The Bulldawg Blog: Citrus Bowl (Capital One) Review

Citrus (Capital One) Bowl Review

I’m just now getting around to talking about the bowl game because I had to get the Tech game out of the way first before I moved on to the bowl and I wasn’t ready to talk about the Tech game until recently. This wasn’t the bowl game that everyone was hoping for at the beginning of the season but it could have been worse. The bowl game was the 2008 team’s last chance to perform. For the players sticking around for another year or more it was a chance to get 2009 started in the right direction. And for some Bulldawgs it would be their last game at Georgia. I’m going to put a bow on this season and discuss the future but first let’s review the game.

In the review I decided to focus on a few things in particular: there were a number of recurring problems that kept the Dawgs from achieving their goals this season. Since this was the last chance for the 2008 team to play, I wanted to look at which of those things still showed up in the bowl game and which ones they did better on. Also, I thought it would be appropriate to focus some on the performances of Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno since they would be playing their final game. Finally, I also kept in mind some of the players who will be around next year and will need to step it up for the Dawgs to keep winning.

The Citrus Bowl (AKA: Capital One Bowl): vs. #18 Michigan State, Win, 24-12.

Going In: There was no denying that this was not the place Georgia expected or hoped to end up in January but they were definitely expected to win now that they were here. The line for this game had been at 7 or 7.5 but it ended up with Georgia being favored by 9. The Dawgs were coming off of a devastating loss to Georgia Tech that dropped them to 9-3 and made an already disappointing season much, much worse. Hardly anyone thought Michigan State would win but it was hard for me to expect a blowout or even a double digit win for the Dawgs. Since starting the year 2-0-1 against the spread in their first 4 games (there was no line against Georgia Southern) the Dawgs had gone 1-7 ATS and 0-6 ATS as a favorite.

Michigan State was (in my opinion) the definition of a “good” team in 2008. They were better than mediocre: they had no bad losses, took care of the middling teams in the Big Ten, and won 9 games. But they were less than great: they lost their only tough non-conference game, got destroyed by the two great teams they played (Ohio State and Penn State), and they didn’t have any great wins. The Spartans were also essentially average on both sides of the ball. Their lone star was running back Javon Ringer. After losing 38-31 at Cal in the season opener, MSU won 6 straight leading up to a showdown with Ohio State at home. The Spartans forgot to show up, getting raped, 45-7. That pretty much ended all discussion about Michigan State being anything great. They were 9-2 going into the last game of the season at Penn State, but once again they were no match for a great team, losing 49-18. Michigan State was 9-0 in games that they were favored in and 0-3 in games that they were not favored in. They were 6.5 point underdogs at Cal and lost by 7; 3.5 point underdogs at home against Ohio State and lost by 38; and 16.5 point underdogs at PSU and lost by 31.

While the season hadn’t been what Georgia had hoped for they still had a lot to play for in this one. You always want to win the bowl game but this year a loss would be worse than usual. The Dawgs needed to end this season on a good note and gain some momentum going into the off-season and the spring. A win today would give the Dawgs a 10 win season and most likely a relatively high spot in the final rankings. And I was also really hoping for a win in this game for the sake of the seniors. They were going to have to deal with losing in their last game against Tech for the rest of their lives; at least maybe they could end their careers at Georgia with a win on New Year’s Day. And of course there was no way to look at this game without thinking that it was more than likely the last game for two of the most talented Bulldawgs ever in Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno. Most people were assuming that both would leave for the NFL after this year and so this would be their final performance.


1st Quarter

First MSU Possession: Bowl games are always weird because of all the time off and because of the differences in the level of interest and motivation. The Dawgs had struggled to maintain an appropriate level of energy, intensity, focus, discipline, etc. all year so I was definitely worried about those things happening in the bowl game. But Georgia started the game playing well. The Dawgs won the toss but decided to defer which was a little surprising for me. But that was nothing compared to the shock a received on the opening kick. To my utter astonishment, Blair Walsh actually kicked the ball to the goal line in the air!!! State returned it out to the 26. The Dawgs may have deferred because of the weather. It was a nice 67 degrees out but there were winds of over 20 MPH. The Dawgs stuffed Javon Ringer’s first rushing attempt for no gain but Brian Hoyer completed his first two pass attempts for gains of 14 and 16 yards to give MSU a 1st down inside Georgia territory at the 44. Ringer ran for 6 to move the ball to the 38, but then Geno Atkins stuck him behind the line for a loss of a yard and on 3rd and 5 Hoyer threw incomplete to bring up 4th and 5 from the UGA 39. The Spartans were in no-man’s land here but they came out as if to punt and then snapped it to the up back. He tried to go right up the gut and for a moment it looked like he might have something because he had a head of steam and there appeared to be an opening. But Akeem Dent stepped up and over and stood him up 2 yards past the line of scrimmage and then everyone joined in and ate the runner up. He gained 2 but came up 3 yards shy. Michigan State had gambled, the Georgia defense had stayed disciplined and done their job, and now the Dawgs would take over at their 37.

First Georgia Possession: The Dawg offense came out firing and utilizing a no-huddle and had the Spartan defense on their heels. On the first 3 plays, Stafford completed passes to Kris Durham for 8, to Knowshon for 13, and to Mikey Moore for a gain of 20 and a 1st down all the way down at the MSU 22. On the next play things opened up and Stafford took off and picked up 11 yards to make it 1st down Georgia at the 11. The Dawgs weren’t quite at a 1st and goal but they weren’t going to use the no-huddle from this spot. Knowshon was stopped after a gain of only 1 on his first carry of the day and then Stafford fired incomplete to bring up 3rd and 9 from the 10. On 3rd down State came on Stafford and got him back at the 15 for a sack and a loss of 5 and the Dawgs would have to settle for a field goal try. Walsh came on and kicked the 32 yarder good to give the Dawgs the early lead, 3-0, with 9:26 left in the 1st quarter.

