Georgia Bulldogs drop anchor on Vanderbilt Commodores in rout. Here are five takeaways
With much of the college football world focused on a top 10 SEC matchup with major implications more than 200 miles north of Athens, Georgia dispatched its outclassed opponent rather easily.
The Bulldogs headed into a bye week after crushing Vanderbilt 55-0 Saturday afternoon in Sanford Stadium.
Georgia stayed unbeaten and atop the SEC East standings ahead of Tennessee which slid by Alabama 52-49 in Knoxville in a game that shared the same 3:30 p.m. kickoff window as this game.
The Bulldogs—No. 1 ranked in the AP Poll and No. 2 in the USA Today Sports AFCA Coaches Poll—rolled up 295 yards of offense in the first half as it built a 28-0 lead and finished with a season-high 579.
Here are five takeaways as Georgia ran its record to 7-0, 4-0 in the SEC:
Georgia Bulldogs put slow starts behind
Georgia averaged 11.5 points per game in the first quarter in its first four games. The next two before Saturday, the Bulldogs were shut out.
Georgia’s seven first-quarter drives during that stretch resulted in five punts, a fumble and a missed field goal with no drive longer than 36 yards.
“We really need to jump out and start fast,” coach Kirby Smart said on Georgia’s radio network after pregame warmups.
"That's all Coach Smart talked about, just starting out fast," center Sedrick Van Pran-Granger said. "I think we did a really good job sustaining it."
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Stetson Bennett overshot big Darnell Washington over the middle early, but he fired a bullet to Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint for 28 over the middle, went 9 yards on a QB draw and hit Kenny McIntosh who went in motion and caught a pass in the flat and went 11 yards for the touchdown.
McIntosh gave Georgia its second first quarter touchdown and a 14-0 lead on a 7-yard run up the middle standing up. Ladd McConkey set the Bulldogs up in great position after a 20-yard punt return to the Vanderbilt 42.
"I certainly was proud of our players to start fast and we got to play a lot of guys," Smart said. "I thought the guys that came in during the second half really played to a standard."
He said the offense had good focus during the week.
"We fixed things at practice and went through attack mode," said wide receiver Dominick Blaylock who had two catches for 35 yards.
Washington finished with a career-best 4 catches for 78 yards including a one-handed grab in the first half on the right side for 34 yards. He added a 27-yard catch in the second half on the left side.
Stetson Bennett TD passes return as Georgia football passing game clicks
Bennett entered the day with 39 touchdown passes in 23 starts at Georgia. He’s had five starts in which he hasn’t thrown a TD. Three of those came in the last three weeks against Kent State, Missouri, and Auburn.
That ended 4 minutes and 59 seconds into the game when he hit McIntosh on a swing pass on the first series. It was his first touchdown pass since a 78-yard pass to Brock Bowers in the third quarter against South Carolina on Sept. 17.
"I try to throw the ball to the guy who's open," Bennett said. "I'm glad that in the last two weeks we've done better in the red zone scoring touchdowns. I'm happy about that. The touchdown (passes) take care of themselves."
He added another TD pass in the second quarter of 10 yards to Blaylock. It was Blaylock’s first touchdown since the Georgia Tech game in the regular season finale in 2019.
Blaylock came back from two torn ACL injuries.
"It was a great throw by Stetson on that play," Smart said. "A great throw and great catch."
Bennett completed 15 of his first 16 passes for 199 yards until a throw in the left side of the end zone to Brock Bowers went incomplete.
"He made some better throws early," Smart said. "I thought he’s played well. He just hasn’t made the throws early. That one over the middle to Marcus early really helped him."
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Bennett hit Kearis Jackson on a sliding catch in the third quarter on a 4th-and-9 for 14 yards.
Bennett scrambled on a third down play late in the third quarter and took a hard hit near the sideline from Michael Owusu. He was sacked twice in the game, fumbling on one play that Georgia recovered.
With Georgia up 34-0, Bennett was done after completing 24 of 30 passes for 289 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Carson Beck entered the game and went 4-of-4 on his first drive for 57 yards including a 24-yard touchdown pass to freshman Dillon Bell. Beck was 8 of 11 for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns.
He completed his first 7 passes for 94 yards including a 12-yard completion over the middle to LSU transfer tight end Arik Gilbert for his first catch as a Bulldog.
He caught a 4-yard touchdown in front of safety De’Rickey Wright with 7:21 to go as Georgia opened a 48-0 lead.
"It was great, man," Smart said. "Great for that kid confidence-wise and just trying to get him something to celebrate and be happy about. I was really happy for him."
