The 2013 Citrus Bowl, known as the Capital One Bowl for sponsorship purposes, was the sixty-seventh edition of the college football bowl game, played on January 1, 2013 at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. Part of the 2012âÂÂ13 bowl season, it featured No. 7 Georgia of the SEC and No. 16 Nebraska of the Big Ten. The game began at 1:00 p.m. EST and was broadcast on ABC.
A record-breaking performance from UGA quarterback Aaron Murray led the Bulldogs to a 45âÂÂ31 victory in a game that featured over 1,000 combined yards of offense.
Each team lost its conference championship game, Georgia 32âÂÂ28 to eventual national champion Alabama and Nebraska 70âÂÂ31 to unranked Wisconsin.
Georgia and Nebraska met once prior to 2013, a 45âÂÂ6 Cornhuskers win in the 1969 Sun Bowl.
Georgia took an early lead when Shawn Williams blocked a Brett Maher out of the back of the end zone â though several Bulldogs missed an opportunity to recover the ball for a touchdown, Aaron Murray led a ten-play drive on the ensuing possession to give UGA a 9âÂÂ0 lead. Nebraska, which entered as a double-digit underdog, mounted a strong response, marching 75 yards to get on the board. It was followed by a Will Compton pick-six of Murray to take a 14âÂÂ9 lead, but on Georgia's next play from scrimmage, Murray hit Tavarres King on a downfield strike to reclaim the lead.
After intercepting Taylor Martinez in NU territory, Georgia stretched its lead back to nine on a Todd Gurley touchdown. The Cornhuskers again responded to a two-possession Georgia lead, scoring ten unanswered points to take a 24âÂÂ23 lead into halftime. After the break, NU added to its lead on a thirteen-play drive capped by Rex Burkhead's second touchdown. UGA answered quickly on its ensuing drive, converting a third down to King before tying the game on a deep shot to Chris Conley and two-point conversion to Rhett McGowan.
With the game tied at 31, Nebraska advanced into Georgia territory, but Ameer Abdullah lost a fumble on third down despite NU players insisting tight end Ben Cotton had recovered the ball. Officials declined to review the play, and Georgia mounted a six-play touchdown drive to take the lead. After a Nebraska punt, Murray threw his fifth touchdown in the face of a six-man blitz, a screen pass to Conley that he took 87 yards to the end zone. Nebraska was unable to mount a scoring threat over the remaining eleven minutes and Georgia won 45âÂÂ31.
Murray was named most valuable player after a hyper-efficient passing performance (a UGA bowl-record 427 yards on just eighteen completions) that included three touchdowns of 49 yards or more. Georgia set a new Citrus Bowl record with 589 yards of offense.