Issue 18, Bowl Preview, 2012

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Bowl Preview, December 11, 2012

From the editor : vance leavyWow. How should I start my last editor’s note of 2012?It’s been over a week since what my wife described as the

greatest, worst game in Bulldog annals. When the clock hitzero Alabama was the team running out onto the field to notonly collect the SEC championship trophy, but even more im-portantly a birth in the national championship game in Janu-ary.

For everyone in the Bulldog Nation, from the players tothe coaches to the fans, it was brutal. We were five yards awayfrom our dreams becoming reality.

While in the end the 2012 season wasn’t meant to be theBulldog Nation’s magical year, it was damn close. And I cannotbegin to describe how proud I am of our players and coaches.

Now, the question that remains is where our boys in redand black go from here?

Will getting so close to the ultimate prize be a motivatorto finish the drill in the coming year? Or was 2012 merely anoccasional brush with greatness?

To answer this question, I look to Mark Richt. And I cantell you first-hand from watching the dejection in his face as hewalked to the back of the endzone when the game ended thathis passion to lead Georgia to the promise land is stronger thanever. Our coach wanted it so bad, but it wasn’t meant to be …at least for this season.

On page 4, Jeff Dantzler brilliantly sets the stage for whatthe future can hold. Many great teams in all different sportshave come up just short before finally getting over the last hur-dle.

And for our team, the drive for bigger and better thingsbegins January 1 versus the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Cap-ital One Bowl. They need to end the 2012 season in high fash-ion. Not only will it be a springboard for the 2013 campaign,but it’s huge for the final weeks of recruiting.

Last night, I was lucky enough to attend the Senior Galain Athens and am happy to report the evening proved to be anupbeat celebration of our player’s terrific season. As well itshould have been.

Aaron Murray and Jarvis Jones werenamed recipients of the Vince Dooley MostValuable Players of the Year Award, Murraywas named the team’s Most Valuable Offen-sive Player, and Jones and Ogletree sharedMost Valuable Defensive Player honors.Connor Norman and Blake Sailors werenamed Most Valuable Special Teams play-ers.

Senior tailback Richard Samuel and

senior defensive end Abry Jones were named winners of theDavid Jacobs Award as the players who, by example, portraycourage, spirit, character and determination.

Jarvis Jones was also named the team’s overall permanentcaptain for 2012. Murray and senior wide receiver TavarresKing were elected as the team’s offensive captains, senior safetyShawn Williams was chosen as the defensive captain, and sen-ior snapper Ty Frix was named the special teams captain.

The Leon Farmer Award for dedication to the strength andconditioning program was presented to Murray and sopho-more center David Andrews. Outstanding Scout Team Awardswent to redshirt sophomore fullback Corey Campbell, seniorfullback Dustin Royston, freshman quarterback Faton Bauta,junior quarterback Luis Capella of Augusta and redshirt soph-omore safety Lucas Redd.

Most Improved Player Awards were presented to juniortight end Arthur Lynch, fullback Alexander Ogletree , sopho-more defensive back Damian Swann and sophomore safetyCorey Moore.

Newcomer of the Year Award winners were freshman tail-back Todd Gurley, freshman tailback Keith Marshall, freshmanlinebacker Jordan Jenkins, freshman cornerback Sheldon Daw-son and freshman punter Collin Barber.

Coaches Leadership Awards went to Andrews, Murray,Williams and redshirt sophomore linebacker Kosta Vavlas.

The Charley Trippi Most Versatile Award was presented tosophomore wide receiver/defensive back Malcolm Mitchell,while the Frank Sinkwich Toughness Award was presented toShawn Williams.

And the Governor’s Cup trophy for the victory over Geor-gia Tech was officially presented by Shelton Stevens fromHealthcare of Atlanta.

With that, now it’s time for me to wrap things up. Pleaseenjoy our final issue of 2012. There are great photos from theGala and the SEC Championship and plenty of good info to getyou ready for the bowl trip to Orlando.

I would like to thank everyone who helps put out ouramazingly, fun publication. We couldn’t do it without you. Anda special thanks goes to our advertisers and subscribers fortheir incredible support.

Our next issue comes out in February after signing day.In the meantime, please keep in touch by joining our new so-cial network at www.WeAreBulldawgs.com

In 2013, BI begins its second decade in business and MarkRicht enters his 13th season. Sounds like the perfect ingredi-ents for an undefeated, national title to me. Look forward tobeing there with you the entire way.

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4 Bulldawg Illustrated

There was the 1927 Tech game. Therewas Auburn in 1942, 1971 and 1983. Therewere the back-to-back Sugar Bowls with Pittand Penn State following the 1981 and ’82seasons. There was Florida in 2002.

But the 32-28 Southeastern ConferenceChampionship Game loss to Alabama goesdown as the most devastating in Georgia an-nals. It was a shot to play for the national title.It was for the SEC crown. It was the defend-ing national champion. It was the Bulldogsbiggest game in 30 years. It was five yardsshort and the clock ran out.

So where does Georgia go from here? Alabama lost its biggest game in 16 years

in 2008. With a berth in the BCS Champi-onship Game on the line, in a winner-take-allshowdown with Florida, the Crimson Tidelost. It goes down as one of the biggest lossesin Alabama history. But Bama got back thenext year and won. Then won it all. And theyhaven’t looked back.

So how to move on. Beat Nebraska. Sign a great class. Get back in another game of this magni-

tude. Soon. And next time win. All of the resources are available for Geor-

gia to do what Alabama has done for the lastfive years and what LSU has done in the 21stcentury – that is being outstanding almostevery year and in the conversation for the SECand national championships.

Georgia has the history. Georgia has thetradition. Georgia has the alumni. Georgiahas the fan base. Georgia is the alpha king inone of the most talent rich states for prepprospects in all of America.

The Bulldogs were on the verge of play-ing for college football’s biggest prize. Alabamawill be striving for it for a third time in fouryears. This despite losing four first roundpicks in each of the last two drafts. But Ala-bama has recruited GREAT every year for thelast five years. That’s what Georgia must do.Two of the last three classes have yielded 17players for Georgia. That’s eight shy of theNCAA maximum. Combined with attrition,the Bulldogs headed into this season with 69players signed out of high school or junior col-lege plus the great transfer Jarvis Jones. TheNCAA allows 85.