Gilbert missed last season and much of this season due to personal reasons.
Georgia football defense clamps down for shutout
Georgia’s defense entered the day fourth in the nation in fewest points per game allowed.
It was still seeking its first FBS shutout of the season after pitching three last year on a unit with five first-rounders. It finally got one.
"That's what we look for going into every week," said inside linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson who was second on the team with 4 tackles behind safety Chris Smith's 5. "We played good but when we watch the tape there's always something we can do better."
Georgia also shutout FCS Samford 33-0 in week two.
The Commodores managed just 105 yards in the first half and the Bulldogs really got going.
It had three-and-outs on the first four possessions of the second half.
Georgia’s defense held Vanderbilt to 4 yards on 11 carries in a first half when the Commodores were shut out and managed just 105 total yards and 4.2 yards per play.
Smart still got heated after a 19-yard A.J. Swann completion to Will Sheppard late in the second quarter.
Sophomore Kamari Lassiter missed a tackle after the catch. On the next play Lassiter made a tackle after an 11-yard completion.
Smart gave him an earful and pulled him from the game, replacing him with freshman Daylen Everrete who already had seen snaps in the game with 23 seconds left in the half.
"That's just Coach Smart holding us to a standard," nickel back Tykee Smith said. "Kamari didn't take no hard feeling on that. We went in at halftime and talked about it and then he went back out there and fixed it up. Listen to the message not the tone."
Said Smart: "It was just communication. He had a communication error. It was not really about the missed tackle, it was about the coverage that we were playing. It's unfortunate. He's got to do his job a little better."
Vanderbilt got to the Georgia 17, but Joseph Bulovas was wide left on a 44-yard field goal try.
Lassiter was back on the field for the first defensive snap of the second half.
Sheppard—second nationally with 8 touchdown passes--had 3 catches for 45 yards.
The Commodores were held to 150 total yards, their second lowest total of the season behind 129 against Alabama.
The defense was "fast and physical and just playing for each other," Dumas-Johnson said. "I see a lot of love and connection out there. Always a hand on a helmet when someone makes a play."
Holding them out with big games ahead
Georgia was more than a five-touchdown favorite against the Commodores.
So if ever there was a game to let players coming off injuries more time to mend, this was it.
Now the Bulldogs get a week off before an Oct. 29 game in Jacksonville against Florida.
Four key players did not play Saturday.
Star defensive tackle Jalen Carter missed his second straight game with an MCL injury sustained on a low block in the Vanderbilt game.
Running back Kendall Milton was a no go after sustaining a groin injury last week.
Inside linebacker Smael Mondon dressed out and went through some warmups but did not play. Rian Davis started in place of Mondon for the second straight game and Trezman Marshall, who had been sidelined with a knee injury, returned to action.
Wide receiver A.D. Mitchell, who saw a few snaps in the Auburn win, rested an ankle injury that has sidelined him for much of the season. Bell led Georgia with 5 catches for 54 yards.
"Some of these guys I don't know if we'll get them back," Smart said. " I mean, there's no off week that say you magically get everybody back. It's time. Each injury's different. We have to see how they progress and how much pain tolerance they have."
McConkey was down after an 18-yard catch and went to the injury tent with a possible ankle injury.
Kearis Jackson replaced him on punt returns and McConkey did not return to the game with Georgia up 31-0.
"Ladd’s fine," Smart said. "He could have gone back. We taped his ankle up. I thought it was worse when it actually happened. He came back and said he could go."
Smart said starting offensive guard Xavier Truss who left the game in the second half with an injury also was fine.
Vanderbilt Commodores still anchored way down in SEC
Vanderbilt (3-4, 0-3) lost its 24th straight SEC game. That’s the nation’s longest conference losing streak.
The only other team with a double-digit conference losing streak is Florida International at 12. Among Power Five teams, the next longest after Vanderbilt entering the weekend was Rutgers and Virginia at 5 each.
Vanderbilt’s last SEC win was 21-14 over Missouri on Oct. 19, 2019. The Commodores travel to Missouri for its next game next Saturday.
Vanderbilt ended a stretch of three straight games against top 10 opponents Saturday.
Georgia beat Vanderbilt for the 24th time in the last 27 games.
The Commodores gave up more than 500 yards for a third straight game.
Georgia outscored Vanderbilt 117-0 in their last two games including 27-0 in the second half Saturday.
"That was an outmanned team, we were better than they were," Smart said. "And we’ve got to be able to execute when we play people that have equal talent.”
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football rolls to easy win vs. Vanderbilt Commodores