Barley 5 minutes into the game we had already seen a number of the things that were trends throughout Georgia’s year pop up again in this bowl game. Georgia’s offense got off to a good start on their initial drive as they had in a number of games during the year. But once the Dawgs got down close to the goal line they were unable to do anything at all and that was also something that was a recurring issue all year long. Two other issues had resurfaced: trouble pass protecting on an obvious passing down and trouble running down near the goal line. Really these are just symptoms of the same singular trouble spot: the offensive line. Inexperience and injury along the OL had been Georgia’s most easy to identify weak spot. When the Dawgs were down close to the goal line and needed to be able to pound the ball into the end zone they were often unable to do so as they were in this case. A run on 1st down for a loss or a very short gain was also a recurring theme. That led to obvious passing downs such as we saw again here on Georgia’s 1st drive. And it was on these downs that the OL struggled the most, often being unable to give the play any chance of succeeding, just as we saw on 3rd and 9 from the 10 here.

Second MSU Possession: After getting off one of his best kicks of the year on the opening kickoff and then booting his first field goal try of the game good to put the Dawgs on top, Blair Walsh was back to his old self on the second kickoff. There was no change in direction or weather conditions but for some reason Walsh only managed to get the ball to the 13 yard line this time. The ball was returned 24 yards out to the 37. So there was another familiar problem back to say hello in the bowl game. This is an issue that I really, really hope gets fixed before next year. MSU had moved the ball on their first drive before they stalled out and turned the ball over on downs after the failed fake punt. The Spartans had gained 36 yards on their first 4 plays and moved all the way to the Georgia 38 and on their 2nd drive they got right back into UGA territory, with Hoyer completing a pass for 11 yards on 2nd and 6 for a 1st down at the Georgia 48. On 3rd and 3 from the 41, Hoyer threw complete to BJ Cunningham but Rennie Curran stopped him after a gain of 2 at the 39, inches shy of the marker. Amazingly, the Spartans had a 4th down from Dawgs’ 39 again. This one was only a 4th and less than a yard but they decided not to go for it. They didn’t draw Georgia offsides and took a delay of game to give their punter more room and he punted it out of bounds at the 16. The Dawg defense had stiffened again.

Second Georgia Possession: With 6:36 left in the opening quarter the Dawgs took over at their 16 and immediately negated any field position benefit MSU had gained with the punt, as Moreno took a pass for a gain of 11 and a 1st down at the 27. But then on the next play, Stafford dropped back and fired over the middle to Michael Moore and it bounced off of him and up into the air like a tip drill. The DB Kendell Davis-Clark came in and had an easy interception at the 36. He went up the right side for a return of 24 before Stafford made the tackle at the 12.

The play was not the worst pick of Stafford’s career. Really on a tipped ball like that it’s a lot about luck and Moore could have caught it. However, the throw was a bit behind Moore and hit him in the right shoulder as he was cutting back across the field from left to right. Moore might have been able to adjust and at least make the catch but Stafford threw a missile and Moore couldn’t react quickly enough and it bounced high into the air. Decision making was a problem at times for Stafford during his 3 years at Georgia and throwing a pick deep in his own territory was not all that uncommon. But in this case it wasn’t his decision making that cost Stafford; this time two other issues that have held him back were to blame. One of those things was an occasional lack of accuracy, usually caused by a lapse in technique. Stafford throws perfect, even majestic passes at times, but occasionally he will be a bit off on a routine throw. Stafford isn’t an inaccurate QB but he’s less accurate than other elite quarterbacks. The other thing that he got better at as time went on but that would occasionally crop up as it did here was putting an unnecessary amount zip on the ball. There were obviously times where Stafford’s ability to throw a laser beam was a huge benefit, allowing him to make plays that almost no other QB could make. Stafford could throw rockets to his best two receivers—Mohammad Massaquoi and AJ Green—and connect for spectacular plays. But there were times when he made things harder on his receivers by throwing a 101 MPH fastball when an 88 MPH would have done the trick. He got much better at this over the years but here we can see that even in the final game of his college career he was still liable to misfire on a routine pass or simply put unnecessary velocity on the ball or both.

Having said all that, let me repeat that this was hardly the worst play in the history of football. And Stafford actually finished the play in impressive style. He busted it towards the right sideline and headed Davis-Clark off and brought him down by himself, cutting him down at the knees. That saved a touchdown for the time being and gave the defense a shot to keep them out of the end zone. It was an important play.


Third MSU Possession: Stafford tackled Davis-Clark at the 12 but another of the problems which defined Georgia’s season hit again at the end of the play, as the Dawgs were called for a personal foul penalty, moving the ball to the 6. The play in question was by no means egregious in terms of it being all that dirty, it was just cheap and really stupid. Basically RT Josh Davis ear holed a defense player about a second and a half after Davis-Clark went down. If he had hit the player before the whistle blew some people might call it cheap but I wouldn’t. To me it’s fair game. But if the whistle has blown and then you hit a guy that’s not looking then I do thing it’s cheap. More importantly it’s stupid and shows a lack of discipline, the same thing that plagued the team all season. So now the defense was in very tough spot, as MSU took over at the 6 with 6:15 left in the 1st quarter. Michigan State had moved inside our 40 on each of their first two drives but had never advanced past the 38. This was much different. Not surprisingly, the Spartans gave the ball to Ringer on 1st and 2nd down, but after gaining 3 on 1st and goal, Ringer was stuffed by Kade Weston for no gain to bring up 3rd and goal from the 3. Hoyer tried to throw for it on 3rd and goal and Curran came flying in and forced him to hurry the throw and it fell incomplete to bring up 4th down. The Georgia defense had held again and State would settle for a chip shot field goal. Brett Swenson’s 20 yarder was good, tying the game at 3-3 with 4:50 left in the 1st.

Third Georgia Possession: Perhaps the winds were affecting things because MSU’s kicker only got this kickoff to our 15, although Ramarcus Brown only managed a return of 6 yards, taking it out to the 21. Maybe it was the wind that made the Dawgs decide to give the ball to Knowshon on their 3rd drive. Knowshon ran for gains of 8, 7, and 4 yards on the first 3 plays of the drive, and then on 2nd and 6 from the 40, the Dawgs brought AJ Green around on a reverse. It was a nice call by Bobo and the boys and AJ picked up 6 yards, but just as he was crossing the line for the 1st down, safety Otis Wiley crushed him, putting his helmet right on the ball and jarring it loose and right into the hands of another MSU defender. The Spartans recovered at the Georgia 46. Another turnover, another mistake, and the defense would have to dig in again to keep the Dawgs from falling behind.

