Kirby Smart dismisses idea Vanderbilt construction impacts game

Vanderbilt‘s FirstBank Stadium is under construction this year, which has made for an interesting backdrop to the team’s football games. The Vanderbilt construction can be a distraction for opposing teams if they’re not careful.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart was careful to preach to his guys ahead of the weekend’s matchup that they needed to be locked in.

“It’s definitely unique, but they’re all unique in the SEC,” Smart said. “It has no bearing on how you play. I mean we talked about it all week, bring your own juice. I thought, man, the guys got great juice before the game, warmups, I mean everything was awesome. Didn’t start quite the way we wanted to, took a punch and then we threw some punches.”

If the Vanderbilt construction caused any issues for the nation’s No. 1 team they were hard to spot on Saturday.

Georgia made short work of Vanderbilt after a somewhat tepid start, eventually rolling to a comfortable 37-20 win. It wasn’t quite the finish the Bulldogs had hoped for, allowing 13 points in the fourth quarter.

Still, any time you can come away with an SEC win it’s a big deal.

And Georgia made the Vanderbilt digs feel like their own thanks to the traveling fans. The stadium was packed with Georgia fans.

“We come to Nashville and it feels like a home game,” Smart said. “We had a lot of UGA red in the stands. We came out for warmups it was not as crowded, and then when we came out for the main part of the game there was a sea of red there.

“So we came across the field and a lot of red on their side. Was really appreciative of our fans making it like a home game.”

Georgia was dominant in the win, even if the score didn’t quite reflect it fully. The Bulldogs piled up 552 yards of offense, while limiting the Commodores to just 219.

Vanderbilt managed only 18 yards rushing, while Georgia had 291 in a well-balanced offensive approach. Turnovers, though, were a bit of an issue for the Bulldogs, especially early, as they turned it over twice.

That will have to get cleaned up going forward.

Regardless, the Vanderbilt construction proved unable to trip Georgia up. The next test for Georgia will come after a bye week, when the team heads to Jacksonville, Fla., to take on rival Florida on Oct. 28.