Hoyer ready for QB duel with Stafford

EAST LANSING - For the second consecutive year, the Michigan State football team will be playing in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla.

For the second consecutive year, they will face one of college football's best quarterbacks.

Georgia junior Matthew Stafford, considered by most as college football's best NFL quarterback prospect, will lead the No. 16 ranked Bulldogs (9-3) against the No. 19 ranked Spartans (9-3) at 1 p.m. on New Year's Day in the Capital One Bowl.

"I'm not going to be on the field at the same time as him, but it drives you a little bit more," MSU quarterback Brian Hoyer said of facing a top-echelon counterpart. "Anything he does, I am going to try and top because obviously I want my team to win and that's the competitive nature you have inside you to go against a guy like Stafford, who is projected to be a high NFL draft pick if he were to leave. That will definitely be some inner competition for me."

In last year's Champs Sports Bowl, MSU faced Boston College's Matt Ryan, who was picked No. 3 overall by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2008 NFL Draft.

Stafford is 215-of-352 for 3209 yards, 22 touchdowns and nine interceptions this season.

If trying to stop Stafford and the Georgia passing game is not difficult enough, they also possess one of the nation's best running backs.

Junior tailback Knowshon Moreno has rushed for 1,338 yards and 15 touchdowns. He, along with MSU's Javon Ringer and Iowa's Shonn Greene, is a finalist for the Doak Walker award, given to the nation's best running back.

"He has great speed, he has great strength, quick and he runs extremely hard," Ringer said of Moreno. "He is a passionate runner, I can always see that whenever I get a chance to watch him. He has all the aspects that a great running back needs."

The Doak Walker Award will be presented as part of the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards at 7:30 p.m. Thursday on ESPN.

If the Spartans are able to contain the Bulldogs' dynamic duo, MSU will have a great chance to be the fifth straight Big Ten representative to win the Capital One Bowl.

The last SEC winner of the game: Georgia in 2003 when they defeated Purdue, 34-27, in overtime.

BOWL BRINGS EXTRA PRACTICE: With the Spartans playing in a New Year's Day bowl, MSU is given 15 extra practices to prepare for the bowl game and get the younger players more opportunity to improve for next season.

"We have already had three (practices) this past week, what you would call fundamental practices," MSU coach Mark Dantonio said. "We have been able to work our younger players and improve a lot of players. Switch position around and try to do different things that will allow us to be a better football team. So I think (the extra practice time) is invaluable."

RECRUITING AID: Dantonio mentioned a few times during Sunday night's bowl announcement press conference that his football program is still a work in progress.

Playing in a Jan. 1 bowl game will be a big stepping-stone in establishing his program as one of the better ones in the Big Ten.

A large part of building a program is through recruiting, something that will be positively affected by the appearance in the Capital One Bowl.

"We are having an outstanding recruiting year this year with 16-17 commitments now, but I think these final guys that we take, now being in the national media for the next month or so, and the thought when you are looking at juniors, because recruiting has been so accelerated now ... they see us as one of the prominent teams in the Big Ten conference and I think that is the correct way to view us at this point." Dantonio said.

MARTIN TO PLAY: Dantonio said MSU is totally healthy at this point, and he expects freshman receiver Keshawn Martin (shoulder) to play in the bowl game. Martin was hurt in the Nov. 1 Wisconsin game and missed the final two games of the regular season.

BOWL TOUR AND TICKETS: The MSU Alumni Association is offering an official bowl tour. For information, call (877) MSU-TRIP or visit www.msualum.com/bowls.

MSU receives an allotment of 12,000 tickets. Tickets are priced at $80 each. They can be purchased at msuspartans.com or calling (800) GO-STATE.