Georgia’s run defense was crippled by Al-abama’s powerful run offense. The Bulldogsdefense simply didn’t have the depth.

Clearly the Bulldogs have been getting alot of outstanding players. Jones, sensationalfreshman tailback Todd Gurley and electricwide receiver Malcolm Mitchell are amongstthe elite players in college football. TackleJohn Theus, outside linebacker Jordan Jenkinsand Gurley are amongst the top freshmen inthe country.

But to do what Alabama and LSU havedone, it takes great recruiting EVERY year.The Bulldogs have the nucleus for whatshould be another strong class for 2013.There are some elite, elite, elite players sittingout there that Georgia is in the mix for. A winover the Cornhuskers and landing the bigones heading into signing day could set thecourse for the Bulldogs to be back in this po-sition in the near future.

There are six SEC teams in the top tenthis season. Astounding. Those six teams –Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, South Car-

olina and Texas A&M – lost a total of 10games, all going at least 10-2. All 10 of thoselosses were to one another.

Well check out the various recruitingrankings come February. There will be at leastfive or six SEC teams in that top ten as well. Sowhen someone says that their school had a topten class, it’s all relative.

The beauty of Georgia is that it can liveand thrive almost exclusively on in-state tal-ent, and then cherry-pick elite out-of-stateprospects like Gurley, Theus and Keith Mar-shall from this past class, and Matthew Staffordand Knowshon Moreno from six years ago.

Want to make the SEC shiver? Get 20 ofthe best players from Georgia every year andfive elite out-of-staters. No, you are not goingto get them all at Georgia, but every year theBulldogs should get at least, if not more than,their fair share.

That’s how you reload. That’s heir ap-parent stars in waiting for veteran standouts.

Dare to be great Georgia. It’s right therefor the taking, especially with the struggles andcoaching changes at Auburn and Tennessee.

The Bulldogs were right there, right there.That’s what makes that loss so excruciating.Now it is up to the powers that be to keeppushing the program up so that it is not an-other 30 years until Georgia plays in anothergame of this magnitude.

The playoffs are coming. The 2013 cam-paign will be the last one where the regularseason still means everything. Then the four-team format comes about. That will likely lastfor a year or two, assuming that those powersthat be, figure out just who and how the fourare. The cries will double. Within a year ortwo, the playoffs will double in size. That’s apretty safe bet. Well whether it stays four fora while, or immediately jumps to eight, the ex-pectations should be for Georgia to be a regu-lar.

The Dogs were so close. The Dogs got ataste. The Dogs got a lot of national respect.Despite the loss, a lot of people are still talkingabout Georgia and what was college football’sgame of the year in 2012 and the greatest SECChampionship Game ever.

As bad as the Georgia people are hurting,the Bulldogs are a hot team, “trending up-ward.”

To reiterate, the best medicine – beat Ne-braska, recruit great, have another excellentseason, recruit great again, rinse and repeat.

In this league, with six top ten programshere in 2012, if you are not moving forwardand winning in the fall and February everyyear, someone is passing you.

For two years straight, the Bulldogs havebeaten Tech, Florida, Auburn and Tennessee.Even though Georgia loses a lot of talent off ofthis year’s squad, that is within reach againnext year. Of course it will take a lot morewins – and the schedule is much tougher witha trip to Clemson to start the season followedby visits from South Carolina and soon afterLSU – to get back into a spot like the Bulldogswere in this year. But there’s no reason theBulldogs shouldn’t have a chance. And thenagain the year after, the first year of the play-off.

Georgia coach Mark Richt said lastmonth that he felt Georgia was on the vergeof greatness. He was right. It is there for thetaking. It starts with Nebraska, a 12th win andthe drive and hunger to some season soon becollege football’s very best.

Beat Nebraska, recruit great. make a run in ’13 ...

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Of athletic board members and great UGA season

Wow, what a football season it’s been!No, these 2012 Bulldogs didn’t make it to

Miami and the BCS National Championship tilt, aswe predicted back in August that they’d do, butwhen you come thisclose to winning the South-eastern Conference title and playing for all the mar-bles against top-ranked Notre Dame and have achance to close out the season at 12-2 with a bowlvictory, then I’d say Mark Richt’s current Georgiasquad will always hold a prominent place in all thehearts of Bulldog Nation.

But, more about the Dogs a little later in thisspace.

If you’ve been able to catch our Bulldawg Il-lustrated issues dating back to this spring, you havenoticed the profiles of the members of the UGAathletic board we’ve run in this column. We all seewhat’s played out on the football field where, everySaturday, Richt and his Georgia assistant staff andof course the players themselves put their work ondisplay for 92,000 people to judge, both favorablyand unfavorably. Yes, that gigantic fish bowl thatenvelops Sanford Stadium doesn’t allow the Bull-dogs and their coaching staff to keep anything fromview; there’s no place to hide a mistake, and howmany of us in our jobs today are as closely scruti-nized as that? We all make errors in judgment ona near daily basis but we’re able to correct themwithout thousands of people critiquing our everymove.

So I know what the Georgia athletic teamsdo, good or bad. And such is reflected right therein the Bulldog teams’ won-loss marks. But what Ididn’t know, when I began this athletic board se-ries during spring practice with veteran boardmember Bob Bishop, was what all went on in theUGA athletic department away from the playingarena. And what these men and women broughtto the table in their ongoing efforts to make theGeorgia athletic program the very best in America,which it arguably surely is right now.

I didn’t really know many of these boardmembers when I started this series but as Irecorded their comments, as I delved back intotheir childhood, where they grew up, their educa-tion, their families and discovered how excited andhonored they are to serve on the board of directorsof the Georgia Athletic Association, and the ex-pertise they’re able to bring to the table in the build-ing up of the university’s athletic program, Icontinually gained a sense of pride and thankful-ness for what these people are doing for the Geor-gia Bulldogs.

