Sitting at 1-0 after a convincing, rain-shortened victory over Louisiana-Monroe, the Georgia Bulldogs now set their sights on a Vanderbilt Commodores team coming off a disappointing season-opening loss to Western Kentucky. At a cursory glance, Georgia-Vanderbilt has all the makings of a blowout victory for the Dawgs, like last year’s 44-17 triumph in Sanford Stadium. The Commodores do have something going for them: the game is in Nashville and there is rain in the forecast – similar conditions that contributed to a sloppy 31-27 Georgia loss in 2013, the last time the Dawgs traveled to Nashville.
Let’s take a look at the two teams after one game:
Georgia vs. Louisiana Monroe
- 435 total yards
- 192 passing yards
- 243 rushing yards
- 6.4 yards per carry
- 51 points
- 251 total yards against
- 1.7 yards per carry against
Vanderbilt vs. Western Kentucky
- 385 total yards
- 217 passing yards
- 168 rushing yards
- 4.0 yards per carry
- 12 points
- 246 total yards against
- 1.6 yards per carry against
Looking at the 51-12 point differential between the two teams, it may come as a surprise to see how close the remaining offensive and defensive stats are. To be fair, Georgia did play 10 minutes fewer than Vandy due to weather conditions, but still – the Vandy defense held a high-powered Western Kentucky offense to just 246 total yards, 14 points and 1.6 yards per carry. Where Vanderbilt failed against the Hilltoppers: offensive execution, especially in the red zone. The Commodores had the ball inside the Western Kentucky ten yard line five times last week. The results: two interceptions, a missed field goal, a made field goal and a touchdown. That kind of red zone efficiency did not get it done against Western Kentucky, and it surely won’t against a much tougher Georgia team.
Georgia, in its opener, showed a lot of promise under quarterback Greyson Lambert, who was extremely efficient running offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer’s offense, despite having less time to learn the playbook than Brice Ramsey and Faton Bauta. Lambert was 8-for-12 for 141 yards and two touchdowns. Though he showed a tendency to leave the pocket quickly and sometimes resorted to throwing off his back foot, Lambert made some great throws, including a beautiful play-action touchdown pass to star wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell. And he’s wearing No. 11, the number of a certain beloved recent quarterback at UGA (read: Aaron Murray). Brice Ramsey was also sharp, going 2-for-2 for 51 yards and a touchdown in limited playing time. The Georgia run game was as advertised, as well, with the three-headed monster of Nick Chubb (16 carries, 120 yards, two touchdowns), Keith Marshall (10 carries, 73 yards, two touchdowns) and Sony Michel (6 carries, 41 yards) running wild.
On defense, Georgia missed some assignments in the secondary against Louisiana Monroe that led to two straight touchdown drives for the Warhawks offense. The run defense and special teams were bright spots in the opener, and if Jeremy Pruitt’s secondary can learn from their mistakes, this defense has a chance to be truly one of the best defensive units in the country. Vanderbilt’s offense isn’t much to write home about, but they should offer more of a challenge than Louisiana Monroe. It should be noted, the Vandy offense only gained 385 yards against a Western Kentucky defense that allowed 39.9 points and 509.9 yards per game last season. Commodores quarterback Johnny McCrary, who has dual-threat capabilities, could cause some headaches for Georgia, but if he doesn’t protect the ball or find some red zone success, expect this game to be over fast.
Georgia has an explosive offense and a talented defense, and though Vanderbilt may find more consistent success this season, don’t be surprised if Georgia wins by 30 (the spread is currently 20.5). Greyson Lambert will make the throws necessary to open up the Georgia run game, and Vanderbilt will be outmatched early and often. Georgia-Vanderbilt is a mismatch, plain and simple. The Dawgs will win and roll into an important early season battle against one of their fiercest rivals – South Carolina.
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