NCAA Football
2013-01-01 - Georgia Bulldogs at Nebraska Cornhuskers
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NCAA Football
Tuesday 1 January 2013 - Kick Off 1pm
6pm (British Time)
Preview
You can't always tell what the mindset of a team will be when they finally get to play their Bowl Game and that is certainly the case for the two schools involved today. Both schools have had decent seasons that were soured somewhat in their final games of the regular season as the Georgia Bulldogs (11-2) meet the Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-3) in Florida.
The Cornhuskers were actually embarrassed in the Big Ten Championship Game as Wisconsin destroyed them, but the Bulldogs loss was even more heartbreaking as they were 5 yards away from beating Alabama in the SEC Championship Game and playing for a National Title.
Mark Richt is the Head Coach of the Georgia Bulldogs and he should get his team fired up considering he was born in Nebraska and was a Cornhusker fan growing up. He has also spoken about his team have gotten over their loss in the Championship Game and are ready to end the season on a high.
The main responsibility of this game for the Bulldogs will fall to Aaron Murray, a Quarter Back that could be highly regarded in the NFL Draft. He has been fairly well protected by his Offensive Line and will have time to find his receivers in this one, while Murray has also been careful with the ball.
In fact, the Quarter Back has thrown 31 touchdown passes and just 8 interceptions on the season, although he is going against a Nebraska Defense that has allowed under 150 yards per game through the air. However, a lot of that could be down to the fact that they can't seem to stop anyone from running the ball.
Todd Gurley has helped the Bulldogs reach 185 yards per game on the ground and he should find considerable success in this one against the Cornhuskers Defense. With Gurley likely to run the ball effectively, Murray should be able to punish them through the air and the Bulldogs should be able to move the ball for much of the day.
While Murray is probably the best Quarter Back in this game, Tyler Martinez for the Cornhuskers is another that is likely to make the step up to the NFL. However, much of Martinez' success comes on the ground and this is not a good match up for him and the Offense against a brutally tough Georgia Defense.
The Bulldogs should be able to get some pressure on Martinez in this one and they are only giving up 173 yards per game through the air so there will be some clear issues to overcome, especially if the Nebraska running game is not as effective as it has been for much of the season.
Nebraska are going to rely on Martinez' legs and they also have Rex Burkhead back in the line up for this one. These two players have been the main reason the Cornhuskers have managed to grab 254 yards per game on the ground at 5.4 yards per clip. Georgia have been effective at containing the run for the most part, but I have no doubt Nebraska will have some success this way.
The key will be whether or not the Bulldogs can force Nebraska to throw the ball a little more than they want to and that could determine the whole success or failure for Georgia in this game.
Head to Head
This is only the second meeting between these schools with the first being the 1969 Sun Bowl. On that occasion, Nebraska beat Georgia by 39 points.
Prediction
This is a tough game to call as both teams have some real mental baggage to get rid of following their ends to their respective regular seasons.
However, I think there is enough about this Georgia Bulldogs team to think they can pull the victory and I am going to take them to cover the spread.
The Pick :
Nebraska Cornhuskers 24-34 Georgia Bulldogs
BEST BETTING TIP :
I'll back the Georgia Bulldogs - 8.5 Points @ 2.00
