Liberty Bowl 2010: 10 Things To Know About Georgia
The Georgia Bulldogs will take on the Central Florida Knights in the Liberty Bowl on Dec. 31 this year.
The game will be played at 3:30 PM EST and will air on ESPN.
Georgia will be looking to finish off a season full of disappointments on a high note and usher out A.J. Green to applause as they celebrate a victory.
Central Florida will be hoping to validate its No. 25 ranking in the latest BCS standings and beat a respected opponent.
As with any bowl game, anything can happen.
Read on for a little bit of extra info about the Georgia Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs Have a Great Bowl History
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Georgia, as you would expect from a program with a lengthy track record filled with success, has had quite the bowl game history.
The team has played in 45 bowl games, the first of which was a 40-26 victory over TCU in the 1942 edition of the Rose Bowl.
Since then, the Bulldogs have gone on to win another 25 bowl games while losing 16 and finishing with the same score as their opponent three times.
All of that adds up to a .602 winning percentage in bowl games and a place on two different national leader boards.
The 45 bowl games place Georgia sixth on the list for most bowl games played in the entire country. The 26 wins are the third most in the nation.
Lately, Georgia has had a lot of success in its postseason games.
The Bulldogs are currently on a four-game winning streak in bowl games and have played in 13 straight postseasons.
Under Mark Richt, the current head coach, the Bulldogs are 7-2 in bowl appearances.
A.J. Green Is Pretty Good
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The Georgia Bulldogs lay claim to arguably the best wide receiver in the entire country. That man's name is A.J. Green.
After he sold a jersey and violated NCAA rules, Green was suspended for the first four games of the season by the NCAA, and the team suffered as a result.
However, he's been back with a vengeance ever since.
In the eight games since his return, Green has hauled in 49 passes for 771 yards and nine touchdowns. Not bad at all for a short season.
But Green's biggest contribution to the team lies below the stats. He's inspired confidence, as well as opened up the running game when he spreads out the defense more.
He's delivered highlight play after highlight play and made Aaron Murray a better quarterback.
This is most likely going to be Green's last game wearing red and black. You can be sure he'll make it one to remember and cement his legacy among the Georgia greats.
Aaron Murray Is a Freshman Sensation
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Aaron Murray is one of the primary reasons that Georgia was even able to make it to a bowl game this year.
The redshirt freshman has been absolutely sensational, especially during the last few weeks once the coaching staff opened up the entire playbook for him.
Murray has thrown 304 passes so far this year, completing 188 of them, or 61.8 percent. As a result of those 188 completions, the quarterback has logged 24 touchdown passes and 2,851 passing yards.
But his arm isn't the only thing that makes Murray special; his legs do as well.
His mobility isn't fully expressed in the stat book, as he's only rushed for 163 yards. But the four touchdowns, most of which came on highlight-reel-worthy plays, and the numerous sacks avoided and plays kept alive should make it clear.
All in all, Murray ranks second among all freshman quarterbacks in passing efficiency, trailing only Jeffrey Godfrey. Coincidentally, Godfrey will be Murray's opponent.
He's also been on a tear as of late, throwing for three touchdowns in each of his last four games.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Washaun Ealey and Caleb King Are a Dynamic Duo
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Even though Washaun Ealey is the featured back for the Georgia Bulldogs, the team still utilizes both his services and those of Caleb King.
Ealey has missed time for numerous reasons this year: a team-induced suspension, injuries and fumble problems. But when he's been gone, King has picked up the slack.
More importantly, Ealey has been great when he's played.
While King has carried the ball 80 times for 430 yards and two touchdowns, Ealey has taken the rock 141 times for 751 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Ealey, who wears No. 3 for the Bulldogs, is also known to have some big games.
Against Vanderbilt he rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown, and then he followed that performance up with a 157-yard, five-touchdown game against Kentucky.
In his most recent game, Ealey carried the ball 13 times for 118 yards and two scores.
The combination of Ealey and King should test a stout Central Florida defense.
Georgia Has Had Fumble Problems
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As much as the two backs have produced, they have had one consistent problem: holding on to the football.
At times this season, it has seemed as though the pigskin was coated in a layer of grease right before Aaron Murray handed the ball off to his back. The problem was especially prevalent during the beginning of the year.
When Georgia trailed South Carolina 14-6 as the third quarter was drawing to a close, the Bulldogs drove down the field and handed off to Washaun Ealey, who plowed ahead for five yards inside the 5-yard line.
However, the ball was ripped away from him, and South Carolina recovered. The Gamecocks then drove down the field to put the game out of reach.
