Bullish on them 'Dawgs

EAST LANSING - Georgia football coach Mark Richt admitted Sunday during a teleconference that he is unfamiliar with Michigan State, his opponent for the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1, 2009, in Orlando, Fla. Except for one player.

"I know they had a fantastic year, I vote in the coaches poll, and I have seen (MSU running back) Javon (Ringer) run around and score touchdowns on the highlights," said Richt. "I'm looking forward to seeing them and what they are all about. It will be one of the storylines, to have two of the best running backs in the country in the same game."

Joining Ringer on the Florida Citrus Bowl field on New Year's Day will be Georgia tailback Knowshon Moreno.

The junior, projected to be an NFL first-round draft pick if he declares after the season, has rushed for more than 1,300 yards and scored 15 touchdowns this season.

"As a competitor, anything he does, I am going to try and top," Ringer said of Moreno. "That's going to be a big step because he is a tremendous running back, this year and last year. He is a tremendous player and a tremendous athlete. So definitely, I'll look at the matchup because that's the competitive side of me.

Anything he does, I am going to try and make sure I do better than him to help the team."

Moreno and Ringer are two of the three finalists for the Doak Walker Award, given to the nation's best running back. Iowa's Shonn Greene is the other candidate. The award will be presented Thursday at the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards in Orlando (7:30 p.m., ESPN).

For the next three weeks, people might wonder if the Bulldogs truly want to be in the Capital One Bowl.

They started the season ranked No. 1 by both major polls and clearly had their eyes set on bigger prizes, such as an SEC championship and even a national title.

However, the season has been somewhat of a disappointment. Their three loses this season have come to teams who finished in the top 14 of the final BCS standings (Florida at No. 2, Alabama at No. 4 and Georgia Tech at No. 14).

While Richt did say his team's preseason goals were set higher than where they are right now, he and the rest of his team are excited about the chance to play in Orlando.

"We're thrilled about the opportunity to play in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando and face a great top 25 team in Michigan State. We've already had a couple of practices not knowing who we were playing, and now we can practice with more of a purpose knowing it will be Michigan State."

While there is some concern about Georgia's excitement of playing in the Capital One Bowl, there is no question that MSU is elated to be playing on New Year's Day for the first time in nine years.

The Spartans began the season unranked and have worked themselves into the top 20 for the latter part of the season. Unlike Georgia, playing in a New Year's Day bowl was the goal for this team.

"It's a great opportunity to go play on January 1 in the Capital One Bowl. I think Coach (Mark) Dantonio said it last year after we played in the Champs Sports Bowl: The next step in the progression was the January 1 bowl game. So that was definitely one of our goals going into this year," MSU quarterback Brian Hoyer said.

The Big Ten representative has won the last four meetings against the SEC in the Capital One Bowl.

Asked if that has any relevance, Dantonio was more focused on his task at hand.

"Well, I think the biggest relevance to me is beating the University of Georgia. In both cases, the football teams are 9-3. One of the two teams will finish 10-3 and I'm sure be ranked in the top 15 in the nation.

"When you look at that aspect, that gives you a great amount of excitement to be able to go and play and to win 10 football games; you have a tremendous season.

"So, I look forward to that."