Bowl win would add to legacy

Cameras and microphones grouped around Brian Hoyer after a recent Michigan State practice, followed by a question that made him chuckle.

So Brian, is there anything you'd like to do differently this time around?

"Not throw four interceptions," he said with a smile.

For months, Hoyer tried to get away from the memory of last year's Champs Sports Bowl at Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando, Fla., where he threw four picks and lost a fumble in a 24-21 loss to Boston College.

Now Hoyer is confronted again with the memory, with No. 19 MSU about to take on No. 16 Georgia in the same stadium in Thursday's Capital One Bowl. There's no escape, so he's embracing it. Maybe even using it.

Quarterbacks aren't like linebackers, who can easily translate emotion into better effort and harder hits. But Hoyer is determined to make up for last year on the final day of his college career.

"It is kind of ironic that the two bowl games I play in, they will both be in the same stadium," he said. "That game has always left a bad feeling with me. I feel like I got over that and moved on this season.

"But I think it's kind of redemption for me to go down and play in the same stadium and play in a Jan. 1 bowl game and have a good performance while helping my team win."

Hoyer's senior season was not exceptional statistically (50.8 percent completions, 2,235 yards, nine touchdowns, eight interceptions), but it was good enough to get MSU to 9-3.

He was terrific in consecutive games, vs. Michigan and Wisconsin, that allowed MSU to return to Orlando. Hoyer became the first MSU quarterback since 1990 to win in Ann Arbor, then led a late comeback for an improbable victory over the Badgers.

"I feel the same way I did all season long," MSU coach Mark Dantonio said when asked about Hoyer. "I expect Brian Hoyer to have a tremendous football game to end his career.

"This is a team game and we need to protect, we need to catch the ball, we need to get into the right play. ... I feel very good about Brian in terms of what he'll do in that bowl game and I think obviously he'll be a key to us winning the football game."

For the second straight season, Hoyer will be overshadowed by the quarterback on the opposing sideline. Boston College's Matt Ryan was destined to be the top quarterback taken in the NFL draft, and the same may end up true of Georgia's Matthew Stafford.

"Anything that he does, I'm going to try to top, because I obviously want my team to win," Hoyer said of Stafford. "But it's just that competitive nature that you have inside you to go against a guy like Stafford ... so that will definitely have some inner competition for me."

Could it be that Hoyer was trying too hard last season when he made some critical mistakes against Boston College? Perhaps. But he said he's learned from that game and has some ideas about what he can do differently this time around.

Hoyer just finished his bachelor's degree a couple weeks ago, so he's had time to think about it.

"There's only one thing left for me to do here," he said, "and that's win a bowl game."