From the faculty members of the athleticboard I interviewed – UGA president and chair-man Dr. Michael Adams, vice chairman/provostJere Morehead, secretary David Shipley and treas-urer Tim Burgess; to the appointed faculty mem-bers – vice-president of student affairs Dr. RodneyBennett and professors Anne Sweaney and Gre-gory Robinson; to the faculty elected by the uni-versity council – professors Jeff Dorfman, JenniferSamp and Luke Naeher; to the alumni reps on theboard – Bill Archer, Mack Guest, Pat Pittard,Swann Seiler and Bob Bishop, and to student rep-resentative Ryan Scates, all of these dyed-in-the-wool Bulldogs were a pleasure to talk with. Allwere most cooperative and from every one of them– despite the fact I’ve been covering the Bulldogssome 47 years now – I learned something newabout the University of Georgia.

And as he heads into his much deserved re-tirement as UGA president with the conclusion ofthe 2012-13 school term, a special shout out goesto Dr. Adams, who has guided this university to

new and greater heights during his term in officethese past 16 years while also presiding over theathletic board with a firm and steady hand.

OK, enough of the slaps on the back for allthese able people behind the scenes in UGA ath-letics. Let’s go back now and talk about this specialfootball team that, entering the Jan. 1 Capital OneBowl in Orlando against the Nebraska Corn-huskers, has stormed over 11 opponents whilecoming up short against only two. And you knowfull well which games those were. But what a con-trast in those two Bulldog defeats … a dismal nightin Columbia, S.C. where absolutely nothing wentright in a 35-7 setback to the Gamecocks to anearly historic night in the Georgia Dome wherethird-ranked Georgia went toe-to-toe with mighty,second-ranked Alabama the night long before ab-sorbing the agonizing 32-28 setback. As I wrote inmy SEC championship game story on our website,it was “Heartache by the Numbers” as the Bulldogscame up five yards and four points, and mere sec-onds, too, from the conference crown and a tripto the national championship game.

Sure, this team encountered some otherbumps along the way – less than impressive per-formances against Buffalo, Florida Atlantic andKentucky, a bit of a defensive meltdown againstTennessee and having to rally like crazy to beat aMissouri team that struggled mightily in its firstyear in the SEC, but from the week senior safetyShawn Williams called out his defensive buddiesfor being a little “soft,” the Bulldogs went into Jack-sonville, beat the hated Gators and never lookedback. They pretty much played lights out over thefinal six games, including the title loss to the Crim-son Tide.

Now, it’s time to finish strong against the 10-3 Cornhuskers – and I’ve called it the Bulldogs by31-17 elsewhere in this issue – and then beginmaking ready for 2013. I tell you what, if onerecord-breaking Aaron Murray returns for his sen-ior season, Mike Bobo’s offensive team is going torank among the very best and most explosive inthe land. The entire O-line comes back and WillFriend should develop them into a bigger, strongerand quicker-striking unit; all of the talented re-ceiving corps returns except for the talented Tavar-res King and Marlon Brown, and that includes theteam’s top receiver prior to his injury, Michael Ben-nett, and of course I don’t have to tell you abouthow good “Gurshall” is going to be. Todd Gurleyis the best true freshman tailback at Georgia sincethe legendary Herschel, and the mercurial KeithMarshall seems destined to rank right up therewith Mr. Walker when it comes to breaking offlong-distance touchdown jaunts, before he playshis last game in a Bulldog uniform

Of course, Georgia’s biggest question marknext fall will be on the other side of the ball wheresome eight or so outstanding starters will eithergraduate or make an early jump to the NFL. But,that said, I’ve got to think all those talented youngguys under Todd Grantham’s tutelage – the oneswho saw some starting or backup action this sea-son or who have been patiently awaiting their timeto get on the field – will step up in 2013 and makethe Bulldogs a much better defensive team thanany of the college “experts” will be predicting. AndGeorgia will have truly outstanding kickers for thenext three years in punter Collin Barber and place-kicker Marshall Morgan.

Yes, indeed, a splendid football season it hasbeen, and that Aug. 31 opening kickoff in Clem-son’s Death Valley next year can’t arrive soonenough.

poole shotsBy Murray Poole

LUMINOUS®


hile playing in the Capital One Bowl is not the outcome that most Georgia fanswere hoping for, it’s still arguably the biggest out of the non-BCS bowls. Dawg fanswill be pretty familiar with Orlando as they’ve had to travel down two times re-cently; once in 2003 and once in 2008. This year, they’ll line up against the Nebraska

Cornhuskers. This is the second year in a row that Nebraska has played in the Capitol One Bowlbut they’re coming off a an embarrassing loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game.It is an extremely interesting game from the outside looking in and will be a great challenge forthe Dawgs.

Bounce backBoth of these teams are coming off devastating losses in their conference championship

games but both of those losses were experienced in different ways. You know the story for theDawgs; five yards away from playing for a National Championship. It might have been the bestgame that any Georgia team has played in years. Heartbreak was the result and has left Dawg fanswith a sour taste in their mouth. Nebraska’s devastating loss was entirely different. Rather thanbeing so close, they were so far away. In a brutal, 70-31 game, Wisconsin waxed Nebraska forall they were worth. Many Cornhuskers’ fans called it the most embarrassing loss in the historyof Nebraska football. Ouch. A win in that game would have resulted in them heading down toPasadena for the Rose Bowl. Both teams were one game from going to a BCS bowl and nowthey’re matched-up in Orlando. The question now becomes which team is able to bounce back, re-group and get ready to play in this game. Being so close, Georgia has a tougher task ahead than Nebraska.It’s going to be hard for the Dawg’s coaching staff to motivate the team to prepare well for an ultimately mean-ingless bowl game. The Nebraska staff can easily motivate their young men by asking them if that’s the waythey wanted to end their season. For Georgia, the SEC Championship game essentially was theend to their season. It will be on the shoulders of the seniors and leaders of this team to mo-tivate the other players.

