented andsound squads, was America’s best.

Dooley, who flirted with returning to his almamater prior to the triumph over Notre Dame, choseto stay at Georgia and was named sole athletic di-rector.

This is what makes Dooley’s legacy truly shine. Though Georgia came up agonizingly short

of another SEC title during his final six years as theBulldogs football coach, the overall athletic programquickly took shape as one of America’s best. Withthe rise of women’s athletics and the increasing pop-ularity of college sports, Georgia jumped to the fore-front.

A man of true vision, Dooley was instrumen-tal in the television boom of college football, spear-heading the push of conferences to get control oftheir own deals.

Meanwhile, in house, he began to bring in thenext generation of legends. His first three hires: Hallof Fame Women’s Basketball coach Andy Landers,still going strong with five Final Four’s and sevenSEC championships, Hall of Fame Olympic swim-ming coach Jack Bauerle, still going strong with fivenational championships and 10 SEC crowns, andHall of Fame Sports Information Director ClaudeFelton, protégé of Magill and simply the best there’sbeen for a very long time.

For nearly a decade, Dooley was simultane-ously one of America’s premier football coaches andathletic directors.

Upon retiring from the gridiron, he wouldhave another 16 years as Georgia’s athletics director.The Bulldogs enjoyed tremendous success in a va-riety of sports. He hired hall of fame baseball coachRon Polk, who led the Bulldogs to the 2001 Col-lege World Series and the program’s first SEC titlesince 1954. He then hired his son Derek’s bestfriend David Perno, whom he thought too younguntil reminded that he was older when Eaves hiredDooley. Perno led Georgia to three College WorldSeries and two SEC titles.

Magill’s other great successor Manuel Diaz,who took over in 1989, has led Georgia to four na-tional titles, and the program has 36 SEC crownsdating to 1971.

Dooley hired Jeff Wallace, who has coachedthe women’s tennis team to two national champi-onships.

He brought in Suzanne Youculan, who wonan incredible 10 national championships in gym-nastics.

He hired his longtime cohort Dick Copus’s,great golf coach, counselor and even athletic trainerduring a tremendous career, successor ChrisHaack, who has guided the Bulldogs to two na-tional championships and seven SEC crowns.

Several of these standout coaches are still lead-ing Georgia to glory – Dooley’s stamp undeniableand inescapable.

Few football coaches enjoyed the kind of in-credible 25 year career that Dooley did. The Bull-dogs suffered just one losing season and went to 20bowls.

Few athletic directors enjoyed the kind of in-credible 25 year career that Dooley did – with ninesimultaneous. Georgia’s overall athletic programwas consistently amongst the top ten in America,including a No. 2 finish in 1998-99 when Bulldogteams won four national championships.

The fact that he did both is quite remarkable. Handling it with foresight and a classic south-

ern charm that still resonates today is equally in-credible. How many people hired in 1963 still getoverflow crowds and lines to autograph books at aschool’s bookstore? How many people hired in1963 hired people who continue to do incrediblethings at a very special place?

Eaves stuck his neck out.And that bright young coach’s impact will

never be forgotten and shall continue to shine foryear’s to come in America’s greatest college town,Athens, GA.

4 • Bulldawg Illustrated

Poole Shots by Murray Poole

Most Memorable UGA Bowl Victories

When Georgia tees it up against the Ne-braska Cornhuskers in the Jan. 1 Gator Bowlgame in Jacksonville, the Bulldogs will be at-tempting to improve on a rich bowl record thatcurrently stands at 27-18-3. And this will beGeorgia’s 49th bowl game − sixth most of anyteam in the country.

Many of those bowl victories followedSoutheastern Conference championships for theBulldogs and several of the bowl wins enabledGeorgia to be ranked No. 1 in all the land, in-cluding of course consensus national champi-onships in 1942 and 1980.

But which bowl victories have been theBulldogs' best? And here I'm not talking onlyabout Georgia's most prestigious holiday winsfrom such major venues as the Sugar, Rose, Or-ange and Cotton but the Bulldogs' most excitingbowl victories in some of the smaller bowls aswell.

That said, when you talk about the biggestbowl wins in UGA's storied football history, youhave to certainly include the Bulldogs' first bowltrip ever, on Jan. 1, 1942 when eventual Heis-man Trophy winner Frankie Sinkwich and Geor-gia stormed over TCU 40-26 in the OrangeBowl. And you have to talk about that great 9-0Rose Bowl win over UCLA one year later whenthe legendary Charley Trippi ran his way to bowlMVP honors. And what Georgia historian couldever forget the Bulldogs' 20-10 Sugar Bowl winover North Carolina, on Jan. 1, 1947 after Trippihad led the Bulldogs to a perfect 10-0 seasonrecord in the fall of '46? That Georgia team, likethe 1942 squad, would also wind up No. 1 inseveral national polls.

Those great bowl wins by the Bulldogs werewell before my time of observing Georgia play soin listing my most memorable Georgia post-sea-son victories in this space today, I'm sticking withthe bowl games I personally observed. Here arethe top five − in order, from top to bottom − withone bonus one thrown in:

1981 Sugar Bowl − Georgia, 17, Notre Dame 10Can there be any question that this was the

Bulldogs' biggest bowl victory ever? The 1980Bulldogs entered the Sugar Bowl battle against abig and powerful Notre Dame team sporting aflawless 11-0 record ... thanks to an almost mir-acle finish (Belue-to-Scott, of course) in Jack-sonville which kept their record unblemishedand vaulted the Bulldogs into the No. 1 nationalranking. If you remember, Buck Belue completedonly one pass that night in the New Orleans Su-perdome but it was a big one, his 7-yarder toAmp Arnold allowing Georgia to run out theclock and protect its one-touchdown win. Afreshman defensive back named Terry Hoageblocked an Irish field goal attempt and anotherfreshman, the dynamic Herschel Walker, ran for150 yards on 36 carries and tallied two touch-downs on a Notre Dame defense that hadn'tyielded a 100-yard rusher all season. And, mindyou, Walker did much of his damage in the sec-ond half after suffering a separated shoulder. TheBulldogs' only other points came on Rex Robin-son's 46-yard field goal. "I don't know how goodwe are but I do know we're 12-0 and nobodyelse is,'' Vince Dooley said after the Bulldogs hadclinched the school's first-ever undisputed, con-sensus national title.

