This years Taxslayer Bowl may have dropped the gator from its name but it’s still the sixth oldest bowl. The 7-5 Penn State Nittany Lions will play the 9-3 Georgia Bulldogs. Penn State reached Jacksonville on the strength of a top 30 defense despite an unproductive offense. Georgia will be led by interim head coach Bryan McClendon and a stout defense that will try to get Georgia to another 10 win season.
Bowl: Taxslayer Bowl
Teams: Penn State Nittany Lions vs Georgia Bulldogs
Date/Time: January 2, 2016 – 12 PM EST on ESPN
Location: EverBank Field, Jacksonville, FL
Vegas Line/Total: Georgia -6.5 / O/U 42.5
Written by: Erik the Hun
7 – 5 Record – 4 – 8 Vs Spread 11/28/15 @ Michigan State L 16-55 L 7.5 O 43.5 |
9 – 3 Record – 5 – 7 Vs Spread 11/28/15 @ Georgia Tech W 13-7 W -3.5 U 48.5 |
December 27, 2014 – Pinstripe Bowl – Penn St 31 – 30 Boston College OT January 2, 2012 – TicketCity Bowl – Penn St 14 – 30 Houston January 1, 2011 -Outback Bowl – Penn St 24 – 37 Florida January 1, 2010 – Capital One Bowl – Penn St – 19 – 17 LSU January 1, 2009 – Rose Bowl – Penn St 24 – 38 USC |
December 30, 2014 – Belk Bowl – Georgia 37 – 14 Louisville January 1, 2014 – Gator Bowl – Georgia 19 – 24 Nebraska January 1, 2013 – Capital One Bowl – Georgia 45 – 31 Nebraska January 2, 2012 – Outback Bowl – Georgia 30 – 33 Michigan State December 31, 2010 – Liberty Bowl – Georgia 6 – 10 Central Florida |
Penn State Outlook:
The Nittany Lions struggled to find any rhythm in the passing game despite highly-touted quarterback Christian Hackenberg as their starter. The running game didn’t produce much either ranking 107th in the country. Penn State was led by a defense that was 15th in the nation giving in to only 324.2 yards a game.
Christian Hackenberg struggled to live up to the preseason hype. The quarterback completed 184 balls for 2386 yards with 16 touchdowns and five picks. Although Hackenberg was careful with the football he only completed 53 percent of his passes in 2015.
Saquon Barkley might be a little under-rated due to missing two games with an ankle injury. Through 10 games he ran for 1007 yards on 165 carries and averaged a gaudy 6.1 yards a carry. Barkley led the stable of backs with seven touchdowns on the ground.
Wide receivers Chris Godwin and DaeSean Hamilton were Hackenberg’s favorite targets. The two wideouts caught 103 passes for 1477 yards and 10 touchdowns. Godwin has 968 yards so he should be able to eclipse the 1000 yard mark in this contest.
The Nittany Lions defense was solid against opposing units passing attack, ranking 10th in the nation allowing only 174.5 yards a game. Although teams did find some room to run against their front seven they managed to buckle down in the red zone, giving way to only 21.7 points a game.
Georgia Outlook:
For the first time since 2000 the Bulldogs will not have ex-coach Mark Richt prowling the sidelines. Nine wins was not enough to save his job so he will be taking his show to the University of Miami. Greyson Lambert offered little upside at quarterback and a season ending injury to star running back Nick Chubb hampered the running game. Like the Nittany Lions, Georgia’s defense carried the load in 2015.
Quarterback Greyson Lambert’s numbers were anything but impressive. Lambert completed 152 passes for only 1844 yards with 11 touchdowns and two interceptions. Obviously, Georgia relied on its running game to move the football down the field.
Running back Sony Michel took over in week six after Nick chubb’s season ending knee injury. The sophomore carried the rock 199 times for 1076 yards and caught 25 passes for 270 more. Michel lead the ground attack with 10 total touchdowns.
Senior split-end Malcolm Mitchell ended up with 53 catches for 751 yards and four touchdowns. Only one other receiver caught over 30 passes which could prove to be detrimental against a solid Penn State secondary.
Georgia will rely on its number one ranked passing defense to stifle the struggling Nittany Lion’s signal-caller. The Bulldogs only gave up 146.1 yards through the air and ranked eighth in total yards submitting to 298 a game. Safety Dominick Sanders led the secondary with five interceptions. Penn State will try to run the football against Georgia’s 45th ranked rushing defense.
Matchup Analysis & Prediction
Analysis:
With both teams struggling to find any sort of a passing attack, expect heavy doses from the running backs. Penn State will set their sights in on tailback Sony Michel limiting Georgia’s ability to run and force the Bulldogs to make plays in the passing game. Georgia will also try to impose their will upfront against Saquon Barkley forcing Christian Hackenberg to throw the ball in the strength of their defense.
Points may be hard to come by so field position and limiting mistakes will be the key. It’s the Big-Ten versus the SEC in the Taxslayer Bowl on January 2nd at high noon in Jacksonville.
Prediction:
To get further analysis from Ej the Rainmaker and Erik the Hun, check out our audio preview of the Taxslayer Bowl using the audio file below…
