Georgia handles business versus Vanderbilt with big win before bye
ATHENS, Ga. — No. 1 ranked Georgia Bulldogs handled their business with ease on Saturday, taking down the visiting Vanderbilt Commodores 55-0. Georgia jumped out to an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter, added on another 14 points before halftime and never looked back from there.
As opposed to recent weeks, the scoring got started early for Georgia in this one. The Bulldogs took the opening possession 10 plays and 75 yards for the game’s first points as Kenny McIntosh got into the end zone from 11 yards out on a pass from Stetson Bennett. That took a pair of third down conversions including a 28-yard connection between Bennett and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint to end the drive with six.
Then, after the teams traded punts, McIntosh got his second score of the game, this time on the ground, from 7 yards out. Ladd McConkey helped set up the drive with a 20-yard punt return before Bennett connected with Rosemy-Jacksaint, McConkey and Bowers to get Georgia inside the 10-yard-line. McIntosh took it from there.
Fellow running back Daijun Edwards got in on the fun one drive later after a second straight three-and-out forced by the Georgia defense. Edwards, who had three touchdowns last week, got into the end zone with a 1-yard plunge to cap off a 11-play, 81-yard drive with a score. Stetson Bennett found Dominick Blaylock for a 25 yard pickup. However, that wasn’t the biggest connection between the two as Bennett found Blaylock for a 10-yard score on the following drive. That score was set up by a Vanderbilt fumble both forced and recovered by Tykee Smith, and it marked the first time that Blaylock has gotten into the end zone since his freshman year when he tore his ACL in the SEC Championship Game.
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Georgia took that 28-0 lead into the locker room and would tack on more in the second half. Jack Podlesny came out with making a pair of field goals before the Bulldog backups slowly but surely started to enter the game. As that happened, Carson Beck found Dillon Bell for a touchdown with 13:33 to go in the game. It made up for an earlier apparent touchdown of Bell’s that was called back after a review.
Highlights of the second half also include Arik Gilbert’s first career catch at Georgia as well as a 4-yard touchdown connection between Gilbert and Beck. Cash Jones would add a 36-yard score to make it 55-0, the final score.
Georgia is off next week for a much needed bye before beginning a tough four-game stretch that includes rival Florida and ranked matchups against Tennessee, Mississippi State and Kentucky. Three of those four games come away from home, however the biggest – an important SEC East matchup versus the Volunteers – will be played at Sanford Stadium. Kickoff time for Georgia’s next game on Saturday, October 29th against Florida is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.
