Using ESPN’s FPI (Football Power Index) as a guide, Georgia has a 98.5 percent chance to beat Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Georgia needs strong performance

It’s been quite a roller-coaster ride through four games for Georgia, hasn’t it? After a dominant second half in the Aug. 30 win over Clemson, Georgia was suddenly the national darling, vaulted into the national championship conversation. The Bulldogs then went out and got shredded by Dylan Thompson and South Carolina, won going away versus Troy and narrowly escaped against Tennessee.

A reeling Vanderbilt team now comes calling to Athens with issues at the quarterback position and a suspect run defense. Since its play after intermission against Clemson, Georgia has been inconsistent and average, at best. Quarterback play and a bad secondary has plagued the Bulldogs and nearly cost them at times. Now more than ever, does Mark Richt’s team need a dominant performance. The SEC East is wide open and the ‘Dawgs were given new life after Missouri downed South Carolina at Williams-Brice last weekend.

Look for Georgia to ride its running game led by Todd Gurley and Nick Chubb, and expect the Bulldogs to try and get the passing game going with the return of playmakers Malcolm Mitchell, Justin Scott-Wesley and Jonathan Rumph on the outside.