Unique running gameIt was so great to see Johnny Manziel win the Heisman this weekend. He de-

served it; what an incredibly dynamic player. Georgia needs to be aware that Ne-braska has a quarterback that is very similar to Manziel in Taylor Martinez. Intwelve games this year, Martinez leads the Cornhuskers in all the major RUSH-ING categories. That’s right, the dreaded running quarterback. Martinez has gainedjust over 1,200 yards on the ground this year for ten scores. He has a long run of92 yards. You can understand why there needs to be some concern about what thisguy can do with his feet. Now, the difference between Manziel and Martinez is thatMartinez is nowhere near the prolific passer that Johnny Football has shown to be. 21touchdown passes on the year for Martinez but that also comes with 10 picks. He’ll turn theball over in some situations. But this isn’t a one trick pony up at Nebraska; they’ve got two othertalented backs that can cause a defense fits as well. First it’s Ameer Abdullah who has been the feature backthroughout most of year racking up 1,100 yards rushing. There’s also another guy whose name is prettyrecognizable and that’s Rex Burkhead. Burkhead was up for Heisman consideration in 2011 after postingsome really obnoxious numbers while rushing the football. An injury sidelined him for about half of theyear for Nebraska but he’s now. A trio of Abdullah, Martinez and Burkhead is something to be feared byGeorgia. Especially, since all of the last three opponents Georgia has played have rushed for over 300 yardsagainst them.

Nebraska’s defense: Uh OhApparently, after it was announced that Georgia and Nebraska would be matched up against each

other, the sentiment amongst the Nebraska faithful was “Uh Oh.” Nebraska has had a lot of struggles withtheir defense this year and they haven’t seen an offense as fast or explosive as the Dawg’s yet

this year. Two good examples of how bad the Cornhuskers defense has been this year areof course the Wisconsin game in the Big Ten Championship. But they also gave up

63 points to Ohio State earlier in the year. As Nebraska fans look at Georgia’s offense,they see nothing but trouble. An offensive line they has only gotten better, a QBwho is the only guy to throw for 3,000 yards in the SEC for three straight yearsEVER, two phenom freshmen running backs and more wide receivers thanthey know what to do with. Expect Coach Bobo to throw everything but thekitchen sink at this porous defense to throw some points up on the scoreboardearly. If they don’t make mistakes, Georgia could easily hang half a hundred on

Nebraska. It’s now easy to understand why their fans had that feeling of “Uh Oh”when this game was announced.

IntangiblesIt’s so hard to talk about intangibles in what amounts to a meaningless bowl game. The

two teams don’t play each other enough to have any kind of emotional or mental advantage overone another. Neither team really has any momentum either after losses in their conference championshipgames. Even if they did have momentum, it would have died after a month layover between games. Bothteams are also going to have to fight off disappointment after those last losses. It’s going to come down towhich team has better leaders to help the younger guys through the grind of bowl practice and prep.Hopefully the cobwebs will be shaken off by the time kickoff rolls around and we’ll get a quality game.

Capital One Bowl previewAfter coming five yards short of BCS title game,the 2012 Bulldogs need to make a final statementBy Travis Ragsdale

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SECChampionshipGeorgia 28Alabama 32

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JD’s Bowl PreviewBy Jeff Dantzler

Vanderbilt vs. North Carolina StateDecember 31, High NoonNashville

What a season it has been for the Commodores, whoposted an 8-4 record and 5-3Southeastern Conference mark.Understanding that the twoprograms are down, but forVanderbilt to beat Auburn andTennessee in the same seasonis an enormous deal for theCommodores. James Franklinhas done quick and excellentwork in the Music City. Theylost at home to South Carolinain the season opener, then fell at Northwestern and atGeorgia. After dropping a 31-17 decision in Nashville toFlorida, the Commodores won their last six games.That’s the longest winning streak for the Commodoressince 1955. Zac Stacy is a terrific tailback and JordanMatthews an elite receiver. North Carolina State is goingthrough a coaching change. They let Tom O’Brien go.The highlight of the Wolfpack season was a 17-16 upsetof Florida State. Vanderbilt went 8-3 in 1982, then lost toAir Force in the Hall of Fame Bowl to finish 8-4. TheCommodores have made history, making it to bowls inback-to-back season for the first time ever. Now theycan get to 9-4 and finish ranked in the final national polls.

LSU vs. ClemsonDecember 31, 7 p.m.Atlanta

Once again, because of the proximity, date and time,and interest of the two leaguesinvolved and the match-up, theGeorgia Dome gets a grandslam game. The Fightin’ Tigersand Clemson Tigers both had10-2 seasons, and want toclose it out strong. LSU isloaded with talent, led by a typ-ically tough defense. Clemsonhas one of the country’s mostexplosive offenses. The key is whether Zach Metten-berger, that excellent stable of backs and the LSU of-fense can be consistent, like they were against Ole Miss.Jeremy Hill is an outstanding freshman tailback. LSU isone of the teams that is asking what if? The Tigers fell14-6 at Florida and lost that 21-17 heart-breaker to Ala-bama in Baton Rouge. Clemson lost at Florida State,letting a second half lead get away, and fell in the finaleto arch-rival South Carolina yet again. Sammy Watkins isan electric wide receiver. Clemson opened the season inthe Georgia Dome, beating Auburn. It would be afeather in their cap to take down LSU, too. The Tigersopen next season at home with Georgia.

Mississippi State vs. NorthwesternJanuary 1, High NoonJacksonville

These are two programs that don’t exactly have therichest of football history, butthey have had good successunder their coaches. Twoyears ago, Dan Mullen ledMississippi State to a 9-4record, beating Georgia,Florida and Michigan. TheMaroon Bulldogs were 7-0,but struggled home, losingto Alabama, Texas A&M, LSUand Ole Miss. Still, a win would mean 9-4 for thesecond time in three years and that’s something to beproud of in Starkville. Pat Fitzgerald, who was an All-American linebacker, on their famed Big Ten champi-onship teams of 1994 and 1995, has done a stellarjob at the helm in Evanston. Northwestern justmissed out on a trip to the Big Ten ChampionshipGame. In all of their losses, the Wildcats had secondhalf leads get away. Northwestern’s offense couldgive State problems. They are looking for a secondwin over an SEC foe this year. Northwestern edgedVanderbilt in September.

