The Georgia Bulldogs have been an interesting team thus far, to say the least. At points, Georgia shows flashes of brilliance with an unstoppable power running game and a fast, blitzing, vicious defense that disrupts plays at the line of scrimmage. At other points, you have an offense that can’t move the ball (especially through the air) and a porous secondary that even a mediocre quarterback can pick apart.
After squeaking out a close win against Tennessee last weekend (thanks, Todd Gurley), it’s fair for the Bulldog faithful to be a little bit nervous before every game. But does Vandy stand a chance against Georgia this weekend? No way!
Here’s a little background on the history between Georgia and Vandy – and Vandy fans, you might want to scroll past this part. In the past 20 games in this series, Georgia holds a 17-3 record and has outscored the Commodores 604-292. Yes, you read that correctly. Georgia has scored 312 more points over the past 20 games against Vanderbilt. Let’s break it down a little further. Georgia has scored 30.2 points per game to Vandy’s 14.6 points per game over the same span. Ouch.
Now, here’s a look at Vandy’s numbers this year compared to Georgia’s:
Vanderbilt
- 148.4 passing yards per game (117th overall)
- 106.2 rushing yards per game (111th overall)
- 17.0 points per game (119th overall)
- 34.8 points against per game (101st overall)
Georgia
- 162.3 passing yards per game (113th overall)
- 300.3 rushing yards per game (tenth overall)
- 45.3 points per game (eighth overall)
- 22.8 points against per game (51st overall)
Even with Georgia’s seemingly inept passing attack (Vandy’s is even worse!), Georgia has the obvious edge in this game, as Vandy has given up 161.4 rushing yards per game and 9 rushing touchdowns to opponents this year. Everyone knows what Todd Gurley and Nick Chubb can do (UGA will be without Sony Michel due to injury). But what’s even more damning for the Commodores is what they give up in the air. This is the perfect game for Hutson Mason to regain some of his confidence, as wide receivers Justin Scott-Wesley and Malcolm Mitchell will return as deep threats for Georgia. Mason will have an extremely talented corps of receivers from which to choose against a suspect secondary, and if he decides to ‘just rip it’ like fans have been hearing all week, he could find some success against a Vandy secondary that has given up 254.0 passing yards per game and nine passing touchdowns.
One more thing that Vandy has going against them – they will be without Patton Robinette, their most effective quarterback. If you look at the three quarterbacks who have thrown a pass for Vanderbilt this year, the stat line looks like this: 61 completions, 132 attempts, 742 yards and nine interceptions. Now, look at the breakdown by player in terms of completion percentage:
- Patton Robinette: 23/32/240/0 – 71.9%
- Stephen Rivers: 18/50/246/2 – 36.0%
- Wade Freebeck: 20/47/256/5 – 42.0%
- Johnny McCrary: 0/3/0/2 – 0.0%
Vanderbilt’s three quarterbacks not named Patton Robinette who have thrown a pass this season have one touchdown pass combined versus nine interceptions. Their average completion percentage is a dismal 38 percent. Regardless of how bad Georgia’s secondary looks sometimes, Vandy is in serious trouble, especially if their offensive line can’t protect the quarterback (they have given up 2.2 sacks per game).
Even if Georgia comes out in a daze against Vandy on Saturday afternoon between the hedges, this game has all the makings of a blowout and should serve as a good warmup for the Dawgs as they prepare for a more daunting than expected October. Rest easy, Dawg fans, and have a happy Homecoming.
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