1984 Cotton Bowl − Georgia 10, Texas 9Herschel Walker was gone to the new USFL

during the 1983 football season but senior quar-terback John Lastinger had guided the Bulldogsto a 9-1-1 season mark (only loss being toAuburn and Bo Jackson) and a No. 7 nationalranking as Georgia prepared to face the unde-feated, No. 2-ranked Longhorns in Dallas' Cot-ton Bowl, which at that time of course was oneof the nation's Big Four bowls. The Bulldogs' firstscore came on a 43-yard field goal by Kevin But-ler in the closing seconds of the first quarter butwhen the Longhorns carried a 9-3 lead deep intothe final quarter, it appeared that unbeaten Texaswas on its way to becoming national champions.But nobody told these Bulldogs as much. AfterTexas muffed a Chip Andrews punt late in thefourth quarter, Georgia stunned the 'Horns witha sterling 17-yard touchdown run by QBLastinger with just 3:22 left to play. Butler bootedthe winning extra point and the joke around theBulldawg Nation to this very day is, "What timeis it in Texas?" And the answer to that will foreverbe, "10 to 9." Later that evening in the OrangeBowl, top-ranked Nebraska was upset by No. 5Miami 31-30, a win which vaulted the Hurri-canes past the Huskers and Longhorns into theirfirst national title.

1989 Gator Bowl − Georgia 34, Michigan State 27Vince Dooley's final game after 25 years as

the Bulldogs' ultra-successful head coach and theBulldogs rode senior quarterback Wayne John-son's 227 yards passing, with three touchdowns,and Rodney Hampton's 109 yards rushing tohold off an upset-minded Spartans team whichgot a record-breaking Gator Bowl performancefrom Andre Rison (9 catches, 252 yards, 3 touch-downs). But after Michigan State pulled within34-27 with 3:49 remaining, Dooley reverted tohis ball-control running game to salt the contestaway. The win was the 201st of Dooley's UGA ca-reer and enabled the Bulldogs to cap the 1988season with a 9-3 record. Also going on that nightat the Gator Bowl was the suspense surroundingwho Georgia's next head coach was going to be,as I detailed last week on the Bulldawg Illustratedwebsite.

2000 Outback Bowl − Georgia 28, Purdue 25Behind Heisman Trophy finalist Drew Brees,

the Boilermakers looked as if they were going toblow the Bulldogs out of the stadium, buildingup a 25-0 lead in the second quarter. But then,someone sounded the wake-up alarm for theguys from UGA. The Bulldogs got a 74-yardtouchdown run by Terrance Edwards, a 32-yardfield goal by Hap Hines after Jamie Henderson's49-yard interception return and a Quincy CarterTD run and two-point conversion that narrowedthe gap to 25-18 in the third. Then, late in thefinal period, Carter capped a 94-yard drive bypassing to Randy McMichael in the end zone,who pulled in the ball after it was tipped by twodefenders. The PAT tied the game at 25-25 with1:19 remaining. Then, in only the second over-time in college bowl history, Purdue missed a 43-yard field goal and Georgia drove to the Purdue2-yard line before Hines' 19-yard field goal com-pleted the greatest bowl comeback ever.

1998 Peach Bowl − Georgia 35, Virginia 33Things didn't go well for the Bulldogs at the

start of this game, the forerunner to today's Chick-fil-A Bowl. After a scoreless first quarter, Virginiapummeled Georgia in the second period to takea 21-0 lead. But Georgia came back on an 11-yard touchdown pass by Quincy Carter, a 14-yard Carter TD pass to Champ Bailey, OlandisGary's 15-yard touchdown run, another 2-yardrun by Gary and then a 1-yard scoring run byCarter, which pushed Georgia up by 35-27. Butthe Cavs roared back and almost pulled it out,Todd Braverman's last-second field goal attemptsailing wide. Next to the Bulldogs' rally from the25-point deficit against Purdue, this was Geor-gia's biggest bowl comeback win.

2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl − Georgia 31, Virginia Tech 24Still another exciting bowl comeback as

Georgia scored 28 second-half points in theGeorgia Dome to rally from a 21-3 halftimedeficit. Under newly-named offensive coordina-tor Mike Bobo the Bulldogs got a 6-yard touch-down pass from freshman quarterback MatthewStafford to Martrez Milner. a 3-yard touchdownrun by Kregg Lumpkin, a 2-point PAT pass fromStafford to Milner, two more field goals by Bran-don Coutu and a 1-yard touchdown run by full-back Brannen Southerland to complete thecomeback. Senior linebacker Tony Taylor hadtwo crucial pass interceptions to set up the Bull-dogs' two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Georgia's31 total points came against a Virginia Tech de-fense that had given up only 9.3 points per gameduring the regular season and had posted fourshutouts.

So these are some of the great and thrillingUGA bowl victories I've had the privilege of ob-serving down through the years. A few others ofcourse could certainly be included here, such asFran Tarkenton and the Bulldogs' 1959 SECchampions blanking Missouri 14-0 in the 1960Orange Bowl, brother Vince Dooley toppingbrother Bill Dooley in the Bulldogs' 7-3 win overNorth Carolina in the 1971 Gator Bowl, Geor-gia's 17-16 squeaker over Maryland in the 1973Peach Bowl, the Bulldogs' 33-6 mauling of Wis-consin in the 1998 Outback Bowl when MikeBobo went an amazing 26-of-28 throwing thefootball with an SEC record 19 straight comple-tions, and Richt besting his old mentor BobbyBowden with Georgia's 26-13 win over FloridaState in the 2003 Sugar.