Fourth MSU Possession: For a 4th consecutive possession, the Spartans had the ball in Georgia territory, this time starting at the 46 with still almost 3 minutes left in the opening quarter. But now MSU hurt themselves, taking a delay of game penalty after the change of possession, and that immediately moved them back out of Georgia territory and made it 1st and 15 at their 49. On 1st down Dannell Ellerbe stormed the backfield and pulled Hoyer down back at the 43 for a 6 yard loss on Georgia’s 1st sack since the Kentucky game. The Spartans went to Ringer on 2nd and 21 and Curran blew him up for a loss of 3. MSU was all the way back at their own 40 and facing 3rd and 24. The Dawgs pressured Hoyer again on 3rd down and he threw underneath to Blair White who picked up 9 before going out of bounds at the MSU 49, a mere 15 yards shy of the 1st down. But the moment you saw that yellow tag on the screen that meant a penalty was coming you just knew what it was. Personal foul, roughing the passer, automatic 1st down at the Georgia 36. Unbelievable.

I have to stick up for the Dawgs a bit here. Yes, I do think the Dawgs struggled to play smart this year and they very clearly had a problem being disciplined and playing under control. They hurt themselves countless times during the year with shit just like this. However, the calls were almost never due to actions that were just blatant personal fouls, and at least half of the calls were complete bullshit. There is just way, way too much of this in both college and pro football. And I really hate to sound like a stupid fan who thinks the refs are out to get his team, but I do think that the Dawgs nailed on a lot of bogus personal foul penalties. It’s not that I think the refs have something against Georgia but I think we’ve somehow gotten stuck with a “trouble maker” image that the refs can’t get out of their heads. I really think it all goes back to that stunt in the Florida game last year. But the refs are just way to quick to call these types of fouls against anyone at any time. And this one was yet another overreaction by an official who insisted upon injecting himself into the game. He called roughing the passer, but it was not a late hit, and there was no helmet to helmet contact. But now MSU had a 1st down at the 36 instead of a 4th and 15 from their 49. They now tried to catch the Dawgs distracted with a trick play on the next play but Asher Allen snuffed it out beautifully. Receiver Keshawn Martin was supposed to throw but Ash dropped him for a sack back at the 42, a loss of 6 on the play. On 2nd down, Jeremy Lomax came from nowhere and buried Javon Ringer for a loss of 4. That would be the final play of the 1st quarter, which ended with the teams tied up at 3-3 in what had so far been a bizarre game to be sure.

2nd Quarter

Fourth MSU Possession (Continued): State was all the way back at the 46 and looking at a 3rd and 20 now. Hoyer’s pass on 3rd down was dropped and State would have to punt. The defense had held yet again. Michigan State’s punter managed to avoid a touchback, punting on 4th and 20 from the UGA 46, and Logan Gray made the fair catch at the 10.

Fourth Georgia Possession: The Dawgs tried to go back to Knowshon but he was stuffed for nothing on 1st down, so on 2nd down Stafford dropped back and hit Moore for 12 and a 1st down at the 23. The Spartans were making it hard for Moreno to get much on the ground, and on 3rd and 5 from the 28, Stafford was forced to get rid of the ball and threw incomplete for Tripp Chandler to bring up 4th down. Unfortunately, Moreno was wide open on the play but the blitzing linebacker was not picked up and thus Stafford was rushed and had to just try for Chandler. So the offensive line struggles were continuing. Brian Mimbs’ punt was for just 36 yards but there was no return and the Spartans took over at their 36.

Fifth MSU Possession: With the score tied and 12:04 left in the half, Michigan State came out of the huddle and lined up at their own 36 with a new QB under center. Why Hoyer came out I’m not exactly sure, but it was now red shirt freshman Kirk Cousins in the game. Ringer was stopped after 2 on 1st down and a holding penalty backed the Spartans up 10 and made it 1st and 20 from the 26. But Cousins threw complete for 10 and then for 5, and then on 3rd and 5 from the 41 he completed a pass to BJ Cunningham for 6 yards and a 1st down at the 47. After a 7 yard run by Ringer brought the Spartans into Bulldawg territory for a 5th consecutive drive, it looked like the Dawgs had gotten hit with another idiotic personal foul penalty. This would have been the dumbest of all, as Akeem Dent was just mixing it up with some Spartans player, but he lucked out, as the officials called offsetting personal fouls. On 2nd and 3 Ringer went for 5 and a 1st down at the 41. The defense had been asked to make a number of stands and they had been playing high intensity defense with their backs to the wall a game and now it looked like the Spartans were having some success. But just then Cousins showed his inexperience, taking a huge sack, as Jimmy Houston and Demarcus Dobbs combined to drop him 10 yards back at the MSU 49. The Dawgs pressured him again on 2nd down and got an incompletion and then on 3rd and 20 from the 49 he threw complete to Mark Dell for a nice gain. The Dawgs brought Dell down at the 36 after a gain of 15 to bring up 4th and 5. Once again the Spartans were facing a tough decision, in no man’s land. They decided to try a long field goal, or at least that’s what they were trying to make us think they were going to do. Brett Swanson came out to try a 53 yarder and he did indeed try it but he missed way left and the Dawgs defense had done it again. This thing was still tied.

Fifth Georgia Possession: With just under 8 minutes left in the half the Dawgs got the ball back at their 36 and again tried to get the running game untracked but Moreno was dropped for a huge loss of 4 yards on 1st down. Stafford was hurried on 2nd and 14 and threw incomplete and he was hurried again on 3rd and 14 and threw incomplete again to bring out the punt team after the first 3 and out of the game for UGA. It was 4th and 14 with the ball at the Georgia 32 and Brian Mimbs (playing his last game as a Dawg) was back inside his own 20 awaiting the snap. He got the snap just as usual but just as he prepared to drop the ball on his foot something went horribly, horribly wrong and he flubbed it. Mimbs might have been able to just punt it and get it to midfield but he wound up trying to run for it. I must say that he at least made his mind up fast enough to avoid an even more disastrous result and he had enough athletic ability to make it back to the line of scrimmage and then pick up 8 yards before being tackled at the 40. Yet another recurring problem. It wasn’t just Walsh this year; it was Mimbs at times, and the return teams, and the coverage teams, and all of the special teams. This was an inexplicable error and it meant that for a 6th straight possession the Michigan State Spartans would have the ball in Georgia territory.

