The Chicken Bowl Calls

After a fun night at the Indy Bowl, the wife and I are off to Atlanta this afternoon for the Chick-fil-a Bowl, formerly the venerable Peach Bowl. I still like the Peach Bowl better than a corporate name, even though that corporation is responsible for chicken biscuits. In fact, I'm pretty certain that my pregnant wife agreed to go to the game solely on the premise that she would receive some coupons from the Chick. Please come through for me Truett Cathy.

As for the game, I am optimistic for the Dawgs, but guardedly so. We finished up the regular season in fine style, beating Auburn and Georgia Tech. Those victories seem somehow lessened now because they both involved opposing QB meltdowns. Brandon Cox threw more passes to our defense than his team and Reggie Ball, well, is Reggie Ball. Virginia Tech looked strong to finish the year, but the only decent teams they beat were Clemson and Wake Forest. That's not too impressive. In fact Wake is the only ranked team they beat. The rest of their schedule was pretty much the perennial trash of the ACC.

Tech does have the best statistical defense in the country. But, that defense played against opponents whose average total offensive rank is 77th. Georgia's defense is ranked 9th, but it played an average offense ranked 66th. The same correlation exists on offense. VT's offense is ranked a miserable 95th in the country, while UGA is slightly better. But on average, VT has played better statistical defenses than the Dawgs.

So what does this tell us? I think this is going to be an ugly game to watch if you like high powered offense. I still see a big nasty defensive battle in which field position and kickers control the outcome. For Georgia, as usual, turnovers equal certain demise. Matt Stafford must protect the ball when he gets hit and must pass efficiently. The Dawgs need to run the ball, always a challenge against VT, but they don't necessarily need Kregg Lumpkin or Danny Ware to get 100 yards. I think Mike Bobo, Georgia's newly crowned offensive coordinator, will call some deep stuff early. If they hit one or two, UGA's in for a good night.

Virginia Tech will run on Georgia's defense, so get ready.

I've had some dealings with Virginia Tech fans and have found them generally to be decent, God fearing people. We'll see how that impression holds up. I'm looking forward to hearing some turkey calls, just not in the fourth quarter.