South Carolina vs. MichiganJanuary 1, 1 p.m.Tampa

Brady Hoke has Michi-gan going in the right di-rection. The Wolverinesgot smoked by Alabamain the season openerand lost to Notre Dame.They got things going inthe Big Ten, but lost atight one to Ohio State inthe big one to end theyear. Michigan won the Sugar Bowl last season andwent 11-2. South Carolina is riding its greatest waveever under the watch of Steve Spurrier, one of the elitecoaches in college football annals. The Gamecockswent to the SEC Championship Game in 2010. Lastseason the Gamecocks set a school record for winsgoing 11-2. Now they are 10-2 again, losing only atLSU and at Florida. The highlight victories came overGeorgia, Tennessee and Clemson. The fact that theyare doing this for a second straight season, for aroundhalf the year, without the magnificent Marcus Lattimoreis more incredible. Last year, the Gamecocks beat Ne-braska on New Year’s Day. Adding another royal pro-gram in Michigan to the hit list would give the loyalGamecock faithful even more pride. Over the last threeyears, they are 9-0 against Georgia, Tennessee andClemson, 2-1 vs. Florida, and the Gamecocks have winsover Alabama and Nebraska. Incredible.

Wisconsin vs. StanfordJanuary 1, 5 p.m.Pasadena

This is one of the more in-triguing Rose Bowl match-ups in quite some time.Wisconsin will be coachedby their athletic directorBarry Alvarez, the ac-claimed coach who rejuve-nated the program and ledthe Badgers to a trio ofRose Bowl victories in hisdays on the sideline. Bret Bilema bolted Madisonfor Arkansas, despite a third straight trip to the RoseBowl. The Badgers are an ordinary 8-5, with fourlosses coming by a field goal and one by a touch-down. But because Ohio State and Penn State areon probation, the Badgers found their way in theBig Ten Championship Game. Once there, Wiscon-sin embarrassed Nebraska 70-31 behind an epicground performance. Stanford is having its thirdstraight great year. Jim Harbaugh left. Then An-drew Luck turned pro. Everyone thought Stanfordwould go away. But David Shaw has kept the pro-gram going strong. The upset win at Oregon wasone of the biggest stories of the year. The lonelosses were a heartbreaker at Washington and con-troversial overtime decision at Notre Dame.

Florida State vs. Northern IllinoisJanuary 1, 8:30 p.m.Miami

This game that has givencollege football fans gameslike Miami-Nebraska and Al-abama-Michigan onceagain gets a dud. The At-lantic Coast Conferencewas not very strong thisseason. Florida State cameout on top, bouncing back to edge Tech after get-ting beaten badly at home by Florida. The Gatorshave an athletic defense and firepower on offense.Northern Illinois is the first “BCS buster” to come inwith a loss. The Huskies are 12-1, downing KentState in a thriller in the Mid-American ConferenceChampionship Game. This has been one of thebest mid-major programs in the country for a longtime. Now they are on college football’s big stage.The BCS has done a phenomenal job getting No. 1vs. No. 2. But they’ve failed, in many ways due todifferent rules, regulations and stipulations, in get-ting great games in the other major bowls. This isanother case.

Louisville vs. FloridaJanuary 2, 8:30New Orleans

Charlie Strong rebuffedTennessee to stay atLouisville and got a bigraise out of it. He led theCardinals to the Big Easttitle and now wants amajor bowl victory over anSoutheastern Conferencepower – one he used to coach. Strong was astandout defensive coordinator for both Ron Zookand Urban Meyer. The Gators don’t want to slip upand spoil what would be one of the best seasons inschool history. Florida’s only loss was 17-9 to Geor-gia in Jacksonville. The Gators resume is extremelyimpressive, highlighted by four wins over 10-2teams – Texas A&M (on the road), LSU, South Car-olina and Florida State (on the road). Florida wasalso extremely fortunate to beat Louisiana –Lafayette and struggled to down Bowling Green andMissouri. The Gators defense is outstanding.Florida’s kicking game could be the country’s best,led by Al-American Caleb Sturgis. Jeff Driskel andMike Gillislee are a top-notch quarterback/runningback duo.

Oregon vs. Kansas StateJanuary 3, 8:30 p.m.Glendale, AZ

These are two teams that had nationalchampionshipdreams spoiledon the samenight. Oregonlost a thriller atStanford, whileKansas Stategot drilled byBaylor. Bothbounced back.The Ducks beatOregon State and Kansas State took downTexas. Oregon and Kansas State are both11-1, and the winner could finish as high asNo. 3 or No. 4 in the country. Bill Snyder isan incredible story. The return and secondtime rebuilding the program is an all-timer.Chip Kelly has been a magician at the Ore-gon helm, taking what Mike Belotti did, andjacking it to another level. The Ducks of-fense is one of college football’s best. Thereis sure fire star power in this one with CollinKlein and Kenjon Barner

Texas A&M vs. OklahomaJanuary 4, 8:00 p.m.Arlington, TX

This is one of the best games of the bowl season.This one-time major bowl gets major match-upsevery year with the SEC andBig XII locked up. WithNorthern Illinois getting intothe BCS, that bumped Okla-homa to Dallas. The Soonersget former Big XII foe TexasA&M, which went 10-2 inYear One in the SEC, led byrecord – setting redshirt fresh-man quarterback JohnnyManziel. The Sooners lost twice at home – a first inthe Bob Stoops era – falling to 11-1 Kansas State 24-19 and 12-0 Notre Dame 30-13. Oklahoma won acouple of thrillers over West Virginia and OklahomaState down the stretch. The defense has someholes. The Aggies highlight was the famous 29-24victory over then – No. 1 Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Thetwo losses were at home to Florida 20-17, a gamethe Aggies led 17-7 at intermission, and to LSU 24-19, a contest in which Texas A&M had a 12-0 first halflead. This will be one of the toughest tickets this sea-son. Oklahoma, on its last trip to Dallas, blew outTexas in the Red River Shootout.

