The Georgia Bulldogs will square off against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the 2013 Capital One Bowl on January 1st. The Capital One Bowl is one of three New Year’s Day bowl games featuring the SEC vs. It’s a Big Ten matchup. Earlier in the day, Mississippi State and Northwestern went head-to-head in the Gator Bowl (Gator Bowl Preview and Expand vs. South Carolina and Michigan compete in the Outback Bowl along with Georgia and Nebraska.
The Bulldogs and Cornhuskers lost to each other coming into the NCAA championship game. Georgia lost to Alabama in the SEC Championship and heads into the Capital One Bowl with an 11-2 overall record. Nebraska is 70-31 against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship and has an overall record of 10-3.
With Georgia on Offense
Georgia is 20th in the nation in scoring drives per game at 37.2. Junior quarterback Aaron Murray has had a fantastic season this season completing 65% of his passes for 3466 yards, 31 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions. Murray does a great job of spreading the ball around and had five receptions with at least 20 catches and 340 yards. The wide receiver Tavarres has the ability to spread the field and average 21.7 yards per catch this season. The Bulldogs have a two-headed monster in running backs in Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall. The two averaged 6.4 yards per carry and combined for 1,983 yards and 24 touchdowns.
The Cornhuskers rank 56th in scoring defense allowing 26.2 points per game. Nebraska gave up 63 points on Ohio State on October 6 and 70 points on Wisconsin on December 3. They will have their hands full with quarterback Aaron Murray and the rest of Georgia’s offensive weapons.
When Nebraska is on offense . it is
Nebraska is 27th in the nation in scoring drives per game at 35.1. The Cornhuskers rely heavily on the run and rank 8th in the nation in rushing with 254.5 yards per game. Quarterback Taylor Martinez had the best season in football, but he’s still more dangerous as a runner. Martinez averaged 5.6 yards per carry and has 973 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground. Ameer Abdullah started the year sharing the load with King Burkhead, but featured in several games with Burkhead injured. Abdullah leads Nebraska with 1,089 yards while Burkhead averaged 7.2 yards on his way to 535 yards.
The Bulldogs are 17th in scoring defense allowing 18.8 points per game. He has held Georgia opponents to 10 points or less in 5 games this season. Linebacker Jarvis Jones was an All-American and led the Bulldogs with 12.5 sacks. As a team, the Bulldogs had 27 sacks and an interception.
2013 Capital One Bowl vs. Expand
Georgia opened as a 10-point favorite over Nebraska, but the line has moved and the Bulldogs are now favored by 8.5 points. Georgia is better on both sides of the ball, and I hope to win and cover them. Aaron Murray has the second-highest quarterback rating in the country and has the most weapons to work with. Wisconsin’s defense has exposed Nebraska’s run to the Big Ten championship, and there’s no reason to think Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall can’t put up big numbers. I take Georgia and get 8.5 points.
Prediction: Georgia 38 – Nebraska 17
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Source
espn.go.com/college-football/bowls