Fast-forward two weeks, and Ealey fumbled the ball once more on the 1-yard line while the game was easily within reach. That fumble was the turning point in the loss to Mississippi State.
The coaching staff then benched Ealey.
Caleb King became the starter, and after a hard-fought contest against Colorado had almost been played all the way out, the Bulldogs had the ball and one last opportunity to drive into field goal range and set Blair Walsh up for a game-winning field goal.
Georgia had already driven far enough for Walsh to be within range and had started to hand the ball off to run the clock out to let Walsh knock one through the uprights as time expired. But on the 30-yard line with 1:38 left, King fumbled the ball away, and Georgia left Colorado with a 1-4 record.
Fumbles have been a pain for the Bulldogs all year, and ball security could be a key to this game.
Many of the Bulldogs' Losses Have Been Close
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The Bulldogs may only have a 6-6 record, but this season could easily have been much more successful.
Now, I know what you're thinking—here comes a whole bunch of woulda, coulda, shoulda. But bear with me for a while.
The first loss of the season came to South Carolina, and as described on the previous slide, the game unravelled when Ealey fumbled the ball away on the Gamecocks' 5-yard line.
Had the Bulldogs held on to the ball and scored, it would have been a one-point game, assuming that Mark Richt elected to kick a PAT. Anything can happen in a one-point game.
Next week, the Bulldogs roared back from a fourth quarter deficit and had all the momentum until Ryan Mallett hit Greg Childs for a 40-yard touchdown with just 15 seconds left to give the Arkansas Razorbacks a win. If only Georgia could have made one more tackle, they would have gone to overtime with the momentum in a home game.
The third and fourth losses, to Mississippi State and Colorado respectively, were both detailed on the previous slide. To make a long story short, simple ball security would have been nice for Georgia.
The fifth loss came in overtime to Florida. If that's not the definition of a close loss, I don't know what is.
Auburn is the only team that beat Georgia by a truly significant margin this season, winning by 18 points. Yet even in that game, the Bulldogs held a commanding 21-7 lead before being overwhelmed by the Auburn offense.
Is it really too far-fetched to think that Georgia should have a better record?
The Kickers Are Incredible
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One of the Bulldogs' biggest strengths is the kicking game.
The punter, Drew Butler, is one of the best in the country. Last year he led the nation in yards per punt, resulting in him holding up the Ray Guy Award as the best punter in the country at the end of the season.
Butler has enjoyed similar success this year, punting 45 times for an average of 44.71 yards per punt.
Blair Walsh is the kicker for Georgia, and he does his job quite well. Last year he was one of the three finalists for the Lou Groza Award, given annually to the nation's best placekicker.
In the 2010 campaign, Walsh has made 18 of his 21 attempts. He also gives Richt the confidence necessary to attempt long field goals.
Brandon Boykin Is Dangerous
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One thing to watch out for in this game is a huge kickoff return for Georgia.
Brandon Boykin has been a threat to take one to the house all year, which has resulted in a significant number of short kickoffs, directional kickoffs, squib kicks and more.
Even though he's only returned one kickoff for a touchdown all year, Boykin is still a special returner.
No. 2 is averaging 25.39 yards per return this year on 31 tries, good for 787 yards.
Could this be the game where he gets the second touchdown?
Todd Grantham Has Improved the Defense Greatly
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The new defensive coordinator of the Bulldogs, Todd Grantham, had the team switch to a 3-4 defense and saw a slow but steady increase in performance throughout the season.
During the middle of the year, in back-to-back weeks, Georgia held Tennessee to just 14 points and then shut out Vanderbilt the next week.
Even though the numbers weren't quite that good for the rest of the season as the teams they were playing got better, it was glaringly clear that the defense was playing with a much greater sense of confidence.
The pass defense ranks 19th in the country, the rushing defense 59th and the scoring defense 49th with 186.7 yards, 149.2 yards and 23.1 points per game allowed respectively.
Look for Justin Houston, Akeem Dent, Bacarri Rambo and Marcus Dowtin to be involved in lots of plays during the game.
Fans Still Care
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Even though this season has not exactly lived up to expectations and the result is a bowl game that is somewhat below the normal Georgia standard, that doesn't mean that the Georgia faithful are going to stop caring.
It is quite the opposite.
Fans still want to watch their team play. In fact, they especially want to watch their team win.
They still want to see the continued development of Aaron Murray, who has all the potential in the world. This could be a great opportunity for him to showcase his talents against a non-traditional opponent.
It's the last opportunity, we assume at least, to watch A.J. Green catch pass after pass. Who would want to miss that?
Finally, it is the fans' job to support the team that has worked hard to entertain them all season long.
Georgia fans definitely still care about this game.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
