Georgia’s Peach Bowl Matchup is Set
The Peach Bowl game set for Friday, Dec. 30 in Atlanta is shaping up to be a classic confrontation, according to comments from University of Miami Head Coach Larry Coker and LSU Head Coach Les Miles. Their comments came at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl coaches luncheon on Monday at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
Coach Coker is in his fifth season at Miami and finished the year with an 8-2 season and No. 9 national ranking. During his tenure, he has led the Hurricanes to one national championship, two Bowl Championship Series title game appearances, three BCS bowl game appearances and three Big East Conference championships.
When asked what he thought of the match-up with LSU, Coach Coker jokingly said, “I think it’s a terrible match-up—they’re too good!” He went on to say, “Seriously, we want to play in the best possible bowl game against the best possible competition. In that sense, it’s a great match-up.
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“They’re a tremendous football team who survived under a lot of adversity and difficult circumstances because of a natural disaster. Coach Miles has done a great job and has an outstanding football team. We haven’t had a great season, but we had a good season or we wouldn’t be here, so we’re proud of what we’ve done and our players are excited about the challenge the game offers.”
Coach Miles, in his first season at LSU led the Tigers to 10 wins, a Southeastern Conference title game and a No. 10 national ranking. He arrived at LSU after four seasons as head coach at Oklahoma State where he was the 2002 Big 12 Conference Coach of the year and led the Cowboys to three straight bowl games for the first time since 1986.
The coach, making light of their hardships with the weather, said, “We began the season facing a hurricane, and it looks as if we’ll end the season facing one, however, the significance of this match-up is that it features two football teams that are tremendously talented.”
The statistics of the Peach Bowl seem to back up the hype of the coaches.
Both teams are undefeated in the game’s history: LSU is 3-0 and Miami is 2-0. This is the first match-up of two top-10 teams in the bowl’s history, and the only ACC vs. SEC game in the bowl business. It all began back in 1968, in the inaugural Peach Bowl, when LSU defeated Florida State 31-27 before a crowd of 35,206 with a per team payout of $230,000. This year’s game will be played before a crowd of over 70,000 with team payouts of close to $2.4 million.
Also, did you know the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl:
•Is the most competitive bowl game in college football history with an average margin of victory of 7.9 points.
•Is the ninth-oldest bowl game in college football history.
•Set the all-time attendance record for a sporting event in the Ga. Dome at 75,125 in 2004.
•Ranks first in average attendance among all non-BCS bowl games.
•Has disbursed more than $32 million in team payouts over the last 10 years.
•Generates $30-35 million in economic impact for metro Atlanta.
•Leads all bowl games in charitable and scholarship contributions, and has given more
than $2 million to various charitable organizations over the last seven years.
•Approximately $140,000 in proceeds will benefit Chick-fil-A’s WinShape Homes, a long term foster care program created by Chick-fil-A’s Founder and Chairman, Truett Cathy.
Yes, it’s going to be a great day, especially if you’re lucky enough to have tickets, or can find some before game time on Friday, Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. at the sold-out Georgia Dome. If not, the game will be televised by ESPN unopposed in the time slot.