Ole Miss vs. PittsburghJanuary 5, 1 p.m.Birmingham

What a turnaround for the Rebels, who werepretty bad the last few years. Hugh Freeze andhis up-tempooffense madewaves in theSEC West. OleMiss hungtough with Ala-bama and lostheart-breakersto Vanderbilt,Texas A&M and LSU. They were handled byGeorgia and Texas. Most teams in the SEC aregrumpy after going 6-6. But Ole Miss tookdown Mississippi State to become bowl eligible,and after this drought, getting to the postsea-son is a big deal for the Rebels. Pittsburghstarted slowly but came on and posted a strongsecond half of the season. Bo Wallace is one ofthe better quarterbacks in the SEC, and theRebels have a lot of weapons, including speedytailback Jeff Scott. Birmingham is a short drivefor most of the Rebel fan base – it’s just threehours from Oxford – so they figure to travel.

Alabama vs. Notre DameJanuary 7, 8:30 p.m.Miami

Alabama had five of the top 35 picks in the NFL Draft.The year before, the Crimson Tide lost four first roundselections. But Nick Saban and his staff recruit greatevery year. Now Alabama,which won an all-time greatclassic 32-28 over Georgia inthe SEC Championship Game,will play for a third nationaltitle in four year. Not evenBear Bryant did that. TheBear also never beat the Irish.Notre Dame has had thedream season. The Fightin’Irish won at Oklahoma and Southern Cal. They survivedagainst Pitt, Stanford and Purdue. Brian Kelly has doneexcellent work in short fashion in South Bend. The NotreDame defense, which features a lot of southern stand-outs like defensive end Stephon Tuitt, and the great All-American linebacker Manti Teo, from Honolulu, is fierce.They gave up only nine touchdowns all seasons. Bamahas a superb defense as well, led by All-American line-backer C.J. Mosely, and All-American corner Dee Milliner.It is the Bama offense that makes the difference. It is anexceptional unit with a pair of All-American offensive line-men in Barrett Jones and chance Warmack, a sterlingtailback duo of Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon, an accuratequarterback A.J. McCarron, and fleet Amari Cooper at re-ceiver. Notre Dame may have the better defense – may.But Alabama’s offense is far superior. Notre Dame willhave a harder time scoring.

Southern Cal vs. TechDecember 31, 2 p.m.El Paso

This is an intriguing match-up between two teamsthat had their share ofdisappointments.Southern Cal was aconsensus preseasontop three pick, butslumped to 7-5. TheTrojans have all kindsof offensive firepower,but the defense wasdisappointing. Espe-cially against the run.Tech boasts one of the country’s top running at-tacks, but the defense is very leaky. This could bea high-scoring shootout. The Yellow Jackets bot-tomed out with a 49-28 loss to Middle TennesseeState at Grant Field, but came back strong to winfour of five. Tech fell hard 42-10 at Georgia, thenrallied back to scare Florida State in the ACC Cham-pionship Game. A win would get Tech to 7-7.Southern Cal lost for a fourth straight tie to Stan-ford, got outgunned by Oregon, and upset by Ari-zona. Then came season-ending losses toarch-rivals UCLA and Notre Dame. Lane Kiffin’sseat is very warm.


Josh Sailors and Kelsey Sailors Maxine Green, Hamp Brown, Kitt Brown, JJ Green, Tracolya Green and Donald Green

SeniorGala

Aaron Murray, Stephanie Murray and Josh Murray Susan and Steve Middlebrooks and Will FriendAl Hickson, Todd Gurley and Angela Hickson

Morgan Gilmore, Jarvis Jones and Marilyn Gilmore

FrankieSinkwich,

WillHayes, Jarvis

Jones and Hatton

Abernathy

Brooke and Jeff Stortz and Kim Liebowitz

Frankie Sinkwich and Vince Dooley Watts Dantzler and Nicole Jenson Alec Ogletree and Xander Ogletree Lauren Murray and Barbara Dooley

Carline Lynch and Arthur Lynch Becky Reynolds and Chris Conley Carole Causby and Jean Dantzler Adam Lowdey and Bacarri Rambo

Travis Ragsdale and Jon Jenkins Janie and Ron Smith Marian Barber and Kirk Livingood Barbara and Tom Dean

KendallMcShaneand Ray

Drew

Malcolm Mitchell receives the inaugural Trippi Award fromCharley Trippi. Also pictured with Mike Bobo and Todd Grantham

Herman Cantrell, Christian Robinson and Ann CantrellShawn Williams receives the inuagural Sinkwich Award. Also picturedMike Bobo, Frankie Sinkwich and Todd Grantham

MVPs Connor Norman, Jarvis Jones, Aaron Murray, Alec Ogletree and Blake Sailors Tavarres King speaks for the seniors Keith Marshall, Mike Bobo and Todd Gurley - OffensiveNewcomers of the Year


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What to do in Orlando for the Bowl

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CAPITAL ONE FANFESTTuesday, January 1st 9:00 AM – 1:00 PMFlorida Citrus Bowl Stadium – McCracken FieldLive music, entertainment, interactive games, inflatables, video board featuring other bowl game action and premier sponsor interactive displays including Capital One highlight the official pre-game party, the Capital One FanFest at Mc-Cracken Field is adjacent to the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium and free to all fans with game ticket. Be there early to see Capital One Venture Card presents: Dierks Bentley Live in a free concert. VIP upgrades available for just $25 via Tick-etmaster.com. For more information visit CapitalOneBowl.com/game.

ORLANDO CITRUS PARADESaturday, December 29th 10:00 AMDowntown OrlandoBe part of one of Central Florida’s longest running traditions at the Orlando Citrus Parade! Magnifi-cent citrus floats, with marching bands from across the country, university bands from the Capital One Bowl and other exciting entertainment will be marching through the streets of downtown Orlando. Grandstand tickets may be purchased for $28 by calling Florida Citrus Sports at 407-423-2476. or by visiting OrlandoCitrusParade.com.

DISNEY/UNIVERSAL NIGHTLIFE Universal has a nightlife area called City Walk with cool bars and restaurants, including Hard Rock Cafe, Bob Marley, Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, Emeril’s Restaurant-Orlando, Pat O’Brien’s, Fat Tuesday, etc. Fun to hang out and check out the scene.