Sixth MSU Possession: With 7 minutes to play in the half and the score tied the Spartans took over at the Georgia 40 and this time it was Hoyer coming back into the game at QB. Facing a 3rd and 6 from the 35, MSU called a timeout to talk it over and then Hoyer threw incomplete on 3rd down but it didn’t matter because the Dawgs were offsides. Do I even have to say it? It just gets repetitive. On 3rd and 1 now from the 30 Ringer ran for 5 and a 1st down at the 25. On 3rd and 7 Hoyer threw complete to dell for 8 and a 1st down at the 14. They were starting to move it now. The Dawgs contained the run to bring up a 3rd and 6 from the 10. On 3rd down Jarius Wynn came around and sacked Hoyer back at the 15 for a huge 5 yard loss that brought up 4th down and 11 from the 15. State would have to settle again. Swenson was good from 32 yards out to put MSU on top 6-3 but that seemed like nothing at this point. Georgia could hardly have done more to help Sparty and yet it was 6-3. The defense had held again.

Sixth Georgia Possession: Though MSU’s last two drives hadn’t really gone very far they had taken a good bit of time off, and thus there was only 2:14 left in the half when the Spartans kicked off now leading 6-3. Ramarcus took the kick at the 5 and did a real nice job getting something out of it, bringing it 39 yards out to the 44. That was a big help, as now the Dawgs could be aggressive and go for a score without having to worry about turning it over deep in their territory. There was still 2:05 to work with and the Dawgs still had all 3 timeouts. This might actually be the thing to get the Dawgs rolling on offense because the no-huddle had killed MSU on the opening drive and now they were going to run their 2 minute offense anyway…or were they. The Dawgs came out and ran Knowshon for a gain of just 2 on 1st down and then they just huddled up and lined up to run a play on 2nd down. Knowshon carried again and this time he got 4 to take the ball to midfield but again the Dawgs appeared to have no interest in stopping the clock or hurrying to the line. They looked scared and discombobulated. On 3rd and 4 from midfield, Stafford threw complete to Moreno and he picked up 7 for a 1st down in Spartan territory at the 43. Now Richt ran on the field and franticly signaled for a timeout with 32 seconds left. The Dawgs looked really bad here. They looked both amateurish and scared, because it appeared that they were mismanaging the clock, unsure of themselves and their plan, and that didn’t feel confident enough in their offense to try and doing anything from midfield! However, I felt Richt 100%. We were lucky, real lucky to be down 6-3. We couldn’t run, the passing game had stalled, and we’d already turned it over twice so it seemed like there was a decent chance of us perhaps not being able to move the ball at all here anyway. Then we would have to give it back to them with still some time on the clock and that meant putting the defense back on the field yet again and asking them to keep us in the game for the 42nd time today. The way Richt did it, if Staff threw incomplete or got sacked or Knowshon was stopped short, we could just punt it to them and they wouldn’t have much time to drive down and add to their lead. Hopefully we’d be able to escape down just 3. If we did get the first down then we still had enough time to try and score at least a FG. But in fact we would not move another inch. With the ball at the MSU 43, Stafford dropped back and fired incomplete on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd down, looking miserable and almost disinterested. I have to admit, it did look like we had just kind of quit on the half and not even tried to get some points. On 4th and 10 from the 43 Mimbs came out to punt and this time he managed to catch the snap, make the drop onto his foot and get away a good boot. It went into the end zone for a touchback but that was irrelevant because only 7 seconds remained in the half.

Seventh MSU Possession: With only 7 seconds left and the ball at their own 20, MSU just had Hoyer take a knee and the two teams headed for the lockers with the score 6-3 in favor of MSU.

Halftime

Both teams should have been frustrated at halftime. Georgia had made a thousand mistakes and tried to give the game away. Like they had often this year they had started out strong and then just sort of stalled and done a lot to keep the other team in the game. The Dawgs defense was playing well and saving our ass I wasn’t really looking at it that way. I was tired of this stuff. I was just tired of seeing the same exact thing each game and I was annoyed that even in this final game it hadn’t gotten any better. There was no reason for us to be struggling with State and yet if we didn’t play better we might actually lose the game. I had given up on the idea of us having a complete performance for once. I just hoped we’d pull it together long enough in the 2nd half to come away with a win to end the year on a happy note and avoid another painful moment and black mark on the team.


3rd Quarter

Seventh Georgia Possession: It now seemed pretty big that the Dawgs were getting the ball first in the 2nd half and would have a chance to get some momentum going. Ramarcus took the ball from the 5 to the 29 for another nice return of 24 yards. Wouldn’t you know it a flag flew immediately! But then a nice surprise: it wasn’t on us. When a flag is thrown on a kickoff, the chances of the penalty not being on the receiving team have got to be something like 1 out of 50. But it was a 15 yard face mask on MSU. That moved the ball to the 44 to give Georgia great field position and it seemed like a great sign to start the 2nd half with. Stafford completed his first attempt of the 2nd half to Moore for a gain of 6 to midfield and then on 2nd and 4 he hit Mohammad Massaquoi, finally getting the ball to the senior for the first time in the game, good for a gain of 10 and a 1st down at the MSU 40. A short pass to Moreno on 2nd and 7 got the Dawgs 6 yards and brought up a 3rd and 1 from the 31. There was less than a full yard to pick up and the Dawgs smartly decided to just go ahead and pick it up with a QB sneak but Stafford didn’t wait for his center and guards to block, he just took the snap and went straight ahead and got less than nothing. It was 4th and 1 but this wasn’t even a decision. We had to go for it. On 4th and 1 from the 31 we gave it to Moreno and he hit the line and got enough for the 1st but there was a flag. The dreaded short yardage holding penalty called on Ben Jones. That turned 4th and 1 from the 31 into 4th and 10 from the 40. An absolute killer. Drew Butler came on to try a pooch punt but the coverage guys couldn’t keep it from getting into the end zone for a touchback. The Dawgs wouldn’t even be able to get a field position advantage out of their opening drive.

