An exact calendar year after the Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers
45-31 in the Capital One Bowl, the two traditional powers square off once again, this
time in the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl.
Since their last game, the two teams have had more similarities than differences. Both
teams got off to promising starts before their seasons were derailed with injuries. Now
both teams will be looking for their ninth win of the season without their starting
quarterback.
Nebraska’s Taylor Martinez has been shelved with a variety of ailments and has missed
eight of the last nine games. Aaron Murray’s season was ended by a knee injury
suffered vs. Kentucky on November 23. Despite the many disappointments, both teams
can get a boost for the 2014 season with a win.
Why Nebraska can win this game
The Cornhuskers have been mediocre on offense most of the season. However, the
Bulldogs are 80th in the nation in opponent points per game
for a reason. Moreover, running back Ameer Abdullah has
established himself as one of the top running backs in
football despite little fanfare. He has rushed for 1,568 yards
this season, and his two lowest outputs of the season were a
98-yard effort against UCLA and an 85-yard performance
against Iowa.
Freshman quarterback Tommy Armstrong’s play has garnered mixed reviews. However,
the extra weeks of practice before the bowl game should help settle him down. Also in
his favor is that the Georgia secondary is also very young and has played erratic as
well.
Nebraska’s defense is not going to strike fear into many opponents, but it will not have
to face Murray, who had 427 yards and five touchdowns last season in the Capital One
Bowl. Georgia’s new starting quarterback, Hutson Mason, looked very good in the
second half of his first start against Georgia Tech in the Bulldogs’ final regular-season
game, but this will be just his second career start.
Why Georgia can win this game
Mason will be starting just his second game, but he has several positive things trending
his way. Firstly, he will have a healthy Todd Gurley. The rest was much-needed for
college football’s most complete back, who has been slowed by nagging injuries.