Downtown Disney’s nightlife features House of Blues, Wolfgang Puck Cafe, Cirque du Soleil/La Nouba and an AMC Theater. Also any of the Dis-ney property restaurants are all top-notch quality. Several restaurants are located at the Disney hotels and don’t require any park admission fees to visit and dine.

AROUND WINTER PARK The Winter Park suburb of Orlando has a mix of indepen-dent shops, bars and restaurants along its Park Avenue and surrounding area. One of the best restaurants to try is called Luma. Winter Park is also the location of Rollins College, which has a beautiful campus on Lake Virginia with buildings designed in old-world Spanish architecture.

Not far from Winter Park is the Antique Row Ivanhoe/Col-lege Park district just north of downtown Orlando and within 5 minutes of the Citrus Bowl. This area features a collection of antique shops, and local urban restaurants as well as some cigar bars. One place not to miss is called The Imperial, which is a unique antique store with a full bar and lounge area throughout, so you can enjoy a glass of wine while browsing their collection. Local Food Trucks also frequent this area during the day and at night offering a variety of delicious cuisine. Also, just a few minutes on the other side of Lake Ivanhoe is the College Park neighborhood which is equally enjoyable as well.

OUTDOORSFor an outdoor experience, one of our many beau-tiful springs is a must see! Very affordable as they just charge by the car. Kelly Park, Wekiva Springs or Blue Springs (a little further but typically have manatees) Canoe and kayak launch as well as great hiking. Campgrounds too.


1. Dictate with the Run – Todd Gurley is the best tailback in the country. There are a lotof outstanding backs out there, but none are better than the freshman sensation. He was brilliant inthe Bulldogs win over Florida, and Georgia’s MVP in the heart-breaking loss to Alabama. He’s fast,strong, shifty, powerful and pushes everything forward. Keith Marshall is a speedster of a counterpuncher and Ken Malcome has power. Wisconsin ran for 500 yards in a rout of Nebraska in the BigTen Championship Game. If Georgia is patient and sticks to the ground, the Bulldogs should be ableto gash the Cornhuskers front.

2. Slow Down the Huskers Run – With the exception of the ill-fated Bill Callahan era, Ne-braska has always been an outstanding running team. The Cornhuskers have it again this year, espe-cially when bruising tailback Rex Burkhead is healthy. Quarterback Taylor Martinez is a two-way threatand the Huskers will run some option at Georgia. The Bulldogs have given up right at 1,000 yards onthe ground the last three games. Alabama cut through the Georgia defense on the ground. The teamwith the better run defense has a huge edge in Orlando.

3. Pressure Martinez – Nebraska is a running team. The Cornhuskers quarterback is a bigpart of that. Georgia’s defense will have to pressure him on straight keeps and the option. When Ne-braska does throw it, Georgia’s defensive front must put heat on Martinez. He can come up with thebig play, but like any quarterback, is shaky when the heat is on. He’s one of those quarterbacks thatcan be more dangerous when a play breaks down. When the pressure comes, Georgia’s ends need tokeep him in the pocket. That’s where the negative plays come from. Putting Nebraska behind the chainsputs Georgia in turnover opportunistic downs.

4. Big Plays on Limited Throws – Georgia sets the tone with the running game when theBulldogs are at their best. The extra benefit is what that sets up off of play action. Nebraska’s defensehas had some tough days, especially in the Big Ten Championship Game. When Gurley is rolling, thatsets up Aaron Murray to hit Malcolm Mitchell and co. for big chunks of yardage without having to putthe ball in the air too much. Even without Michael Bennett and Marlon Brown, Georgia’s receiving corpswill be the best one the Cornhuskers have faced this season.

5. Bring the Fire – Georgia’s last two bowl performances have been lackluster. The Bulldogslost 10-6 to Central Florida in Memphis, then last year in Tampa, blew a 16-0 lead and lost in overtimeto Michigan State. Nebraska is a storied program and that has helped to generate some excitement,even on the heels of arguably the most heart-breaking loss in Georgia lore. A victory over Nebraskawould stamp a 12-2 season and a final national ranking somewhere in the top six or seven. This Geor-gia team nearly played for the national title. A team of this caliber needs to finish in excellent fashion.

Five keys for a Bulldog victory

By Jeff Dantzler

By Jeff Dantzler

By Murray Poole

Location: Lincoln, Neb.

Conference: Big Ten

Enrollment: 19,345

Cornhuskers in a thumbnail: Going into the 2012 season, Nebraska returned eight offensivestarters and seven defensive regulars from the 2011 team that went 9-4 including a 30-13 lossto South Carolina in the Capital One Bowl. Now, the Cornhuskers of fourth-year coach Bo Pelini,the former LSU defensive coordinator, will make their second consecutive appearance in Orlandosporting a 10-3 season record. Nebraska was riding a six-game winning streak before gettingrouted 70-31 by Wisconsin Dec. 1 in the Big Ten championship game. The Huskers’ victories thisfall came over Southern Miss (49-20), Arkansas State (42-13), Idaho State (73-7), Wisconsin inthe regular season matchup (30-27), Northwestern (29-28), Michigan (23-9), Michigan State(28-24), Penn State (32-23), Minnesota (38-14) and Iowa (13-7). The other two defeats wereby UCLA (36-30) and unbeaten Ohio State (63-38).

A look at the Nebraska offense:The Cornhuskers now run a spread option attack under sec-ond-year coordinator Tim Beck, as opposed to the pure Nebraska option teams of the past, andthe Huskers will take an extremely balanced offense into the matchup with Georgia. Averaging35.1 points per game, Nebraska leads the Big Ten with a 254 yards-per-game rushing average(8th in nation) and is also passing for 207 yards per contest. The Huskers are led by junior quar-terback Taylor Martinez (6-1, 200) who has passed for 2,667 yards and 21 touchdowns – with10 interceptions – while also rushing for 973 yards and 10 more touchdowns. Martinez is theHuskers’ all-time total offense leader with more than 9,000 yards. Nebraska’s leading rusher issophomore I-back Ameer Abdullah (5-9, 185), who has run for 1,089 yards (5.0 avg.) and eighttouchdowns while also rating one of the top kick returners in the country. Senior I-back RexBurkhead (5-11, 210) follows Abdullah and Martinez with his 535 yards (7.2 avg.) and four touch-downs after running for 1,357 and 15 touchdowns in 2011. Sophomore Kenny Bell (6-1, 185) isNebraska’s leading receiver with 46 catches for 803 yards and eight scores while junior QuincyEnuwa (6-2, 215) follows with 40 receptions for 459 yards and one score. The Huskers’ scoringleader is senior place-kicker Brett Maher, who has tallied 112 points via 19 field goals and 55 PATs.