Eighth MSU Possession: The Spartans began their first drive of the 2nd half at their own 20. The Georgia defense couldn’t afford a let down at the start of the 2nd half because a TD here would put the Dawgs down 2 scores. On 2nd and 7, Hoyer got the ball to Ringer and he scooted for 17 yards and a 1st down at the 40. It looked like the Dawgs might have turned MSU over in their own territory for a second but the refs ruled that the player never had control of the ball. Still, the Dawgs held, forcing an incomplete pass on 3rd and 6 from the 44 to bring up 4th down. But not getting the call on the turnover quickly looked like a really big deal when MSU’s punter Aaron Bates crushed a kick that traveled 50 yards in the air, banged down inside the 5 and took a hard left turn right out of bounds at the 4 for a 53 yard punt. This had the potential to be a game changer.

Eighth Georgia Possession: It was about that time to get nervous. Backed up to their own 4, the Dawgs took over down 3 with 9:22 to go in the 3rd. The offense needed to get going now and they could not make any more mistakes. The Dawgs had had very little success running the ball so far in the game but they decided to give the ball to Knowshon on 1st down. Knowshon had come out of the locker room fired up and finally good blocking combined with adept running and Knowshon scooted out across the 10 and got just enough for the 1st down on a run of 10 yards to the 14. That was big. Now the Dawgs had some breathing room but 2 plays later it was 3rd down and 5. Stafford got time and fired a perfect strike over the middle to Moore, splitting 2 defenders to get him the ball for again of 16 and a 1st down at the 35. This was one of the bigger plays of the game but it didn’t turn things completely around because as soon as the Dawgs had executed on this stellar play, they followed it up with a couple of bad ones. Moreno lost a couple yards on a 1st down run and then Justin Anderson moved for a false start to turn a 2nd and 12 into a 2nd and 16. Those are the types of compounding errors that the OL created all year. But just then Stafford picked the perfect time to hook up with AJ Green for the first time in the game, hitting him for a big gain of 12 yards to bring up 3rd and very manageable. On 3rd and 4 from the 41, Staff got the ball to Kris Durham for a pickup of 13 and a 1st down at the MSU 46. I think Durham has a chance to be very valuable next year. I don’t think it will be good if Durham is our #2 receiver behind Green but he is a great 3rd or 4th receiver. He could be a dependable 3rd down guy for whichever inexperienced QB ends up playing. On the 3rd down conversion the Dawgs lost another lineman, as Josh Davis left the game with an injury. The Spartans stuffed Moreno for nothing on 1st down but then Caleb King made one of his few meaningful contributions of the season, taking a pass for 11 yards and a 1st down at the 35 of MSU. Stafford took the shotgun snap on 1st down, faked a handoff to King, faked a pass out to Massa in the left flat, and then casually fired off of his back foot, a perfect pass to Moore over the middle, putting the ball over the linebackers and between the safeties. Moore made the catch at the 20 and dusted the MSU secondary to take it to the house for a 35 yard touchdown pass, the first TD by either team on the day, putting the Dawgs back in front, 10-6. Suddenly, the Dawgs had gone 96 yards in 10 plays over 5:51 to take the lead by 4 with 3:31 to go in the 3rd. And what’s that comment we’ve heard so many times over the last 3 years: “Well, you know, there you see why all these NFL people are looking at Stafford and thinking he can be a star in the NFL for many years…”

Ninth MSU Possession: So now the MSU offense was going to have to do something against our defense if they wanted to win. They started this drive at their 27. On 1st down Asher Allen made a nice play to knock Ringer out of bounds after a gain of only 1, but on 2nd down Ramarcus Brown got stuck in a bad matchup and got called for pass interference to give MSU a 1st down at the 36. On 3rd and 8 from the 38, Hoyer took off and snaked his way for 12 yards and a 1st down at midfield. But the Dawg defense came right back on the next play, with Corvey Irvin mauling him for a sack and an 8 yard loss. That was a drive killer, pushing MSU back to their own 42 and bringing up 2nd and 18. Hoyer threw incomplete on 2nd and 3rd down and the Spartans had to punt it away. This time the punt was returnable and Prince Miller took it at the 26 and found himself some room to run, bringing it back across midfield and nearly breaking it for a TD. Miller was tripped up at the 36 of the Spartans after a 38 yard return but a flag fell and again you had to assume on a return that it would be on us. But it was a personal foul on MSU and so the ball was moved all the way to the 21. The game was here for the taking.

Ninth Georgia Possession: With only 15 seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter, the Dawgs took over at the Michigan State 21, leading 10-6. A field goal would make it a touchdown lead but a TD would make it a 2 score game and might break the will of Sparty. Stafford took the snap under center and the Spartans came with a blitz but this time the Dawgs picked up, Stafford gave a good fake handoff to Moreno, and then lofted a perfect pass down the right sideline to Aron White who had gotten behind his man. White made the catch in bounds down the right sideline at the 3 and went into the end zone for a 21 yard TD pass to put the Dawgs up 17-6. Mark Richt’s 10th win was in good shape.

Tenth MSU Possession: I honestly think that one of the most pressing issues the Dawgs must deal with before next season is the kicking game. The problem is that the Dawgs need a place kicker, a kickoff man, and a punter, unless Blair Walsh can take some gigantic steps forward between now and then. With the Dawgs now leading by 11 and their foot on the preverbal throat of Sparty, Walsh came out and kicked the ball out of bounds to give MSU the ball at the 40 yard line. The Dawgs stopped Ringer after a gain of 2 on the final play of the quarter, one in which the Dawgs had outscored MSU 14-0 and turned a 3 point deficit into an 11 point lead.

4th Quarter

Tenth MSU Possession (Continued): It seemed like State pretty much had to get some points on this drive if they were going to win. On 3rd down and 3 from the MSU 47, Hoyer threw short to Blair White and Brown made a nice play to bring him down a yard shy of the 1st down at the 49 yard line. That brought up 4th and 1 and the Spartans decided not to go for it. That’s a little conservative for my tastes but what the hell. There was still almost 14 minutes left in the game. State’s punter did another solid job, keeping the punt out of the end zone and Logan Gray made the fair catch at the 11.

