Gone Bowling: University of Georgia vs. Michigan State University

Free Bloomin' Onions for everyone!

by Dub

Throughout the coming weeks, B&A will be going through some of the SEC bowl game match-ups and giving you, the fans, a little bit of background for both the teams playing. I don't know about you, but when bowl season starts, I usually try to catch a little bit of each one, and would like to know a little more about key players on each team, and some of the background of the two teams playing. That being said, let's get started with our first Gone Bowling Match-up: UGA vs MSU.

For our first match-up, we have what look like two very good but not elite football teams. Both are 10-3 and played in their respective conference championship games. The difference between these two teams is that Georgia is the fourth best team in the SEC (first almost anywhere else), and MSU is the second best in the Big 10. What really gets a lot of MSU fans is that Michigan (a 10-2 team that did NOT play in its conference championship game and was beaten head to head by MSU) is going to a BCS bowl, simply for the fact that they did not lose an extra game to Wisconsin.

Georgia is excited to be going to the Outback Bowl, because they have a young team who will likely finish in the top 15 this year, and have a load of returning players, namely Aaron Murray (QB), Isaiah Crowell (RB), and Malcolm Mitchell (WR) who all lead the team in their respective categories. Michigan State is losing both their #1 quarterback and #1 wide receiver, and will likely not be this talented of a football team when Bowl Selection rolls around next December. The point here is that Georgia is a fiery, scrappy team who still has a lot of time left to improve, and is chomping at the bit to get into the bowl, and Michigan State is a team who feels like they were cheated out of "real competition". Now the issue is that when you think the opponent you're facing against isn't up to your level, often times, you let him run right up to you and punch you straight in the face.

Georgia is a team loaded with talent, and the only reason they aren't playing for a BCS bowl is that three other teams in the SEC could all win a national title, playing against anyone else in the nation. This season, Georgia had a front-loaded, painful schedule against two top 12 opponents, which set them back 0-2 right off the bat. They reeled off 10 straight on their way to Atlanta to face eventual SEC Champion LSU. The issue with Georgia isn't the players they have or the schemes they run. The issue is youth, and with youth comes inexperience. LSU was built for the long haul from day 1; when a player went down, another took his place, and played at an All American level. Georgia was decimated by injuries by the time they locked horns with LSU, and it showed.

Michigan State is a team that lost a head scratcher to Notre Dame in September by three scores. Then again, one might look at a schedule from the past couple of years and realize that MSU has lost a game to an unranked opponent early in the season for three out of the last four years. When you don't play in a hyperconference where everyone and their mother is ranked in the top 25, you don't have the strength of wins to be a two loss team and skyrocket through the BCS rankings to play in a big time bowl. Michigan State was blown out by Nebraska by three touchdowns, got it back together, and then lost by a field goal to Big 10 Champion Wisconsin. However, MSU did have big regular season wins over #6 Wisconsin and #11 Michigan. Michigan State doesn't have issues with talent, but with consistency, and unfortunately, they play consistently bad during bowl season against SEC teams.

Now we'll go through and look at three players to look at as these teams meet in January.


Georgia

• Jarvis Jones #29 LB: His 13.5 sacks are good enough for 2nd in the nation, and he is an absolute monster at disrupting the comfort and poise of the opposing QB. Fast getoff, great balance and technique, and a speed rush that could leave even the best offensive lineman dizzy.
• Bacarri Rambo #18 S: An absolute ballhawk who rarely let a big play develop. His 7 picks this year are, like Jones, good enough for 2nd in the nation. He's got a nose for the ball, and he takes advantage of QB mistakes.
• Aaron Murray #11 QB: Passed for 2861 yards and 33 touchdowns, which broke the UGA single season mark of 25 set by Matt Stafford in 2008. Murray is an undersized quarterback who plays a lot like Drew Brees, making up for lack of size in arm strength and timing. Look for him to utilize his tight ends, Charles and Bennett.

Michigan State

• Kirk Cousins #8 QB: Cousins is as good a quarterback as there is in the Big 10 and holds the MSU career passing touchdown record at 62. He's got good arm strength and good anticipation, which leads to a number of good plays against lazy defenses. Look for him to work the pro sets he has in this game, and to be rolling out of the pocket, as he'll be feeling the pressure of UGA's pass rush. The good news is that he is as deadly on the rollout as he is in the pocket.
• Denicos Allen #28 LB: This season, Allen has 10 sacks, and plays a similar style to Jarvis Jones, a speed rushing outside linebacker who disrupts the backfield. He is very athletic, and makes plays that force his opponents to account for him on every down. If you want to see how much of a pure athlete he is, go here.
• BJ Cunningham #3 WR: Cunningham is a big bodied, big play machine. He has 72 catches for 1200+ yards and 12 touchdowns this year, and looks to improve upon those numbers against Georgia's smallish cornerbacks. In order for him and Cousins to have a good game, MSU will need to implement short, quick routes to keep the defense honest and allow the field to open up.