A look at the Nebraska defense: As you can see, the Cornhuskers’ defensive unit has hadits struggles this season. Being hit by opposing offenses for such point totals as 27, 28, 24, 23,36, 63 and, finally, the 70 salvo by Wisconsin, Nebraska has surrendered 26.2 points per game.The Cornhuskers, after being pummeled for more than 500 yards rushing by Wisconsin in theBig Ten title game, are allowing an average of 195 yards on the ground. Pass defense, they aresomewhat better, giving up just 148 yards per outing, which leads the nation. Senior linebackerWill Compton (6-2, 230) leads the defense with 101 total tackles while senior safety DaimionStafford (6-1, 205) follows with 89 tackles and has four interceptions. Also formidable for theHuskers are senior end Cameron Meredith (6-4, 260) and senior tackle Baker Steinkuhler (6-6,290).

What Cornhuskers head coach Bo Pelini says: “I know Georgia’s going to be athletic. Iknow they’re going to be physical and obviously they’re going to be well-coached. I think CoachRicht does a great job. They’re going to challenge us across the board in every way. They’re avery talented team. (On Nebraska giving up the 500-plus rushing yards to Wisconsin and Geor-gia allowing Alabama to run for 350 yards) First and foremost, you have to be able to stop therun. If you give up big rushing yards it’s a recipe for disaster. You can’t recover from that. That’sgoing to be an area both teams try to shore up and an area both teams will try to exploit.”

Game Prediction: It’s difficult to gauge how these two football teams will snap back from theirconference title game losses. Georgia’s of course was the most agonizing as the Bulldogs ran outof time on the Alabama 5-yard line in the bitter 32-28 SEC championship game loss, a defeat thatkept Georgia from going to the BCS national championship game. Nebraska, meantime, was get-ting blown away by Wisconsin by that 70-31 tally in the Big Ten title game after having whippedthe Badgers in the regular season meeting. But with a month to heal the wounds from those set-backs, you would think both teams will be out to prove something on Jan. 1 in the Capital OneBowl in sunny Orlando. Like head coach Mark Richt has said, these Bulldogs – especially theGeorgia seniors – have much to play for: a rare 12-win season, a possible finish in the country’stop five teams and, yes, a big springboard into the 2013 season when Georgia will be seekingto go to its third consecutive SEC title game. With the Bulldog offense continuing its late-seasonexplosiveness and with the Georgia defense reverting to previous form after being jolted forthose 32 points and 350 rushing yards by the Crimson Tide, the Dogs achieve that 12-2 finishwith a 35-21 shucking of the Huskers.

#8 Ameer Abdullah, IB5-9, 185 Soph. Homewood, Alabama (Homewood H.S.)

Nebraska’s offense is loaded with stars. The “I-Back” duo of Ameer Abdullah and Rex Burkhead is theheadlining duo, along with standout quarterback Taylor Martinez, wide receiver Kenny Bell, and All-Amer-ican guard Spencer Long. Burkhead missed half the season with injury so Abdullah stepped in the pri-mary “I-Back” role and thrived. He carried 219 times 1,089 yards, averaging 5.0 yards per carry, andchalked up eight touchdowns. He’s a slasher with some jets. Burkhead is the classic pounder and Mar-tinez can take it all the way. Georgia’s run defense will be severely tested. The Bulldogs got carved upby Alabama in the SEC Championship Game and Nebraska will lean heavily on its strength. With a monthto get ready, there’s a chance Georgia could see the Cornhuskers put Abdullah and Burkhead on the fieldat the same time.

#22 Rex Burkhead, IB5-11, 210 Sr. Plano, Texas (Plano H.S.)

Nebraska has had a slew of great “I-Backs,” highlighted by 1983 Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier, andmid-to-late 1990’s national champion All-Americans Lawrence Phillips and Ahman Green. Rex Burkheadis a different style back, but the Big Red faithful rightfully consider him one of their most beloved run-ners ever. He’s cut a bit from the cloth of Larry Czonka and Earl Campbell. He’s a bruiser with powerwho is extremely tough to bring down. Trying to arm tackle him or coming in with a high pad level is alosing proposition. If there’s a back from the SEC he resembles, it is Alabama’s slammer Eddie Lacy, MostValuable Player of the SEC Championship Game. He missed half the season with injury, but came backlate and was big in Nebraska’s division clinching win over Iowa. Burkhead should be close to 100 per-cent for Orlando and anxious to show what he can do against an SEC foe.

#3 Taylor Martinez, QB6-1 Jr. Corona, California (Centennial H.S.)

One of the Big Ten’s top two-way threats, Taylor Martinez is one of three headliners in a potent Cornhusker back-field. A quarterback who is a dangerous runner and thrower is especially lethal when teamed with an outstand-ing tailback, or in Nebraska’s famed case, “I-Back.” Well Nebraska has two. Powerhouse Rex Burkhead and theshifty Ameer Abdullah combine to give Nebraska big time big play options. Martinez was one of the Big Ten’s toprushers, running for 1,241 yards (sacks and losses cut his net gain to 973 yards), and ten touchdowns, with anaverage of 5.6 per carry. Martinez worked hard on his throwing mechanics in the off-season and had his beat yearthrowing, hitting of 212 of 341 passes for 2,667 yards, with 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. His top targetis wide receiver Kenny Bell, who hauled in 46 passes for 803 yards and eight touchdowns. When that running gameis rolling, Martinez thrives with Bell in man-to-man coverages.

Scouting the HuskersNebraska stars

photo by Rob Saye

photo by Rob Saye

Issue 18, Bowl Preview, 2012

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Transcript of Issue 18, Bowl Preview, 2012