Tenth Georgia Possession: The Michigan State decision to punt was looking pretty smart when Stafford dropped back on 1st down and was hit and dropped at the 2 by Brandon Long for a sack and a loss of 10. Obviously that pretty much killed the drive but when Moreno cut hit in the end zone on 2nd down it looked like it might lead to a safety and MSU getting the ball back. But Moreno got himself out of the end zone and back to the 2 and then picked up 5 yards on 3rd down to give Mimbs a little room. On 4th and 15 from the 7, Mimbs took the snap in his own end zone and got away a booming punt that carried 62 yards, pushing the MSU returned back to the 31. He picked up 15 yards on the return and MSU took over at their 46 with only 2:25 having come off the clock since their punt.

Eleventh MSU Possession: The Dawgs led by 11 with 11:10 to play. The defense had had to make a lot of big plays in that 1st half and they just needed to make a few more in order to secure this win. A pass to Ringer went for only 3 on 1st down but on 2nd and 7 from the 49 Hoyer went to White for 16 yards and a 1st down at the UGA 35. A few plays later it was 3rd and 6 with the ball at the 31. Hoyer threw incomplete to bring up 4th down and MSU decided not to kick the FG and to keep the offense on the field. Hoyer stepped back and found Cunningham for 7 and a 1st down at the 24. The Spartans were not dead. On the next two plays Hoyer completed passes for gains of 8 and 12 to set up a 1st and goal from the 4. The Dawgs called time to give the defense a breather. There was 9:27 left. Ringer got the ball on 1st and goal and the Dawgs stopped him short of the end zone at the 1. On 2nd and goal Ringer started straight ahead and then bounced it around the right tackle and walked into the end zone for a TD. That capped a 10 play, 54 yard drive that took just 2:20 off the clock. Finally MSU had converted the opportunity into 6 and now they would try for 8. This was a big play. Hoyer tried to throw for it but the he fired incomplete, the try was no good, and the Dawgs still led by 5 points, 17-12, with 8:50 remaining.

Eleventh Georgia Possession: MSU went with a squib kick and the Dawgs took the ball out to the 33. After Knowshon got a nice 6 yard gain on 1st down, Staff hit Moore again for a pickup of 8 and a 1st down at the 47. Moreno caught a pass on 2nd and 10 for 11 yards, taking the ball inside MSU territory to the 42 for a 1st down. Stafford then broke out with his 2nd nice run of the game, picking up 10 yards for another 1st down at the 32. Knowshon ran for 6 on 1st down but then got stopped after a gain of only 1 on 2nd down to bring up a big 3rd and 3 from the 25. Stafford dropped back to throw and got the ball to Demiko Goodman for a gain of 4 yards to the 21 and good enough for the 1st down. It was the senior’s only catch of the game but it was a biggie. The Dawgs were in the range where Walsh could make a kick but you couldn’t rely on him and that would keep it a 1 score game anyway. The Dawgs could put the game away with a TD here, but after Knowshon was stopped for no gain on 1st down, Staff threw incomplete on 2nd down to bring up a 3rd down and 10. Stafford took the shotgun snap and with great protection he looked down the left side of the field towards AJ Green. Then he turned to the right and casually flipped a pass down the right sideline for Knowshon. The ball was placed perfectly, just over the head of and out of the reach of Greg Jones. Knowshon jumped up and made the catch as he crossed the goal line and he got a foot down in the right corner of the end zone for a sweat touchdown of 21 yards. That brilliant play capped a pretty damn good drive, during which they went 67 yards in 11 plays, taking 5:07 off the clock in the process. The play was reviewed but the replay confirmed the call on the field, touchdown. I don’t know if Stafford knew the whole time that he wanted to go to Knowshon because he knew Moreno could get by the linebacker Jones or if he just saw him and threw it up. He threw the ball so quickly after turning back to the right that it almost looked like he was going there the whole time and was just staring left to draw the attention of the safety (who fell down on the play) over on Moreno’s side to the other side. Either way it was a fantastic throw and catch and it basically sealed the deal, as the Dawgs were now ahead 24-12 with just 3:43 to go. And if those two were done after this game (which we now know they were) then this would be a pretty solid final play to go out on.

Twelfth MSU Possession: The Blair Walsh kickoff issues just never stopped this year. He was ordered to go with a squib kick at this point in the game, which was undeniably the right call. But Walsh’s squib kick only went to the 32 and it was returned 16 yards to give the Spartans the ball at the 48. Then an offsides penalty moved MSU into our territory, and on 1st and 5, Hoyer scrambled for 6 and a 1st down at the 41. After firing incomplete on 1st down, Hoyer took the snap in shotgun on 2nd down but it went past him towards the other end of the field and he had to fall on it at the 48 for a loss of 7. It was now 3rd and 17 and the clock was ticking. On 3rd down, senior Jarius Wynn got to Hoyer for the 6th UGA sack of the game, pulling him down for a loss of 5 to bring up 4th and 22 from all the way back in MSU territory. The Spartans called a timeout with 2:38 on the clock to talk it over. As long as the Dawgs didn’t get called for a personal foul here you figured they were okay, but Hoyer actually got the ball to Mark Dell for a big gain on the play. Roddy Jones stopped him near the 1st down marker at the 32. You can call it a gain of 21 if you want but when they measured they were a half of a chain link short. The play was reviewed but they actually had gotten a very generous spot and it was not going to be overturned. The Dawgs took over with less than 3 minutes to play in the game, leading by 12.

Twelfth Georgia Possession: The Dawgs took over at their own 31, leading by 12 with 2:48 left on the clock. State knew the Dawgs were just giving it to Knowshon and they stopped him for no gain and called timeout with 2:43 left. Knowshon got 2 yards on 2nd down and they called their final timeout with 2:38 left. Knowshon carried again on 3rd and 8 and he picked up 6 yards before going down at the 40, 2 yards shy of the 1st. The Dawgs ran the play clock down and called timeout with 1:49 to go. Mimbs then came out to punt with the Dawgs facing a 4th and 2 from their own 40. Poor Mimbsy Cat had dropped the ball and not gotten the punt off earlier in his final game, but he would end his career with a super kick, booting one for 56 that was downed at the MSU 4 with only 1:36 remaining in this one.

Thirteenth MSU Possession: MSU picked up a 1st down and moved the ball to the 21 but on 2nd and 10 Hoyer’s pass was intercepted by Reshad Jones. Reshad returned the ball 29 yards to the MSU 48 before going down. It was over all over for MSU. And for a moment there later on it looked like that might be the final moment for Reshad Jones as a Bulldawg but he decided not to enter the draft.