Let's hope the Bulldogs write another win-ning and thrilling bowl chapter when they takeon the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Jan. 1, 2014in the Gator Bowl.

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Preview2014ith the 2013 regular season in the books,the Dawgs may consider themselves luckyto have finished with what could be con-

sidered a respectable 8-4 record. This team hassuffered more major injuries to key players thanany team in recent memory, but the Gator Bowlstill came calling, and Georgia fans will fortu-nately get the chance to watch their beloved teamplay in a New Year’s Day bowl game. The bowlappearance will mark the 17th consecutive forthe program; the longest active streak in the SEC.The opponent lined up is no stranger, as Ne-braska will play opposite the boys donning Redand Black for the second consecutive season, lastyear resulting in a win for the Dawgs over at theCapital One Bowl. And with this year’s gamebeing played in Jacksonville, many have dreamsand ideas of spending their holidays with theirloved ones and fellow Dawg fans in a fashionvery similar to the annual Georgia-Florida game,taking over the south Georgia islands in whatshould be a great getaway!

Know the opponent:

This Nebraska team (also 8-4) will be very simi-lar to the one the Dawgs saw last New Year’s Day,only minus their dual threat quarterback TaylorMartinez, who was lost earlier this season to afoot injury. This will make the Cornhuskers relyheavily on their run game, which they have beendoing all season. The rushing attacking will belead by junior Ameer Abdullah, who has carried

the ball 254 times for 1,568 yards this season,leading the Big Ten by over 100 yards. Filling infor the fallen Martinez at quarterback will be sen-ior Ron Kellogg III, who has played every gamethis season, but has only seen his load pick uplate in the season. On defense, the Cornhuskersare stubborn, only giving up 20 points per game,and have held several teams below their averagethis season.

The Offense:

With Aaron Murray out with a torn ACL, juniorquarterback Hutson Mason looked very solidonce he settled down in his only start againstGeorgia Tech a few weeks back. The bowl prac-tice and game should be very valuable experiencefor what is assumed to be Mason’s starting jobgoing into next season. Mike Bobo should openthe playbook a little and allow him to gain asmuch game action experience as possible to wrapup the season. Also during the win over the Yel-low Jackets, running back Todd Gurley provedthat he is fully healthy again, taking over theovertime sessions and showing how good he canbe, especially when counted on. Gurley shouldget his fair share of action in Jacksonville, andwill likely head into the 2014 season as a legiti-mate Heisman watch list candidate.

The Defense:

The defense will be tested big time on their abil-

ity to stop the run, which has been their onlystrength of the 2013 season. Without a quarter-back who can run, Nebraska will lean heavily ontheir running back star in Abdullah, and test theUGA linebackers al day long. With a backupquarterback taking all the snaps, the UGA sec-ondary should not have to worry about gettingpicked on all day, but instead can perhaps cheatand help out with the task of containing the rungame. Defensive coordinator Todd Granthamwould love nothing more than to hold Nebraskato very little offensive success before he entersthe offseason having to pitch to the fanbase thathis unit will improve some going into next sea-son.

How the Dawgs will win:

The theme of this answer lately has been ToddGurley. And that will not change on New Year’sDay, as Gurley is playing perhaps the strongesthe has since he arrived in Athens. With HutsonMason still settling in at QB, the game planshould rely heavily on the run, hopefully open-ing up some receivers as the game progresses. Butas long as Gurley is healthy and wearing pads, hewill be the reason the Dawgs will not only findsuccess, but also look good doing it. Safe travelsto all those in Dawg Nation fortunate enough tomake the trip, and just keep in mind while manyare complaining about the matchup, that wecould be Florida or Tennessee, and not be play-ing in a bowl at all.

photos by Rob SayeBy Logan Booker/BI

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JD’s Dandy Dozen Bowl PreviewBy Jeff Dantzler/BI

Ole Miss vs. TechDec. 30 - 3:15 p.m.Nashville, Tenn.

In what should be one ofthe most entertaininggames of the bowl sea-son, Ole Miss tangleswith Tech in Nashville.The Rebels need a win.Ole Miss was sitting at7-3, highlighted by winsover Texas and LSU. Butthe Rebels lost their lasttwo, falling to Missouri 24-10 in beautifulOxford and then dropping a 17-10 overtimethriller to Mississippi State in Starkville. BoWallace and the offense needs to get crankedback up. Tech is also 7-5, falling to Georgia41-34 in double overtime for a fifth straightloss to the Bulldogs after blowing a 20-0lead. Can the time off give the Ole Miss de-fense time to get ready for Tech’s potenttriple option attack? Vad Lee did an excel-lent job throwing the football against theBulldogs.

Texas A&M vs. DukeDec. 31 - 8 p.m. Atlanta, Ga.

Johnny Manziel won theHeisman Trophy a yearago, leading the Aggies toan 11-2 mark and CottonBowl crown. This season,Texas A&M slumped to 8-4, dropping the last twogames to LSU and Mis-souri. Duke, meanwhile,posted a 10-2 regular sea-son mark and then got run over by FloridaState in the ACC Championship Game. It’s oneof those rare times when a team was just happyto be in a title tilt. David Cutcliffe has led bothOle Miss and Duke to 10-win seasons. Let thatsink in. Tennessee’s record when Cutcliffe wasPhil Fulmer’s offensive coordinator, was strik-ingly better than when he was gone. This couldbe a shootout. The Aggies defense is awful,their motivation may be questioned and thiswill almost certainly be Johnny Football’s lastgame in the Maroon jerseys.

South Carolina vs. WisconsinJan. 1 - 1 p.m. Orlando, Fla.

