The Red and Black

Issue date: 12/31/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: BLAKE LIPTHRATT Georgia tailback Knowshon Moreno, shown here Monday at practice in Orlando, is ready to to show his speed against Michigan State on New Year's Day.

Media Credit: TYLER ESTEP Michigan State quarterback Brian Hoyer (left) and running back Javon Ringer talk during a news conference Tuesday.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Simply put, Corvey Irvin doesn't think Michigan State has SEC speed.

After saying that Georgia has played teams with the size and power of the Spartans all year in the SEC, the senior defensive lineman was asked during a Tuesday press conference if they were "fast like an SEC team is fast."

His response: "No, not really."

"I believe we play teams like Michigan State each week in the SEC. There are big linemen in the SEC and they run the Power-I, zone," Irvin said.

"We face teams like that every week in and out so I don't believe there's any type of perception [of the Big Ten being stronger than the SEC]."

Potential bulletin board material aside, Big Ten-SEC matchups are typically viewed as ones pitting power against speed and quickness - an idea foreign to players from either team, but not necessarily one they're buying into.

"People know the South for speed and things of that nature, and they know the Big Ten for power and strength. They want to see how the two sides compare," Georgia receiver Mohamed Massaquoi said.

"But both teams have power and both teams have speed."

The Big Ten has won four straight Capital One Bowl matchups against the SEC, with three different Big Ten teams (Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan) claiming victories over four different SEC squads (LSU, Auburn, Arkansas, Florida).

But teams from the Southeast have dismantled their neighbors to the north in the last two national championship games, keeping the argument over the best brand of football alive.

Michigan State running back Javon Ringer, a Doak Walker finalist along with Georgia's Knowshon Moreno, knows all about the conferences' supposed disparity between quickness and strength.

"Tired of it? No I'm not tired of it," he said. "It's getting a little old but it's expected just from how people talk about it; SEC, that's all speed and the Big Ten it's power and we're not as fast as they are. But speed is speed. We really can't necessarily tell until you get out there on the field."

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools