UGA Football: Georgia vs Vanderbilt Post Game Notes

Bulldogs Register Another Victory:

  • Top-ranked Georgia improves to 7-0 (4-0 SEC) with a 55-0 victory over Vanderbilt (3-4, 0-3 SEC).
  • Georgia now has won five in a row against the Commodores and lead the series 60-20-2 including 22-4 on Homecoming. Head coach Kirby Smart is 5-1 against VU. Overall, the Bulldogs now are 35-4 at home under Smart and 73-15 overall.

Defense Dominates Again:

  • The Bulldog defense blanked VU for the second consecutive time in the series (62-0 in 2021) and that is the first time the Bulldogs have done that to an SEC team since 1980-81 to Kentucky (27-0 in 1980 and 21-0 in 1981).
  • Before this year, the last back-to-back shutouts over VU came with three in a row from 1962-64.
  • The Bulldogs have two shutouts this year (33-0 over Samford) and now 10 in the Kirby Smart era including six in the SEC.
  • Georgia came in today ranked fourth nationally in Scoring Defense, surrendering just 10.7 points a game, and lowered that to 9.1 ppg.
  • VU finished with just 150 yards of total offense on 47 plays. They were 5-for-13 on third down.
  • The leading tacklers were senior DB Chris Smith with five stops while sophomore linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson and freshman Jalon Walker had four each.

Red Zone Review:

  • Georgia went 7-for-7 in the Red Zone with five TDs and two field goals today.
  • For the year, Georgia is now 42-for-43 in scoring in the Red Zone with 29 TDs and 13 FGs.
  • VU finished 0-1 for in the Red Zone. VU was tied for the national lead In Red Zone scoring as it was perfect on the year at 21-for-21 (17 TDs, 4 FG) before missing 44-yard field goal at the end of the second quarter.

Offensive Highlights:

  • Georgia came in averaging 39.5 points a game, jumped out to a 28-0 halftime lead, and won 55-0 with 579 yards of total offense (192 rushing, 387 passing) on 70 plays The points and total offense were both season highs.
  • Senior QB Stetson Bennett completed 24-of-30 passes for 289 yards and 2 TDs in three quarters of play.
  • Junior Daijun Edwards (10-49 yards, 1 TD) got his 5th rushing TD to cap an 11 play, 81-yard drive for a 21-0 edge.
  • Junior Dominick Blaylock (2-for-35 yards, 1 TD) had his first TD catch of the season, a 10-yarder, and it was the sixth of his career. For Blaylock, it was his first TD catch since 2019 when he had five as a freshman and then overcame knee injuries.
  • Junior TE Darnell Washington finished with four catches for 78 yards, both career highs.
  • Freshman Dillon Bell (5 rec., 54 yards, both career highs) notched his second career TD, a 24-yarder from Carson Beck (his third).
  • Senior Kenny McIntosh (9 rushes, 43 yards, 1 TD Rush, 2 Rec., 20 yards, 1 TD) scored a pair of TDs. His first one made it 7-0 as the Bulldogs scored on their opening drive, going 75 yards on 10 plays in 4:59 including two third down coversions, capped by an 11-yard TD pass to McIntosh. It was his first TD catch of the season and third of career. He would add a seven-yard scamper for a TD, his fourth of the year and 10th for his career for a 14-0 lead with 1:40 left in the first quarter.
  • Redshirt sophomore TE Arik Gilbert made his first two catches for the Bulldogs including a four-yard TD from Beck for a 48-0 lead.
  • Redshirt freshman RB Cash Jones scored his first career TD, a 36-yard scamper to make it 55-0 in the fourth quarter.
  • Georgia improved to 6-to-6 on 4th down this year, completing a 14-yard pass from Bennett to Kearis Jackson on a 4th-and-10.

Special Teams:

  • Freshman P Brett Thorson punted just once and placed it inside the 20 for the 9th time out of his 15 punts this year.
  • Senior PK Jack Podlesny entered today’s game seventh nationally in scoring with 64 points. He finished with 13 points (2 FG, 7 PATS). He made field goals from 28 and 35 yards in the second half to improve to 14-of-17 this season.
  • Redshirt sophomore Ladd McConkey had a 20-yard punt return to the VU 42. Four plays later, it led to a TD and a 14-0 lead.

Points Off Turnovers:

  • Junior Tykee Smith forced a fumble that senior Chris Smith recovered at the UGA 15. It led to a TD. Georgia is +3 in Turnover Margin this season. The Bulldogs have 38 points off nine turnovers. Georgia did not have any turnovers.

Streaking:

  • With today’s victory, Georgia has won 22 straight regular season games including 16 straight Between the Hedges. The Bulldogs have won their last 15 SEC regular season games. Also, Georgia extended its sellout streak to 62 games dating back to 2012.

Captains & Coin Toss:

Homecoming Queen & King:

  • Selected by a student vote, the Queen and King were Madison Polk of Lithonia, Ga., a fourth year double majoring in political science and sociology, and Obamide Samaye, an Atlanta native and fourth year majoring in economics.

Up Next:

  • No. 2 Georgia (7-0, 4-0 SEC) has an open date before facing Florida in Jacksonville on Oct. 29 at 3:30 pm ET (CBS Sports). The Gators (4-2, 1-2 SEC) will face LSU in Gainesville tonight (7 pm on ESPN).