Bulldogs pull away from Spartans late, 24-12
By Jacob Carpenter (Last updated: 01/01/09 9:03pm)Orlando, Fla. — In the first half of Thursday’s Capital One Bowl against MSU, Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford looked like he had partied a little too hard on New Year’s Eve.
The junior passer overthrew receivers, missed touch passes and looked to have the energy of a sloth.
In the second half, Stafford showed why he is one of the nation’s best talents, shaking off the first half doldrums and throwing three touchdown passes as the ball dropped on MSU’s New Year’s Day upset bid.
Stafford’s late-game play and a stingy Georgia defense rescued the No. 16 Bulldogs (10-3 overall) from a mistake-riddled start as Georgia knocked off No. 19 MSU (9-4), 24-12, at Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium.
The junior quarterback, projected as a potential top pick in April’s NFL Draft, went 14-of-17 for 179 yards in the final 30 minutes as Georgia overcame a 6-3 halftime deficit. His touchdown passes of 35, 21 and 21 in a 15-minute span sealed the Georgia win.
“We blitzed well and we got after the quarterback, but in the end, you’ve got to challenge your defense and 24 points isn’t good enough,” MSU head coach Mark Dantonio said.
The Spartans defense didn’t receive much help, though, from an offense that struggled to find a rhythm most of the game. Georgia shut down senior MSU running back Javon Ringer, limiting him to 47 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries, and contained senior quarterback Brian Hoyer, not allowing a pass of longer than 21 yards. MSU finished with 236 yards of total offense, its lowest output of the season.
An opportunistic defense that forced two turnovers helped MSU get into Georgia territory six times in the first half, but the Spartans could only manage six points in the first two quarters. The Bulldogs threw an interception on a tipped pass, forced a fumble on a vicious hit by senior safety Otis Wiley and were the beneficiaries of a botched Georgia punt, yet the scoreboard didn’t reflect MSU’s strong defense.
“When you play somebody like Georgia, like an Ohio State or a Penn State, you’ve got to capitalize on that,” Hoyer said of chances to score in Georgia territory. “You’ve got to score touchdowns and not field goals.”
While Hoyer lamented MSU’s inability to move in Georgia territory, Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt praised his defense, which surrendered 400 rushing yards in its season finale against Georgia Tech, for stepping up.
“To be sitting there, only down 6-3 at halftime was just a great tribute to our defense,” Richt said. “They kept us in it until the offense started to find their way.”
A strong MSU defense surprised the Bulldogs in the first half, shutting down Stafford, quieting sophomore running back Knowshon Moreno and holding Georgia to three points.
“All the (Southeastern Conference) people think we’re slow and we’re really big, but we came out and made plays,” said junior linebacker Eric Gordon, who recorded five tackles and a sack.
But when the second half rolled around, the Georgia offense displayed its high-powered attack and worked over the Spartans.
A fake screen pass opened up the middle of the field for Stafford when he hit junior wide receiver Michael Moore for a 35-yard touchdown strike with three minutes left in the third quarter. Three minutes later, Stafford capitalized on a long punt return with a 21-yard pass to redshirt freshman tight end Aron White on the drive’s first play. And with less than four minutes to play, Stafford delivered the knockout blow on a 21-yard pass to Moreno near the sidelines, capping a debilitating 67-yard drive that chewed up five minutes.
“For the most part, (Georgia) did everything we expected them to do,” said junior defensive end Trevor Anderson, who had seven tackles. “It came down to who would execute more and Georgia did.”
MSU countered Georgia’s string of touchdowns with a fourth quarter score of its own on a 1-yard run by Ringer, but its final drives stalled as the Bulldogs defense dug in its paws.
The Capital One Bowl loss caps a season in which MSU won nine games and played in a New Year’s Day game for the first time since 1999.
“The Capital One Bowl has been a tremendous experience,” Dantonio said. “I’m not satisfied and I don’t feel good about not winning the football game, but I’m very proud of our football team, their accomplishments and the way they’ve represented here, both on and off the field.”
Originally Published: 01/01/09 4:32pm























pathetic
01/01/09 5:38pmbrian “clutch” hoyer’s last pass was an interception, a fitting end to his terrible career
Townsend
01/01/09 5:50pmI don’t think Hoyer’s career was terrible, just overrated and mediocre. He has the physical but not the head. Again and again, Hoyer misfired to open receivers when we needed big plays. 23 plays in the 1st half and 6 points pretty much says it all. Yes, there were a few drops and the Tight End was held on the late 2 point conversion, but it was mainly Hoyer, just as he was in last year’s Bowl game vs BC (and too many critical reg season games), who proved to be the Spartan killer once again.
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Townsend
01/01/09 5:51pm… [addendum/correction] 23 plays IN UGA territory in the 1st half… and only 6 pts. As the announcers noted at halftime, it would probably catch up to us… and, of course, it did.
