Michigan State deserves Top Ten nod after Outback win over Georgia

More on this later.  BUT GREAT BIG GREEN VICTORY!!!!  Michigan State 33, Georgia 30 - in 3 OT!  Said the Doctor - "We've beaten every football team in the Big Ten in the last four years. The standard has been set by our seniors. ... Two 11-win seasons, There's not too many football teams in the country that are saying that right now. I would think that this, hopefully, helps solidify a Top 10 ranking in this year's final polls."

Love the Big Ten and Georgia fans squirming... :)

Here are the stats: notable are that MSU was 6-20 on third downs and UGA was 6-18 on third downs; and, on Red Zone TDs, MSU was 3-5 while UGA was 1-3.  MSU's stout d-line held the Dogs to just 51 yards rushing on 39 carries - just 1.3 yards per attempt. OUCH!

Team Statistics (Final)
                          2011 Michigan State Football
           Michigan State vs Georgia (Jan 02, 2012 at Tampa, Florida)

                                    MSU       GA

FIRST DOWNS...................       15       15
  Rushing.....................        2        4
  Passing.....................       13        9
  Penalty.....................        0        2
NET YARDS RUSHING.............       73       51
  Rushing Attempts............       29       39
  Average Per Rush............      2.5      1.3
  Rushing Touchdowns..........        2        0
  Yards Gained Rushing........       94       98
  Yards Lost Rushing..........       21       47
NET YARDS PASSING.............      318      288
  Completions-Attempts-Int....  28-51-3  20-32-2
  Average Per Attempt.........      6.2      9.0
  Average Per Completion......     11.4     14.4
  Passing Touchdowns..........        1        2
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS...........      391      339
  Total offense plays.........       80       71
  Average Gain Per Play.......      4.9      4.8
Fumbles: Number-Lost..........      0-0      1-1
Penalties: Number-Yards.......     8-50     5-15
PUNTS-YARDS...................    8-401    7-306
  Average Yards Per Punt......     50.1     43.7
  Net Yards Per Punt..........     33.6     43.3
  Inside 20...................        4        2
  50+ Yards...................        3        2
  Touchbacks..................        2        0
  Fair catch..................        1        3
KICKOFFS-YARDS................    6-366    5-294
  Average Yards Per Kickoff...     61.0     58.8
  Net Yards Per Kickoff.......     45.3     40.4
  Touchbacks..................        0        0
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD.    2-3-0   1-92-1
  Average Per Return..........      1.5     92.0
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD   5-92-0   6-94-0
  Average Per Return..........     18.4     15.7
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD..   2-38-1   3-55-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD.    1-6-0    0-0-0
Miscellaneous Yards...........        0        0
Possession Time...............    28:26    31:34
  1st Quarter.................     4:28    10:32
  2nd Quarter.................     8:24     6:36
  3rd Quarter.................     7:07     7:53
  4th Quarter.................     8:27     6:33
  OT  Quarter.................     0:00     0:00
Third-Down Conversions........  6 of 20  6 of 18
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   0 of 0   0 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      5-5      2-3
  Touchdowns..................      3-5      1-3
  Field goals.................      2-5      1-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........     4-16      1-6
PAT Kicks.....................      1-1      2-2
Field Goals...................      2-2      2-4