Ultimately, both of these teams are very similar in play style and in ability. Georgia has a bit more of an undersized speedy defense, whereas MSU has a bigger albeit slower defense that relies on sound gap protection to minimize big runs. Both teams are ranked in the top 10 nationally in total defense, and are both top 20 in scoring defense. The series between these two teams is tipped in Georgia's favor, winning 34-27 in the 1989 Gator Bowl and 24-12 in the 2009 Capital One Bowl.

For Georgia to win, they must control the line of scrimmage and force Michigan State to beat them through the air. If one of Georgia's (many) hurt running backs is back for this game, I think UGA wins, propelling themselves into next season with high hopes and a very talented football team.

For Michigan State to win, they must run the ball well against Georgia's very talented front 7. Look for Michigan State to use screen packages and quick pass plays to force Georgia to play off the ball a little bit and give themselves room to run. Michigan State can not win if they cannot establish a run game.

Dub's Prediction: Georgia 37 Michigan State 24

Conference Realignment: What It Means for the SEC and Florida

by Arnaldo

A conference is like a party.  You go where your friends go, that is after all, the whole point of the party, being with your friends.  If one person wants to leave to go to another party, chances are, they'll take someone with them.  Two less people there give a third person less reason to be there instead of another party.  A chain reaction ensues and before you know it, said party is over and the keg is still full.  Now I don't know what the keg is in this metaphor but the rest should be pretty clear, and that's exactly what's been happening the last year of college football.


But how does it affect us?

First of all, it really shouldn't.  The SEC scheduling looks like this (as of before the realignment): there are 12 teams and 2 divisions.  Each school plays the five other divisional schools, one permanent school from the other division, and two rotating home-away basis schools from the other division.  The four remaining games are out of division and up to the school itself to schedule.  I say this because intraconference scheduling is up to the conferences and not the NCAA.  Each conference schedules differently.  The Pac-12 plays a 9 game conference schedule with 12 teams.

So does this mean the SEC needs to move to a 9 game conference schedule?  Not necessarily, but it isn't a bad idea.  The problem here is that removing one of those slots removes the SEC's much needed "padded match-ups".  Coaches will tell you they need these games, especially in the beginning of the season.  The SEC is obviously the toughest conference in the NCAA; that's no longer a point of contention.  Each match-up has the potential to be unforgiving and disastrous.

We have to contrast this to the problem with keeping an 8 game conference schedule.  With one more team in each division (Texas A&M to the west and Missouri to the east [sure, moving Auburn to the east was rumored and makes more sense, but that's just making too many waves]), one interdivisional game has to go.  Schools and fans will not allow the permanent match-up to dissolve.  Florida would lose playing LSU every year, and Deep South's Oldest Rivalry (Auburn-Georgia) would need a new name, or actually no name at all.  The SEC, however, will probably prefer this option so that there is more complete competition.

Trust me, we NEED this game.

Either way, the media loves to pretend these things are already decided and that all rivalries will cease to exist starting next year, but they're just plain wrong.  The worst case scenario involves some teams losing secondary or tertiary rivalries, which is a loss, don't get me wrong.  When the SEC was last expanded in 1992, Florida and Miami had to stop meeting up yearly.  Miami's rivalry with Florida State held together because Miami moved from the Big East to the ACC in 2004, FSU's conference.  The teams that suffer the most are the teams actually moving, and they elected to move in the first place.  Texas A&M will most likely keep their rivalry with Texas in the same way Florida plays Florida State every year even though they're in separate conferences.  They will lose yearly match-ups with Texas Tech and Baylor, but coincidentally, the Aggies are rivals with Arkansas and LSU and total over 60 match-ups with each.  Obviously they'll be awarded those rivalries back.  In the same fashion, Missouri should keep their Border War with Kansas but lose their rivalries with Oklahoma and Illinois.  Their rivalry with Nebraska already dissolved when The Cornhuskers moved to the Big 10.  Hopefully, Mizzou will develop another Border War with Arkansas in the upcoming seasons.


Where do we go from here?

But we JUST made this cool new logo.

The SEC looks pretty comfortable with 14 teams; let's hope the superconference trend ends there.  I say this because larger conferences only complicate things.  Think about it, if conferences get bigger, more divisions will be formed, more rivalries lost, and there will be a larger pool of teams from which to play all around.  The end result is a copy of the NFL, where there are no real rivalries and nobody remembers which conference they're in, because the conferences mean nothing, only the divisions do.

However, I see no problem with the constant changing of conferences for teams scattered around the map; not only is it happening now, it's been happening for years.  This holds with me as long as the party scenario doesn't happen again.  Conferences were already nicely set geographically across the map, rivalries were well established, and scheduling was simple.  The sad news is that despite adding TCU and West Virginia, the Big 12 is still not stable.  Less stable than them is the Big East.  Losing their BCS automatic qualification is looking inevitable, and hopefully this may make them less desperate to add more significant teams and help them to stabilize.

What's most important to remember is the SEC is looking indestructable. Five consecutive national championships (six soon), the addition of two teams that should be growing back to prominence (new management at Texas A&M with an SEC budget should help), and a sweet TV deal with CBS that should (God willing) be opting for an ESPN upgrade in the near future makes the SEC party look like New Years at the Playboy Mansion.

This actually looks kind of awesome.