Stafford finds rhythm, endzone in second half

Orlando, Fla. — After watching Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford struggle in the first half, the tables turned on MSU’s defense in the second half.

Stafford, named the game’s most valuable player, tossed perfectly led screen passes, lofted deep touchdown passes and even used his feet to scramble for yards as Spartans defenders tried to keep up with the junior quarterback in the second half. He burned MSU for three touchdown passes — of 35, 21 and 21 yards — while missing only three passes the final 30 minutes.

“Stafford did make the big plays in the second half and if we eliminated those big plays, then it’s a different ball game,” senior safety Otis Wiley said. “We gave them a fight and our secondary shut them out in the first half. In the second half we had to answer and finish and we did half of that, even though we didn’t eliminate the big plays.”

MSU was able to pressure Stafford and take him out of a rhythm as he went into halftime 6-of-14 passing for 71 yards and one interception. On deep passes, Stafford rarely found open receivers and was flushed backward to avoid pressure up the middle, while lacking the touch to connect on screen passes. The junior, considered a possible No. 1 pick in 2008, looked as if he was doing everything he could to play his way out of the top selection (which, of course, belongs to the dreadful Detroit Lions).

“We just played a couple of zone pressures to get him to throw the ball early,” said junior safety Kendell Davis-Clark, who intercepted a tipped pass from Stafford and returned it 24 yards midway through the first quarter.

But when the Bulldogs emerged from the locker room after halftime, the Stafford that MSU had prepared for in recent weeks finally showed his true colors. With a mix of swing passes to receivers and deep looks, Stafford picked apart the MSU secondary down the stretch — even without targeting his two favorite receivers in senior Mohamed Massaquoi and freshman A.J. Green.

“He did kind of start to throw some good balls,” Davis-Clark said. “The defense played great but we just fell a little short.”

Not only did Stafford throw his way to victory, but the future pro showed some flashes of ability with his feet — a wrinkle that caught MSU by surprise. He ran six times for 24 yards on scrambles, read options and designed quarterback keepers. Entering the game, Stafford averaged four carries and 14 rushing yards per game.

“We really weren’t thinking that he would run that much because he hasn’t in previous games, but he even had his own naked (bootleg)” junior linebacker Eric Gordon said.

It remains to be seen whether Stafford will continue to torment college defenses such as MSU’s next year as he contemplates whether to enter the NFL Draft.

“Obviously there is the lure of the NFL, but to tell you the truth, I am 50-50 right now and I don’t really know what I want to do,” Stafford said.

College secondaries, you can be sure, are hoping the “50” he chooses involves playing for a team outside of Athens, Ga.

Published on Thursday, January 1, 2009