The Badgers have hadsome nice wins overSoutheastern Confer-ence schools inFlorida bowls, includ-ing victories overAuburn and Arkansas.South Carolina posteda 10-2 record, andwith a win, the Gamecocks would go 11-2 forthe third consecutive campaign. SteveSpurrier has done incredible things in Colum-bia, highlighted by a slew of victories overroyal programs and arch rivals. The 23-21upset loss at Tennessee this year really stingsthough, or it would have been the Gamecocksplaying Auburn for a shot at the national title.Connor Shaw is a tough customer at quarter-back and Bruce Ellington is one of the top ath-letes in the SEC. The Gamecocks defensiveline, led by JaDaveon Clowney and KelcyQuarles, and Wisconsin’s big and powerful of-fensive front will be a great match-up.

LSU vs. IowaJan. 1 - 1 p.m. Tampa, Fla.

In Nick Saban’sfinal game asLSU’s head coach,Iowa threw a 50-yard touchdownon the final playof the game tobeat the Tigers in Tampa. That was nineyears ago. LSU will take on theHawkeyes without probable first roundquarterback pick Zach Mettenberger,who tore his ACL in the Tigers thrillingcomeback win over Arkansas. AnthonyJennings led the game-winning marchand will operate behind center. LSU hasbetter material, but again, it comes downto motivation. The Tigers played for thenational title in 2011. The last twoyears, they have lost six games, four byfour points or less. What could havebeen has crossed the Tiger faithful’sminds a time or two.

Michigan State vs. StanfordJan. 1 - 5 p.m. Pasadena, Cal.

In a season wherehigh octane offense,explosive plays andlots and lots ofpoints, leave it to the“Granddaddy ofthem all” to deliver ameeting of teams that do it with defensefirst. Both can score, especially Stanfordwith a power-packed running attack.But it is the two stop-units that will bethe stars of the show. Michigan State’sdefense and running game overwhelmedOhio State for the Big Ten title in Indi-anapolis. Stanford once again burst Ore-gon’s bubble. The Cardinal lost ahead-scratcher at Utah and fell in a tightone at Southern Cal. David Shaw hasdone excellent work at the Cardinalhelm, keeping things rolling after JimHarbaugh and Andrew Luck moved onto the NFL.

Baylor vs. Central FloridaJan. 1 - 8:30 p.m. Glendale, Ariz.

This is prettysimple. Thesetwo teams bothhad their bestseasons in schoolhistory, posting11-1 records andearning a berth in a major bowl. Bay-lor, which lost only at OklahomaState, is champion of the Big XII –thanks to Oklahoma’s win over theCowboys. Central Florida is thechampion of the remnants of the oldBig East, the American Athletic – atleast I think that’s what they call it.The Golden Knights lone loss was a28-25 setback at home to South Car-olina. Amongst their biggest wins wasone at Penn State. They kept on win-ning, but had a lot of really tight onesagainst inferior competition.

Alabama vs. OklahomaJan. 2 - 8:30 p.m. New Orleans, La.

Will Alabama care?Will Nick Saban betheir coach? If theanswer to both ofthose is yes, thenOklahoma is in bigtrouble. BobStoops, who has done a superb job atthe Oklahoma helm, making theSooners a regular in major bowlgames, questioned the bottom of theSEC before the season. Well Auburnanswered that question. Now he getsa shot at Alabama and what would beone of the Sooners biggest upset winsunder his watch. Oklahoma reallygot smoked in its two losses to Texasand Baylor, but ended the regular sea-son in gratifying fashion with a back-and-forth comeback victory atOklahoma State.

Missouri vs. Oklahoma StateJan. 3 - 8 p.m. Arlington, Tx.

This is an old Big Eight,old Big XII shootout inthe making, as Missouriand Oklahoma Stateboth have high poweredoffenses. Few expectedfor Mizzou, in just theirsecond season in theSoutheastern Confer-ence, to have the kind of year they did. TheTigers beat Georgia, Florida, Tennessee,Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and Texas A&M enroute to the SEC Championship Game,where they lost the 59-42 shootout toAuburn. Dorial Green-Beckham is a greatreceiver and headlines a tremendous of-fense. Michael Sam is a big time pass-rusher and E.J. Gaines is one of the SEC’stop corners. Both of these teams were a winaway from conference championships onthe first Saturday in December. Both des-perately want to avoid a two-game losingstreak to mar outstanding campaigns.

Clemson vs. Ohio StateJan. 3 - 8:30 p.m. Miami Gardens, Fla.

The last time thesetwo met was the 1978Gator Bowl. It wasDanny Ford’s firstgame as Clemson’scoach – Charley Pellhad left to take theFlorida job. It wasWoody Hayes’s finalgame as the Buckeyescoach. The legendary Ohio State iconslugged Charlie Bauman after the Tigerdefender came up with a game-clinchingturnover and was fired the next day.Clemson sits at 10-2, falling for a secondstraight season to Florida State andSouth Carolina. Last year, the Tigersupset LSU in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl.They’ll be looking for another upset thisseason. Is Ohio State interested? TheBuckeyes led Michigan State 24-17 inthe second half, but lost the Big TenChampionship Game.

Vanderbilt vs. HoustonJan. 4 - 1 p.m. Birmingham, Ala.

It’s nice thatVanderbiltgets to leaveNashvillefor its bowlgame thisseason. TheCom-modores once again closed strongand finished 8-4 in the regular sea-son for a second straight campaign.Last year, the Commodoresdowned N.C. State in the MusicCity Bowl to go 9-4, winning theirlast seven of the 2012 season. Youcan do the math, Vanderbilt is a ro-bust 15-4 in its last 19 contests.The ‘Dores beat Georgia, Floridaand Tennessee this year. Neverthought you’d see that. Never. The34-17 pounding of Florida inGainesville was epic for the Vander-bilt faithful.

Auburn vs. Florida StateJan. 6 - 8:30 p.m. Pasadena, Cal.

