Sugar Bowl Preview: West Virginia vs. Georgia

By John Onan  |   Sunday, January 01, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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The 72nd annual Sugar Bowl has been moved this year to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta from New Orleans, due to the destruction left behind from Hurricane Katrina back in September.

Because of this, the eighth-ranked 10-2 Georgia Bulldogs get to stay close to home and return to the location of their 34-14 triumph over LSU a month ago in the SEC Championship game as they take on the Big East champion and 11th-ranked 10-1 West Virginia Mountaineers.

For the Bulldogs, they are led on offense by senior signal-caller D.J. Shockley, who enters Monday's action completing 55 % of his passes for 2311 yards and 21 touchdowns, while only being picked off five times all season long. He has come back from injury to lead his club to three consecutive wins.

While not boasting a star runner, the ground game does have a strong duo of sophomores in Thomas Brown and Danny Ware. The two combined for 1144 yards on 238 attempts, but only four touchdowns. Shockley added four of his own to lead the team.

Shockley also doesn't have a standout pass catcher to work with, but spreads it around nicely. Freshman wide out Mohamed Massaquoi paces the Bulldogs with 34 catches for 462 yards, while tight end Leonard Pope had 33 grabs for 491 yards.

The real strength of Georgia is their defense, which comes in ranked fourth in the nation by allowing just 14.6 points per game. This unit is led by safety Greg Blue, who was named an All-American after leading the team with 88 tackles.

The Mountaineers will look to challenge this strong Georgia defense by running the ball with tail back Steve Slaton and multi-talented quarterback Pat White. These two were a big reason the team averaged an impressive 263 yards per contest on the ground.

Slaton led West Virginia with 924 yards on 179 carries with 14 touchdowns, while White added 875 yards on 107 attempts with seven scores. White also connects on 54 % of his passes for 708 yards after taking over for the injured Adam Bednarik.

Like Georgia, the Mountaineers also boast one of the best defense sin the country, ranking tenth by allowing just 16.3 points per contest. They were equally effective against both the run and the pass, led by defensive back Mike Lorello, who tied for the team lead with 74 stops, seven for loss.

The Bulldogs have the edge that they're playing closer to home in a stadium that they won in just a month ago, but West Virginia has answered the critics more than once this season. Expect both defenses to make crucial stops, and this one could come down to a key turnover or special teams play.
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