Added Pressure is on Georgia and Boise State to Win in Atlanta
Posted on June 9, 2011 by Jacob Bunn
A BCS decisive matchup will take place on the first weekend of the season in Atlanta, GA, when Georgia from the SEC takes on the Boise State from the Mountain West. In 2005, these two teams met on the first college football weekend of the year in Athens, GA, and the Bulldogs won that game with ease. This time around, though, there is more at stake.
Boise State exploded onto the national scene after the 2006 season, when it defeated the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. That was an unlikely victory for a team that was not in an automatic BCS qualifying conference. It was a comeback victory also, ending dramatically with the now famous ‘Statue of Liberty’ play.
After that point, Boise State seemingly became the poster team for non-BCS schools and their argument to be more involved in the Bowl Championship Series. The Broncos appeared once again the Fiesta Bowl after the 2009 season in a showdown with another non-BCS team, TCU. Boise State won the 2010 Fiesta Bowl, and positioned itself for a BCS run in the fall of 2010. That run was nearly complete when Nevada shattered the Broncos’ dreams by defeating them last November.
But, many feel like non-BCS teams such as Boise State should not be included in the BCS because they do not play the rigorous schedules that teams in major conferences do on a weekly basis. Many abhor the BCS altogether, and the fact that teams from the smaller conferences have a difficult time getting in it is one reason for that hate.
The fire for this issue was stoked last year when the president of a major university referred to the teams on TCU’s and Boise State’s schedule as ‘the little sisters of the poor.’ That president was E. Gordon Gee, and he presides over Ohio State University. I think he probably should have been more concerned with the transgressions taking place in his own athletic department than the quality of other teams’ schedules.
Gee is not alone, though, in thinking that teams like Boise State do not compete against enough premiere competition. The conference that has been used the most in these arguments has been the SEC. It has been said that Boise State simply cannot compete in the SEC week-in and week-out. It is really hard to project, though, whether they could or not because of the talent gap between conferences. That brings us to the matchup on the 3rd of September between the Broncos and the Bulldogs.
In a sense, Boise State will be carrying the banner for the non-BCS teams against the big, bad SEC. During the BCS era, teams from non-automatic BCS qualifying conferences have not fared that well against the SEC, especially the big six (Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Florida, Georgia, and Kentucky). This is a golden opportunity for the Broncos to take down a major power in the Southeastern Conference on an ESPN primetime stage with the college football world watching.
For Georgia, the past couple of years have been tough times. Several seasons of near misses were followed up by an embarrassing collapse last year. The heat on head coach Mark Richt has been ratcheted up several notches lately. The message is simple: Win this game against Boise State for conference pride. Though many SEC fans wonder if Georgia has what it takes to pull it off. It is not an insurmountable game, especially with the talent the Bulldogs possess, but rest assured Boise State, led by head coach Chris Petersen, will pull out everything possible in an attempt to achieve victory.
Georgia seems to be a trendy pick to win the SEC East this year, and it could lose this game and still have every possibility of fulfilling that goal intact. But, this contest for Georgia and Mark Richt still seems very significant. How could the confidence that is needed to pursue bigger and better things be gained without a victory in Atlanta?
This is a pinnacle moment for both Georgia and Boise State. Each fan base, coaching staff, and group of athletes wants this game for more than just the addition to the win column.