Jameis Winston won the HeismanTrophy and the Seminoles toppedevery foe by double digits this sea-son. Now the ‘Noles play for theirthird national championship. As forAuburn, just nothing like this hasever happened. For anyone. Ever.They got all five of Willy Wonka’sGolden Tickets. From the nationaltitle to the worst season in school history two years later toplaying for the whole thing again. These two schools, frombordering states, just a short drive apart, will make their wayto Pasadena to play for the national championship. FloridaState has an extremely talented defense, loaded with futurepros. The Seminoles have one of the nation’s top tight endsin Nick O’Leary and a stable of fast and slippery tailbacksand receivers. Auburn has an offense that isn’t too compli-cated to run, but is very difficult to defend. Nick Marshallcan run it and throw it. Tre Mason is a dynamite tailbackwho had an SEC Championship Game for the ages. The bigquestion is whether Auburn, which does have a pair of stel-lar pass-rushers, can slow Florida State down some. IfAuburn wins, it would be an eighth straight national title forthe SEC and fifth in a row for a school from the state of Ala-bama.

Mississippi State vs. RiceDec. 31 - 4 p.m. Memphis, Tenn.

It was a disappointing yearfor Mississippi State, butthe 17-10 overtime victoryover Ole Miss to close outthe regular season gives theMaroon Bulldogs a big lift.That early loss to Auburnwas a season-shifter onboth ends to say the least.Injuries at quarterback really hurt MississippiState this year. But MSU can run the ball andplays physically both sides of the ball. ForRice, it has been an excellent year. The Owlswon Conference USA championship Game,downing Marshall in frigid Houston. It isRice’s first league title since capturing the 1957Southwest Conference championship. ElvisPresley, our man Murray Poole’s No. 1 enter-tainer, was at the top of the charts with “Jail-house Rock.” The Owls have an excellentoffense and they’ll be ready to knock off anSEC foe and claim a bowl victory.

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8 • Bulldawg Illustrated

BI 2013 Senior GalaLauren Murray, Mark Richt,

Kathryn Richt, Aaron

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Kacie McDonnell 2013 permanent captains with Mark Richt: Aaron Murray, Garrison Smith, Connor Norman and Arthur

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Chris Conley and Sean Bettis Laura Ellis and Damian Swann John Theus and Brandon Kublanow Tray Matthews and Rennie Curran

Logan Booker, Ashley Booker and Mark Richt Chris Burnette, Rob Saye and Dallas Lee Ryne, Angela, Nicole, and Marc Rankin

MVPs with Mark Richt: Amarlo Herrera, Aaron Murray, Conner Norman and Kosta Vavlas Wil Wells and Nicole VernonDavid Andrews and Mark Richt -Frank Sinkwich Award

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Jonathan Rumph, Keith Marshall and TJ Stripling Malcolm Mitchell, Brianna Jenkins, and Sheldon Dawson

Patricia and David Andrews and Robert and Lisa Lee

Shelton Stevens and Mark Richt with the Governor's Cup

Dooley Award – Mark Richt, Aaron Murray and Vince Dooley Will Hays, Sheldon Dawson, Jack Abernathy, Frankie Sinkwich, John Hays, Hatton Abernathy, Cullen Sewell (top) and Thompson Sewell

10 • Bulldawg Illustrated

Congratulations to the 2014 FastestGrowing Bulldog Businesses! UGA alumni and friends will celebrate this year’s honorees on January 25 at an awards dinner at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. Keynote speaker, Fran Tarkenton (BBA ’61), founder of SmallBizClub.com and hall of fame quarterback, will lead attendees to the highlight of the evening—the countdown of the 2014 Bulldog 100.For tickets and sponsorship opportunities, please visit www.alumni.uga.edu/b100

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BI Georgia 41 Tech 34

Mack Willis, April Ruffin and BJ Armstead John and Victoria Simms, Landon Simms and Jay Simms Alfie Means, Lindsay Dendy, Gayle Delmonte, Marty Delmonte andLiz Means

Jack Crawford, Will Roberts, John Crawford and Don Roberts Brendan Abernathy, Elise Abernathy and Ray Abernathy

Courtney Sowell, James Derrick, Robert Thomas and Beth Thomas Steven Cundari, Kelly Hall, Kris Durham, David Koonin and MatthewStafford

Court Lanio, Michael Connell and Patrick Connell

Nicole Quinn, Marc Katnik, Chris Prevost and Nocole Lobianco Kyle Gulledge, Brian Rosenswike and Erik Nelson Cindy, Chandler, Cooper and Andy Furman

12 • Bulldawg Illustrated

Location: Lincoln, Neb.

Conference: Big Ten, Legends Division

Enrollment: 24,445

Cornhuskers in a thumbnail: After compiling a 10-4 overall record in 2012, which included a 45-31 loss to Georgia in the Cap-ital One Bowl, Nebraska had the returning nucleus to make a strong run at the Big Ten Conference, Legends Division title this sea-son. However, disappointing losses to Minnesota (23-34), Michigan State (28-41) and Iowa (17-38, in season finale) erased anyhopes the Cornhuskers had of accomplishing that goal. Overall, Nebraska will bring an 8-4 season record and 5-3 conference markto Jacksonville, the identical records that the 2013 Bulldogs own. The Cornhuskers' wins this season were over Wyoming (37-34), Southern Miss (56-13), South Dakota State (59-20), Illinois (39-19), Purdue (44-7), Northwestern (27-24), Michigan (17-13) and Penn State (23-20, OT). The other setback came to non-conference foe UCLA, by 41-21.