Thirteenth Georgia Possession: Stafford downed it twice, the clock ran out, and the Dawgs were Citrus Bowl (Capital One Bowl) Champs, 24-12, to finish their year 10-3.




The Numbers: The stats tell you two main truths: #1. Georgia gave Michigan State a ton of gifts and they just about totally wasted all of them; #2. A big reason that MSU couldn’t take advantage of those gifts was that the Georgia defense completely and utterly dominated the Spartan offense. The two teams were tied at 3 after the 1st quarter but MSU outscored Georgia 3-0 in the 2nd quarter, led 6-3 at halftime, and had scored the last 6 points in the game going to the 2nd half. The Dawgs outscored MSU 14-0 in the 3rd quarter, 7-6 in the 4th quarter, and 21-6 in the 2nd half. Neither team was all that prolific offensively. The Dawgs managed to out gain MSU by 95 yards, 331-236, and Georgia had 3 more 1st downs than the Spartans, 19-16. The Dawgs out gained MSU by 50 yards on the ground (81-31) and by 45 yards in the air (250-245). Both teams came into the game with highly touted rushing attacks, but neither ran the ball with all that much success. The Dawgs rushed for just 81 yards on 33 carries, an average of 2.5 yards per carry. MSU was much worse, gaining just 31 yards rushing on 34 carries, an average of 0.9 yards per rush (keep in mind that in college football negative yards amassed due to sacks are taken away from the total rushing yards, not the total passing yards as they do in the NFL). Both teams got hit up with penalties because it was that sort of meddling, nagging, over officious crew. The Dawgs were hit with 7 penalties for 53 yards; MSU was hit with 5 penalties for 50 yards. The two teams split the time of possession exactly even. Georgia turned it over twice while MSU had only 1 turnover but the Dawgs made up for it with their edge in the passing rushing department. Stafford was sacked twice for a loss of 15 yards, while the Bulldawg defense racked up 6 sacks for a total of 40 yards lost. Georgia was 5 for 12 on 3rd down conversions and they were officially 0 for 1 on 4th down, as Mimbs’ snafu went down as a failed 4th down conversion attempt. The Georgia defense held MSU to just 4 for 16 on 3rd down and 1 for 3 on 4th down. MSU tried the only 2-pt conversion of the game and failed.

Matty Stafford struggled at times in the first half of his final game with the Dawgs but he was brilliant in the 2nd half He ended up completing 20 of 31 passes for 250 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 INT, and he took 2 sacks. It was a pretty solid day. Knowshon didn’t get to have a big stat day in his final game with Georgia but he was just as good as Matty from the RB spot. He carried 23 times for 62 yards, averaging only 2.7 yards per carry but he kept toting it despite the lack of running room, and he caught 6 passes for 63 yards and a TD. If Stafford was the MVP, Mikey Moore may have been UGA’s offensive player of the game, as he broke out for 6 catches, 97 yards, and a TD. Aron White caught only 1 pass but it was a 21 yard touchdown pass. Kris Durham had 3 catches for 32 yards, Caleb King had 1 catch for 11 yards and Demiko Goodman had a 1 catch for just 4 yards but it was for a big 1st down. Incredibly, AJ Green and Mohammad Massaquoi combined to catch 2 passes for 22 yards (1 for 12 for AJ; 1 for 10 for Massa). I feel bad that Massa didn’t have a bigger performance in his final game but it was all about the W’s for that guy in the end anyway. Mimbs had 1 pretty major mistake in his final game but the Dawgs won and Mimbs did have a 62 yard punt and a punt for a net average of 56 that went out of bounds at the 4. Blair Walsh was a disaster kicking off but he went 3 for 3 on PAT’s and made his only FG try from 32 yards out. Senior Ramarcus Brown had a 39 yard kickoff return, made 3 tackles, and broke up a pass; Prince Miller had a 38 yard punt return and made 5 tackles; and Reshad Jones had an interception returned for 29 yards and made 4 tackles. Rennie Curran had 6 total tackles, a Tackle for Loss for -3 yards, and a pass deflection. In what would turn out to be his final game as a Bulldawg, Asher Allen had 9 solo tackles and a sack for a loss of 6. Senior Dannell Ellerbe had a sack for a loss of 6 and senior Corvey Irvin had a sack for a loss of 8. Senior Jarius Wynn had 4 tackles and 2 sacks for a total of 10 yards lost. Jeremy Lomax had a TFL for a loss of 4 and Geno Atkins had a TFL for a loss of 1. Justin Houston and Demarcus Dobbs combined for a sack for a loss of 5.

The Dawgs defense was hard on Brian Hoyer, holding him to 18 of 34 for just 169 yards, no TD, 1 INT, and they sacked him 4 times. Kirk Cousins was 4 for 5 for 36 yards and the Dawgs sacked him once. Javon Ringer had a pretty miserable day, rushing 20 times for just 47 yards, an average of 2.3 yards per carry. He did score the Spartans’ only touchdown and he caught 3 passes for 30 yards. BJ Cunningham caught 6 passes for 52 yards; Mark Dell caught 5 balls for 61 yards; and Blair White grabbed 4 passes for 31 yards. MSU’s best offensive player in this game was probably Aaron Bates, the punter. He had a 53 yard boot and placed 4 of his 5 punts inside the 20 without a single touchback. MSU’s kicker Brett Swenson hit a 20 yarder and a 32 yarder but missed horribly from 53. Michigan State’s defensive stalwart in this game was Greg Jones, who made 12 total tackles and had 1.5 TFL for a total of 5 yards lost.


Final Thoughts: I thought this game was typical of Georgia’s year in many ways but different in other ways. The repeated mistakes and recurring problems are easy to see but the Dawgs still managed to fight through it and win the way they did a number of times this year. And this may not mean anything to a lot of folks but this was the first time the Dawgs had won against the spread since the LSU game, ending a 4 game skid, and only the 2nd time they had won ATS in their last 9 games. It was the first time they had covered as a favorite since the Arizona State game, ending a 6 game skid. I thought this was a solid win in a New Year’s Day Bowl and if we would have beaten Tech I would have felt that this was a great year. We did win 10 games and we actually ended up finishing 13th in the AP Poll and 10th in the Coaches Poll.