Thank God
01/01/09 8:39pmWe all just witnessed the end of the career of the crappiest QB in MSU’s history. When you compare him to Stafford, it is pretty evident why one is a future NFL 1st round pick and the other is a future grocery store bagger. Hoyer has the brain the size of a walnut. How many times did the announcers have to say he missed an open guy? Too many. When all of our opponents realized that Ringer is our offense, Hoyer got even more embarassed. Good riddance.
TJ
01/02/09 6:23amSame story much of the year — Hoyer struggles to hit 50% of his passes (hitting the short meaningless ones, a couple decent ones, and then completely missing on the rest) and Ringer running endlessly up the middle for 2 yards per carry. The Treadwell broken record plays on…
This is a big Dantonio fault. Loyalty is admirable to a point, but it was loyalty to a fault this year.
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Ozymandias
01/02/09 10:31amI love Hoyer and I want to rub lettuce on him.
Heath
01/02/09 10:31amOzy, is that you?
Joel V.
01/02/09 11:56amAll of you suck at life. Listen up Hoyer you are a good QB don’t let these no talent @$$clowns tell you other wise because if they were such amazing athletes they would be on the field. Thank you seniors! You played your heart out, it is a game of inches, we all get tired of hearing it but you have a great coach and staff to guide you towards the next step.
MSU4Life
01/02/09 6:43pmHoyer was not a good QB. If any of you think otherwise, you’re not a true Spartan. But you can’t blame him for everything. Treadwell and Dantonio are much worse. This was an awful year in the Big 10 and the bowl games prove it. Our 9 and 3 regular season record is fluff with off years by Michigan and Notre Dame, plus a lucky Wisconsin win. Dantonio should not get credit for it (although the trustees will probably give him a new 50 year contract). From now on, we should reject bowl game invitations.
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Joel is a dumbass
01/03/09 5:50pmHow is Hoyer a good QB? He has a mediocre arm, has horrible vision, bad attention to detail (throwing a 3 yard pass on 3rd and long) and makes bad decisions. He was a decent leader, but without Ringer, our O-line and our defense we would have never gone as far as we did.
We are getting a good amount of 4 star and 3 star recruits, something we never used to be able to say. We are not Ohio State or USC in recruiting so you have to be thankful for what is happening to the program. Plus, having Kirk Cousins and Keith Nichol is already an upgrade to the offense. We just need someone to step in for Ringer, Wiley, Long and Kershaw.
Msugogreen
01/06/09 9:30amTypical of these comments that you don’t know much about football…especially being a team game that requires all players to do there job. But like many internet experts you can bash a kid who adjusted his play for the system – did his job – and in the end will be remembered far longer at MSU than you supposed fans.
If you watch the game with any knowledge you would realize that its not all that you see that dictates the game.
Good luck to the new Qbs….and realize that the “fans” are all “fans” just front runners who believe that while they can post in cyberspace have a real clue about football.
Go Green!
Seriously?
01/06/09 1:41pmSo, apparently, Msugogreen feels that Hoyer doing his job entails regularly missing wide open receivers, throwing passes on 3rd and long that are yards short of the 1st down marker, and curling up fetal on the ground anytime a defender gets within 5 feet of him. Get a clue! Granted, I’ll give you the fact that our stellar offensive scheme didn’t help matters, but I’ve seen high school QBs play with more poise than this guy.
Must take an genius to figure out, hey, we put in a different QB, called the plays from the line, and we actually scored.
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Msugogreen
01/06/09 2:04pmObviously Seriously believes that all the play on the field is dictated by the QB – like receivers running their routes …maybe incorrectly – only going with 1 hand instead of two – and then …well more than enough mistakes by other members of the offense.
...But no matter – everything else he did …must have been a mistake – Compare his completions and play with older more experienced receivers in 2007 and previous years.
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Suckfest
01/06/09 4:08pmMsugogreen – Go back over the years and look at how many balls Hoyer threw ten yards into the sidelines / past the end zone. A lot. He can’t even throw left. He sucked. The sixty year old lady sitting in front of me in Orlando last week also made the astute observation that he sucked. Also, you suck for not realizing that he sucked.
msugogreen
01/06/09 7:26pmGosh …how did Devin Thomas even break the receiving record – and by the way throwing it out of bounds…its call throwing it away and not getting sacked or intercepted. Glad to know that your knowledge is limited. So while you wish to be juvenile in your language….I do suck for not realizing who I am dealing with.
Seriously?
01/07/09 1:11pmOK, Dickbag, now I’m gonna drop some football knowledge on your ass, since you feel you’re so astute on the game.
1) Agreed, when you’re receivers run lazy routes, it makes it difficult to complete passes. What excuse do you have for our dear Brian when he’s got a guy open on the sideline (standing still, mind you), no defender within five yards, and he chucks into the fourth row?
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frankthetank
01/07/09 10:53pmohhhh fight fight
msugogreen
01/11/09 8:10amImpressed with your debate ability and to call names…dickbag? Well if you wish to conduct this debate further sfpa2007@gmail.com. But I can tell that you overall superior thought of yourself has allowed you to diminish your debate – but great in name calling.