A look at the Nebraska offense: As always, the Cornhuskers are a run-first football team. And, with good reason what with tal-ented junior back Ameer Abdullah (5-9, 190) toting the ball. Abdullah, an All- Big Ten first-team selection, has run for 1,568 yardson 254 carries this season (6.2 avg.) with eight touchdowns. He averages 130.7 yards rushing per game and also is the Huskers'No. 3 pass receiver with 26 catches for 232 yards and two more scores. Quite a challenge for a Bulldog defense that had its shareof troubles this season. Passing-wise Nebraska's starter from last season, senior Taylor Martinez, who went against the Bulldogs inthe bowl game, was lost to the team after four games with a foot injury and stepping up in his absence have been senior Ron Kel-logg, III (6-1, 220) and redshirt freshman Tommy Armstrong, Jr. (6-1, 220). Kellogg has thrown for 919 yards and six touchdownswhile Armstrong has passed for 803 yards and seven scores. The Huskers' leading receivers are junior Kenny Bell (6-1, 185), with51 catches for 566 yards and four touchdowns, and senior Quincy Enunwa (6-2, 225), with 47 receptions for a team-leading 624yards and 10 touchdowns. Nebraska averages 32.6 points per outing, 221.7 yards rushing per game and 199.5 yards passing acontest.

A look at the Nebraska defense: Defensively, the Cornhuskers surrendered 25.3 points per game during the course of the regu-lar season. However, they proved tough against the run, giving up just 161 yards per outing this year. Passing-wise, they allowedopponents to throw for 205.8 yards per contest. Sophomore linebacker David Santos (6-0, 225) and junior safety Corey Cooper(6-1, 215) are Nebraska's leading tacklers, each with 81 total stops, but sophomore defensive end Randy Gregory (6-6, 255) isthe most damaging player for opposing offenses as he has recorded 61 tackles, including 17 tackles-for-loss and 9.5 sacks whileearning All-Big Ten first team honors. Checking in with four interceptions each to lead in that category are senior cornerbacks StanJean-Baptiste (6-3, 220) and Ciante Evans (5-11, 190), who's also an all-conference selection.

What Cornhuskers head coach Bo Pelini says: “The Gator Bowl gives our football team the opportunity to play in a New Year’sDay bowl for a third straight season, and we look forward to the trip to Jacksonville. We had a great experience at the Gator Bowlwhen we played there in my first year here. We have some familiarity with Georgia having played them last year in the bowl game,but these are two different football teams. This will be a great challenge for our football team, and we look forward to the oppor-tunity. There's a tremendous respect for Georgia on our part. Not only are they a good football program and a good team but theydo things the right way. It's a first-class operation and we look at our football program much the same way they do."

Game Prediction: Pretty hard to gauge this game when you have two teams meeting for a second consecutive year in a bowlgame. Both the Bulldogs and Cornhuskers had championship aspirations this season so with the 8-4 marks they both bring to Jack-sonville, their seasons have to be termed a bit of a disappointment. That said, there's nothing like kick starting 2014 with a bowlvictory on New Year's Day and I have to think both Georgia and Nebraska will be ready to answer the opening whistle at highnoon on Jan. 1. No question, the Cornhuskers will be primed to avenge last year's Capital One Bowl loss to the Bulldogs but withTodd Gurley running for 100-plus yards to set the stage for big things to come next fall and with Hutson Mason building on thefine passing resume he began in the win over Georgia Tech, I'll ride with Georgia to whip the Huskers once again, say by 35-28.But if that prediction is to ring true, the Bulldog defense had better have an answer for Nebraska's outstanding running back, AmeerAbdullah.

− Murray Poole

Scouting Nebraska Top Cornhuskers#8, Ameer Abdullah, I-Back5-9, 190 Jr. Homewood, Ala. (Homewood H.S.)

When it comes to great tailbacks through the years, Nebraska’s alumnilist rivals any school. From Roger Craig to Mike Rozier to LawrencePhillips to Ahman Green to Rex Burkhead to Abdullah, the I-Back po-sition at Nebraska is high profile. Abdullah has had a tremendous sea-son, rushing for 1,568 yards and eight touchdowns on 254 carries. Hisaverages are eye-opening – 6.2 per carry and 130.7 per game. This All-Big Ten backs also has 26 receptions for 232 yards and two touchdownsthrough the air. Due to injury, Nebraska has used three quarterbacks thisseason and this outstanding runner has been the focus of every team’s de-fense. Last season in Orlando, Abdullah carried seven times against theBulldogs for 48 yards, with a long of 26, as Burkhead was the primaryrusher in his final collegiate game. Abdullah was a Doak Walker Awardsemifinalist this year and honorable mention All-American. He has ex-cellent vision and is a terrific rhythm back. When Abdullah gets goingbehind that big offensive line, the Huskers grind defenses up.

#80 Kenny Bell, WR/KR6-1 185 Jr. Boulder, Colo. (Fairview H.S.)

When standout quarterback Taylor Martinez was lost to injury, theHuskers passing quarterback took a hit, no surprise there. Big Red hassome juice on the perimeter, primarily with Bell, dangerous on theperimeter and the return game. Last season in Orlando, Bell led theCornhuskers with four receptions for 60 yards, including a 35-yarder.His 51 receptions this year are tops for Nebraska, ad he is second on theteam in receiving yards with 566 and touchdown grabs with four.Quincy Enunwa leads the way with 624 yards and ten touchdowncatches. Bell gives the Huskers some high end speed on the outside andis particularly dangerous in play-action when Abdullah is rolling.Amongst the most dangerous kick returners in the Big Ten, Bell averages28.3 per and has a 99-yard touchdown this season.

#44 Randy Gregory, DE6-6 255 Soph. Fishers, Ind. (Arizona Western CC/)

Known not only for their high powered option attack through the years,Nebraska had great defenses in the glory days of Bob Devanney and TomOsborne, known under the latter’s watch as the “Black Shirts.” NeilSmith, Grant Wistrom and Trev Alberts are just a few of the All-Ameri-cans who helped the Cornhusker defense be one of the country’s best formany years. Bo Pellini, a highly successful defensive coordinator at LSUprior to venturing to Lincoln, is aiming to rebuild that greatness. Gre-gory is the type of player that points the Huskers in the right direction.He is Nebraska’s big play maker on defense. Gregory impressively fillsout the stat sheet. He leads the team in sacks with 9.5 for a loss of 62yards, 17 quarterback hurries and 17 tackles for a loss of 91 yards.