As for the guys leaving early, I can understand why all 3 of them left. Knowshon just about had to go. His family doesn’t have money and he knew if he left he would get a good grip of guaranteed money that he could use to support himself and his family for a long time. The ramifications for staying in school could be dire if he were to get injured and when you are a running back it’s something you have to take very seriously. Stafford I obviously get because he knows he’s going to be one of the first few picks in the draft and possibly the first pick overall which would pay him an incredible amount of money. Also, if he wants to be a pro QB and he’s being told that he’s ready to be a pro QB right now than I can see why he’d want to go. But I definitely had more hope for Stafford staying than Moreno and it would have made a lot of sense to me either way. Stafford’s story is different. I mean, if Moreno had come back and gotten injured I would have felt guilty for ever wanting him to come back. It would be a tragedy. But Stafford’s from Highland Park. I mean, yes, it’s different because he’d be earning the money directly and he’d be a multi-millionaire, but the Stafford’s aren’t hurting for cash. Also, I know QB’s take a beating at times but you can’t compare the injury risk of a QB vs. an RB. Quarterbacks are so protected nowadays. The biggest risk is someone diving at your knee like what happened Carson Palmer and Tom Brady. But players are trying to take out a halfback’s knees on every play and they pinned and planted and pulled from all sides and you just never know when an ankle, a shoulder, a leg, or Darwin forbid a knee is going to just get blowed up. Also teams are going to be way more cautious about drafting an RB with an injury vs. a QB because good QB’s are harder to replace and RB’s don’t last that long to begin with. And unless a QB tears up his shoulder or something he isn’t going to damage his most valuable asset when injured. If a running back’s legs are damaged he’s screwed. So basically it just seemed like a huge and scary risk for Knowshon to come back to school, while to me there was very little risk involved with Stafford coming back. What’s more, I really felt, and still do feel, that Stafford could have benefited greatly from another year in college. He’s got all the tools and the skills but there are still things that hold him back which he could continue to work on: decision making, consistency, technique, etc.

And he would have had a chance to achieve greater things as a Georgia Bulldawg. Stafford did accomplish a lot of things at Georgia and he was a great Bulldawg but there was a certain level of success that he hadn’t been able to reach yet and he might have next year. Specifically he never won or even played for an SEC Championship and I’m not saying that makes him insignificant or a loser or something. I just think it would have been worth something to come back and give it a shot. And if I was a Georgia player thinking about leaving early I wouldn’t have because I wouldn’t want to lose my last game against Tech. But I’m not sure how much that stuff mattered to Stafford, and I’m not trying to rip him here. He obviously cared about his team and gave great effort every game like all the players but I don’t think he was all that wrapped up in whether or not he won an SEC title or anything like that. Basically, he wasn’t motivated by that enough to put the NFL on hold for a year. Again, I completely understand, but I could also argue strongly for him coming back.

As for Asher Allen, that’s a different story. Again, I understand why he’d go: He wants to play in the NFL, he doesn’t want to be in college any longer if he doesn’t have to because he wants a career in pro football and isn’t there to study anymore than any other player is. His family isn’t wealthy and if a team was willing to draft him high and sign him then Asher could take care of his family. I understand him wanting to leave but I don’t think he should have in the end. There is a risk of injury with every football player but for a CB like Asher Allen with no recent history of injuries it is not enough in my opinion to leave early if you aren’t going in the 1st round. It’s even worse if you have a chance of going in the 1st round next year if you come back to school. And the thing is, Asher is assured of going in the 1st round. He might but he could also go in the 3rd round. There is a grip of good corner backs in this year’s draft and the Scout’s Inc. folks currently have Asher ranked as the 8th best. Now, they actually think he’s a guy talented enough to be taken in the 2nd round but in another year he could be the first CB taken and maybe even be taken in the 1st round by a team locked in on drafting a CB. And let me also say that if you aren’t getting drafted high then you aren’t getting paid large amounts of guaranteed money and if you aren’t at that level then you shouldn’t be betting everything on having a career in the NFL. Why not come back and finish getting your degree while trying to get better at the game. That gets me to my last point about Asher. I know he was one of the most highly touted guys coming out of high school and he has been pretty good at Georgia but I wouldn’t call it a great career and I actually thought he had a disappointing season this year. He did not have a single interception this year and what doesn’t show up in the stats are the times that he got burned. He seemed to take a step back in play this year even though he no longer returns any punts or kicks. I just don’t think Asher wanted to go to school anymore and he figured going late 2nd round would be way cooler than going to class and studying and then eventually just dropping out and entering the supplementary draft. And I’ve got to say that I’m really glad I don’t have to write something about Reshad Jones here, not because I think him leaving would have been that big of a loss but because the fact that he was even considering entering the draft was a joke. He’s got plenty of room for improvement in the era of discipline, playing smart, and wrapping up.

I have to say I’m more worried about the guys we are losing than I am excited about the guys stepping up for them next year. I always try not to be too hopeful or too negative about an upcoming season for any of my sports teams, but I did see some things in the bowl game that made me more hopeful about next year. Certainly Mikey Moore had the biggest game of his career and maybe he can bring that sort of game on a weekly basis next season. Durham also should be a solid receiver. Defensively it was nice to see us getting all of that pressure from the front line but part of that must have been the opponent. Plus Wynn and Irvin—who combined for 7 tackles and 3 sacks in the bowl game—will be gone next year anyway. We need Jeff Owens to come back strong from the knee injury and we need someone to tell Geno Atkins to stop having his non-productive identical brother fill in for him on Saturdays. We’ll need some guys to step up at the corner back positions. We need a kicker and a punter to step up next year. Maybe Butler’s kid can hold done dual responsibilities. And then we have to replace the most talented QB in Georgia history and the most prolific RB Georgia has had since that kid outta Johnson County. One thing though, the loss of Sutherland and Chandler won’t be to bad because we basically lost them this year. Chapas can handle the FB duties but we’ve got to have somebody step up and make a difference at tight end. I tell you this though. Our line better kick ass next year. I don’t know why; it just better be really frigging good. There’s going to be 9 guys with starting experience and 11 guys (that I can think of) who have played. So baring another ceaseless onslaught of injuries the line should be a strength. We’ve got plenty of depth and experience so if those guys are any good the line should be strength.