Texas A&M and Georgia to Meet in 2009 AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl on December 28th at 4 pm in Shreveport

The Georgia Bulldogs will face the Texas A&M Aggies in the 2009 AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl on Monday, Dec. 28 at 4 p.m. on ESPN2 at Independence Stadium in Shreveport.

The marquee matchup between two traditional powers in college football highlights the final Big 12-SEC matchup for the Independence Bowl. Georgia and Texas A&M will be meeting for the fifth time with the last meeting coming in 1980, a 42-0 Bulldogs victory.

The Independence Bowl is one of only two bowl games (AT&T Cotton Bowl) in the country to feature a Big 12-SEC matchup, and this year’s game marks the 10th time the two conferences have squared off since the contract began in 1998.

Georgia, representing the SEC, will be playing in a bowl game for the 45th time and is making its second appearance in the Independence Bowl while Texas A&M makes its third. Georgia defeated Arkansas, 24-15, in the 1991 game when Arkansas was in its final year as a member of the Southwest Conference. The Aggies beat Oklahoma State in 1981, while a member of the Southwest Conference, and then were edged by Mississippi State, 43-41, in the famed “Snow Bowl” on New Year’s Eve in 2000. Texas A&M has faced Georgia once before in a bowl contest, the 1950 Presidential Cup played in College Park, Maryland, with the Aggies topping the Bulldogs, 40-20.

The Bulldogs (7-5, 4-4 SEC) were chosen as the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week last Tuesday after their 30-24 victory at No. 7 and in-state rival Georgia Tech. Georgia played one of the nation’s toughest schedules this season, facing five teams that are or were currently ranked in the top 25 at the time they played them. The Bulldogs also won four of their final six games. Georgia is making its 13th-straight bowl game appearance and will be attempting to win eight games in a season for the 13th year in a row. The Bulldogs have rushed for 1,008 yards in their last four games and had 339 on the ground in the win over Georgia Tech on Nov. 28, the most by a Georgia team in a game since 1988. Georgia averages 361.8 yards per game and topped the 30-point mark six times during its regular season.

Texas A&M (6-6, 3-5 Big 12) opened the season 3-0 by scoring a total of 135 points. The Aggies are making their 31st all-time bowl game appearance and first since the 2007 Valero Alamo Bowl against Penn State. The Aggies’ high-powered offense was also on display on Thanksgiving night in College Station against No. 3 Texas in a 49-39 loss. Texas A&M amassed 532 total yards against the Longhorns and nearly pulled off the upset. The Aggies average 465.3 yards per game and had over 500 total yards in a game seven times.

Texas A&M ranks 15th in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 33.92 points per game, and are fifth in the country in total offense as the Aggies average 465.33 yards per game. Texas A&M is also 25th overall in rushing offense. Georgia ranks 3oth in the nation in total defense and will provide a stiff test for the Aggie offense.

Both schools have several ties to the Independence Bowl. Texas A&M Director of Athletics Bill Byrne was previously associate AD and then athletics director at Oregon when the Ducks played in Shreveport in 1989 and 1992. Georgia AD Damon Evans played for the Bulldogs in the 1991 Independence Bowl when Georgia faced Arkansas. Texas A&M defensive coordinator Joe Kines served as interim head coach for Alabama in 2006 when the Crimson Tide played Oklahoma State in the Independence Bowl, and was defensive coordinator at Arkansas in the 1991 game against Georgia and Damon Evans.

For more information or tickets to the December 28th Independence Bowl game in shreveport, please call 318-221-0712 or toll free at 888-414-2695 or visit the bowl’s official website at www.independencebowl.org.