− Jeff Dantzler

Jeff Dantzler’s 2013 rankingsTop 10 Non-SEC - There were some big upsets the last couple of weeks of the regular season, includingOhio State falling to Michigan State. Those upsets did give us some high profile major bowl games, pit-ting royal programs against one another.

SEC 1-14 - There were some big upsets the last couple of weeks of the regular season,including Ohio State falling to Michigan State. Those upsets did give us some highprofile major bowl games, pitting royal programs against one another.

1. Florida State – What a season it has been for the Seminoles. Florida State is loadedin every area and has wrecked the competition. It should be a great match-up with Auburnfor the national title in Pasadena.

2. Baylor – The Bears put the finishing touches on their best ever regular season by top-ping Texas 30-10. It’s a major bowl game vs. UCF in the Fiesta and a Big XII Championship.Art Briles has done great things in Waco.

3. Michigan State – There were a lot of teams pulling for Michigan State in Indianapo-lis, and the Spartans delivered with a beat-down of Ohio State in the Big Ten Champi-onship Game. Michigan State plays excellent defense.

4. Ohio State – A win away from a likely berth in the BCS Championship Game, theBuckeyes suffered one of their most crushing losses ever to Michigan State in the Big Tentitle game. You have to question their motivation for Clemson.

5. Stanford – The Cardinal was very close to a perfect season. They suffered a head-scratching loss at Utah and dropped a tight one to Southern Cal. David Shaw’s team laidthe wood twice to Arizona State this season.

6. Clemson – The Tigers lone two losses were to Florida State and South Carolina. Samestory as last year. It’s back to the Orange Bowl for the second time under Dabo Swinney’swatch. Clemson has star power with Tajh Boyd, Vic Beasley and lightning fast Sammy

Watkins.

7. Oklahoma – What a huge win it was for the Sooners to come back and top OklahomaState in Stillwater. Bob Stoops has put together a tremendous record, and has the Soonersin a BCS game again.

8. Oklahoma State – The Cowboys got their hearts broken in Bedlam by the rival Soon-ers on an absolutely frigid day. It cost them a second Big XII title in three years. Okla-homa State has had a hard time getting by Oklahoma.

9. Oregon – When a couple of Ducks players talked about not being excited about goingto Pasadena, that got taken care of in a route at Arizona. Oregon got some traction backwith a thrilling win over the rival Beavers and now get a shot at Texas.

10. Central Florida – Without question, it goes down as Central Florida’s greatest ever sea-son, and the 11-1 Golden Knights are BCS bound to take on Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl.Their only loss came by three points at home to South Carolina.

1. Auburn – It has just not ever happened before. The roller coaster ride of the lastfour years and then to beat Georgia and Alabama the way they did and then to win theshootout in the Dome and then to have Ohio State lose … and now the Tigers play for

it all.

2. Alabama – The Crimson Tide were absolutely stunned by what happened on theplains. They were trying to make history as the first team to win three straight undis-puted national titles. That one will haunt them forever, “Punt Bama Punt” 41 years later.

3. Missouri – The Tigers have had a tremendous season, and were right there untilmidway through the fourth quarter with Auburn. Mizzou doesn’t want to close outwith two straight losses in a year in which they beat Georgia, Florida and Tennessee.

4. South Carolina – It’s life in the SEC, so many close games, that everyone but theking of the mountain “what if’s” at least one. And for South Carolina, it is the loss atTennessee. They would’ve played Auburn for a shot at the whole thing.

5. LSU – See above. For LSU, it was a three point loss at Georgia and a three pointloss at Ole Miss. The Tigers weren’t what they usually are on defense after losing somany players to the pros. The comeback over Arkansas was a nice close to their reg-ular season.

6. Texas A&M – The four teams that beat the Aggies this year are Alabama, Auburn,LSU and Missouri. Nothing to be ashamed of there. A&M was talking national titlebefore the year, but the defense just wasn’t good enough.

7. Vanderbilt – Like Missouri, Vanderbilt beat Georgia, Florida and Tennessee thisyear. That’s a “pig’s fly” like accomplishment. Never thought we’d see that. JamesFranklin’s Commodores are 15-4 in their last 19 games.

8. Georgia – Oh what could have been for the Bulldogs, who were ravaged by injuriesand self-inflicted wounds. The Bulldogs got a precious overtime victory at Tech, thefifth straight for Georgia in the series, and can make it 9-4 with a win over Nebraska.

9. Ole Miss – It was a mixed bag of a year for Ole Miss – just like almost everyone in theleague. Beating Texas and LSU in the same year makes you think it would be a special year.But Missouri dominated the Rebels and the loss to Mississippi State was crushing.

10. Mississippi State – Beating Ole Miss and earning a bowl berth was a nice end towhat was a tough year for Mississippi State. Early in the season, MSU had the game inhand, but lost to Auburn. My how things turned.

11. Tennessee –The Volunteers nearly beat Georgia and they took down South Car-olina. But really went south after that upset of the Gamecocks. Missouri, Alabama,Auburn and Vanderbilt all put up big numbers against the Vols.

12. Florida – It was just an awful year for the Gators, who went 4-8, lowlighted by a loss toGeorgia Southern. With what Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer, there two greatest ever coaches,are doing in Columbia and Columbus, that has to raise the ire of the Florida faithful.

13. Arkansas – The Hogs nearly pulled off the major upset at LSU, but got turnedaway. After a 3-0 start, Arkansas lost its last nine and went 0-8 in SEC play. The Hogsfigure to be better next year, and what Auburn did this season gives everyone hope.

14. Kentucky – The Wildcats have a long, long, long way to go. They may be a littlebetter next season, but the talent gap with the middle of the pack and the elite in theleague is a massive one for Mark Stoops to make up.

1. Want It – Bowl games are often decided by which team wants to be there more. Though theplayers on both sides may be a bit put off by a rematch – variety is the spice of bowl life after all – theBulldogs players have to bring the fire to win for a second straight season over the Cornhuskers. Ne-braska will want it. The Huskers want to even up things up in these bowl match-ups of the last twoyears and claim a Southeastern Conference scalp. Georgia will be in a familiar setting in Jacksonvilleand should have an advantage with the crowd. There’s a big difference between 9-4 and 8-5. Clos-ing out with a three-game winning streak, and dumping Tech and Nebraska to cap it off, would be anice way to cap off a bizarre campaign.

2. High Octane Offense – No team in America was ravaged by injuries the way Georgia hasbeen in 2013. The month off following the Bulldogs thrilling 41-34 double overtime victory at Techmeans that the Bulldogs can heal the bumps and bruises for players not sidelined by season-endinginjuries. This means a fresh and fully loaded Todd Gurley, America’s premier tailback, and plenty morepractice work for quarterback Hutson Mason and Georgia’s passing attack. It will probably take a lotof points to win in Jacksonville, so the Dogs will have to keep the pedal to the metal.

3. Get to the Quarterback – Nebraska got bitten by the injury bug, losing record-settingquarterback Taylor Martinez. A pair of quarterbacks have gotten a slew of snaps following the loss ofMartinez in the fourth game of the year. Tommy Armstrong Jr. has thrown for 803 yards, seventouchdowns and seven interceptions. Ron Kellogg III, son of former Kansas basketball standout GregKellogg (a member of the 1986 Jayhawks Final Four team), got the call in the regular season endingloss to Iowa. Kellogg has completed 60.6 percent of his passes, throwing six touchdowns against justthree picks, while totaling 919 yards through the air. Georgia can disrupt the passing game with astrong and consistent rush. The youth-laden Bulldogs secondary has struggled throughout the year,but can close out on a strong note against the inconsistent Cornhusker passing game. Garrison Smithwill look to close out his fine career in Athens on a high note and this would be a great stage forLeonard Floyd and Jordan Jenkins to issue a sign of things to come in 2014 as book-end disrupters.

4. Contain Abdullah – There are elite tailbacks in this showdown for a second straight year.Last season, Rex Burkhead pounded the Georgia defense for 142 yards and two touchdowns on 24carries, while Ameer Abdullah struck for 48 on seven carries as a counterpuncher. Well it is Abdul-lah’s show now, and you have to think that he and Gurley will be looking to out-do the other on theground. Georgia’s run defense has had its share of struggles, but also has produced some big playsand solid performances – like in the second half of the win over Tech. If Abdullah gets cooking, theCornhuskers will pound away against the Bulldogs front. Georgia won’t be able to completely shuthim down, but can’t allow him to run wild or victory in Jacksonville will be hard to come by.

5. Push the Kicking Game – There have been so many breakdowns in the special teams de-partment for Georgia, it has been a major disappointment. The catastrophic plays, a return game thatranks in the bottom of the SEC and NCAA standings, to say that Georgia needs major improvementis akin to saying that Washington, D.C. has a spending problem. And this is with Marshall Morgan,first – team All-SEC kicker, who hit 18 of 20 field goals on the year. A month off gives the Bulldogsplenty of time to get work on the kicking game, perhaps at least playing it even with the Cornhuskers.

— Jeff Dantzler

JD’s five keys to victory

Kevin Butler’s players of the game

Kevin Butler, former University of Georgia legendary kicker and a member of the Georgia radio broad-cast team, will each week during the 2013 football season select his offensive, defensive and specialteams players of the week for Bulldawg Illustrated. Here are Butler’s selections and reasons why forthe Bulldogs’ 41-34 double-overtime win over Georgia Tech Nov. 30.

OFFENSE – Junior quarterback Hutson Mason, who in making his first start at quarterback in placeof the injured Aaron Murray, led the Bulldogs to the big comeback victory (from 20 points down) bycompleting 22-of-36 passing attempts for 299 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception."In his first official start Hutson did an outstanding job in mounting a comeback for the ages," saidButler. "Replacing a four-year starter is no easy task but Hutson did everything needed to secure the8th win of the season and beat Tech. After having happy feet in the first half because of a tough Geor-gia Tech pass rush, Hutson settled down to lead the Bulldogs to victory. He will be the man headinginto the 2014 season, for a championship run."

DEFENSE – Sophomore strong safety Josh Harvey-Clemons, who was in on six tackles, had his firstpass interception of the season, which he returned to the Tech 25-yard line to set up Marshall Mor-gan's game-tying field goal in regulation play, and also got a hand on the Jackets' deflected pass at theend of the second overtime, which fell incomplete and gave the Bulldogs the thrilling victory."Josh is a special player who will go down as one of the best safeties in school history," said Butler. "Agreat player grows from misfortunes that happen during a game and comes back stronger .... Josh didjust that. His six solo tackles and a key interception spurred the defense to make huge stops in the4th quarter and OTs. Josh is a physical player and will get stronger which will be bad news for op-ponents in 2014. Great job, Josh!"

SPECIAL TEAMS – Sophomore place-kicker Marshall Morgan, who booted field goals of 40 and 32yards, the second enabling Georgia to tie the game at 27-27 and force the overtime periods. He alsomade all five of his crucial extra-point kicks."Marshall completed a great sophomore season," said Butler. "He connected on two key field goalsagainst Tech, one that pulled the Dawgs to within 10 in the second period, and his second field goaltied the game at 27 in the 4th. Marshall is developing into the quality kicker that UGA has becomeaccustomed to over the years. If we can limit our mistakes on special teams we have a placekickerthat can win the game for UGA when asked to."

photo by Rob Saye

14 • Bulldawg Illustrated

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