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Rapid Reaction: Georgia cruises to another easy win, takes down Vanderbilt 45-14
By Adam Spencer
Published:
As the Georgia Bulldogs continue to make a case for a College Football Playoff berth, they made another big statement on Saturday afternoon in Nashville.
During a huge 45-14 victory over Vanderbilt, the Bulldogs scored early and often and used their powerful running game to carry them to another big SEC win.
Now 6-0 on the year, the Bulldogs are firing on all cylinders, while the 3-3 Commodores have dropped three-straight games.
RB Nick Chubb led the way for Georgia’s offense, scoring two touchdowns and also eclipsing the 4,000 career rushing yards mark to add another impressive accomplishment to his resume.
Here are a few quick takeaways from Saturday’s SEC East mismatch in Nashville:
Scoring first is key
In three SEC games this year, Georgia has scored a total of 17 points on its opening drives — two touchdowns and one field goal.
Against Vanderbilt, the Bulldogs ran the ball down their opponents’ throats, capped off by a nice touchdown run by RB Nick Chubb.
The Bulldogs also came out and scored on their first possession of the second half, and then followed that up by forcing a Vandy punt on the ensuing possession.
With a rushing offense like Georgia has, falling behind early is devastating for any opponent, and the Commodores started both halves of the game poorly.
An assist from Mother Nature
Saturday’s rainy weather in Nashville was a good thing for the Bulldogs, as their ground-and-pound offense was much less affected than Vandy’s pro-style attack.
The Bulldogs proved that early and often, running the ball down the Commodores’ throats every chance they got on Saturday.
Even when the weather cleared up a bit, it was too late, as the Bulldogs had already built up a big lead against their SEC East foes.
Punting problems
Late in the first quarter, a Vanderbilt punt was shanked and only went 15 yards, almost hitting a blocker in the helmet.
When you’re playing a top-five team, you can’t afford to make special teams mistakes. Yes, it was windy and rainy, but mistakes like that are killers.
Case in point — the short punt led directly to a touchdown by Georgia RB D’Andre Swift to give the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead.
Key drops by Vanderbilt
Again, it was rainy in Nashville (have we mentioned that yet?), but that doesn’t excuse drops in key situations.
The Commodores had two drive-killing drops in the first half, leading to punts. With a quarterback like Kyle Shurmur, who puts the ball right where it needs to be, the Vandy receivers didn’t hold up their end of the bargain.
WR Trent Sherfield also dropped an easy touchdown pass in the fourth quarter for good measure.
Meanwhile, Georgia’s receivers (other than Mecole Hardman) didn’t seem to be having much trouble hanging onto the ball, and that showed on the scoreboard.
Vanderbilt’s interior run defense is terrible
It didn’t take too much imagination for Georgia offensive coordinator Jim Chaney to dial up the right plays on Saturday afternoon.
Runs straight up the middle were seemingly averaging a first down or more every time, so the Bulldogs just kept going back to that play.
When something is working, sometimes the best thing a coordinator can do is force the other team to stop it. Vanderbilt couldn’t stop the runs up the middle until the game was already out of hand.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
