The 2010 regular college football season is over and the Progressive Gator Bowl will be played on January 1, 2011 at the EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida. Gator Bowl tickets are available for the bowl game between the Mississippi State Bulldogs out of the SEC and the Michigan Wolverines out of the Big Ten.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs are coming out of the SEC, ending the season 8-4 overall and #21 in the polls and 4-4 in conference play. The record landed them in fifth place in the West Division, the far more competitive of the two SEC divisions. The Bulldogs season has been devastated by a pair of two-game losing streaks, the first two games of the conference season (against then-#21 Auburn and then-#15 LSU) and two losses in the final three games (against then-#12 Alabama and then-#13 Arkansas). Despite losing four of the five games against ranked team, Miss. St. is playing in the 2011 Gator Bowl.
The Bulldogs were not a very impressive passing team, averaging 178.6 yards a game through the air. They were a very capable running team though, averaging 215.8 yards on the ground. Mississippi State averaged 27.1 points a game, and allowed 20.3. Quarterback Chris Relf is a double threat, throwing for 1,508 yard and 10 touchdowns and running for 683 yards and 4 touchdowns. The best weapon on the field is running back Vick Ballard. Ballard ran for 892 yards and 16 touchdowns.
The Michigan Wolverines come into the Gator Bowl 7-5 and unranked. They dominated the non-conference schedule, but struggled once the Big Ten schedule began. The Wolverines went 3-5, drawing a difficult schedule with four ranked teams and losing them all.
Coach Rich Rodriguez's team proved to be quite prolific, scoring 34.3 points a game (22nd). The Wolverines threw for 249.8 yards (35th) and ran for 251.1 yards (11th) a game. Quarterback Denard Robinson is a far more dangerous threat than the Bulldogs' Relf. Robinson threw for 2,316 yards and 16 touchdowns and ran for 1,643 yards and 14 touchdowns. Unfortunately, the Wolverines also allowed 33.8 points a game.
This will be a great game, between an SEC team from a deep division and a Big Ten team that could score with anyone, but could not stop anyone from scoring. Get your Gator Bowl tickets to watch this game from the stands of EverBank Field, whether you are a Miss. St. or Michigan football fan.
