ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia is good. Vanderbilt is not.
There’s not much else that needs to be known about the homecoming game conducted between the hedges at Sanford Stadium on Saturday. As an SEC war simultaneously was being waged 210 miles north in Knoxville, Tenn., the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs (7-0, 4-0 SEC) occasionally had to strain but not often enough to leave any doubt about the eventual outcome, which ended in a 55-0 Georgia victory.
Notably missing several key players again because of injury, the Bulldogs’ next task will be healing during an off-week before the annual clash with Florida on Oct. 29.
With their third consecutive loss to a top-10 team, the Commodores (3-4, 0-3) have to travel next week to Missouri. Georgia has beaten Vandy 117-0 in the past two meetings.
It was a decidedly different affair than what was happening on Rocky Top. Scoreboard watching was an all-game pastime as No. 3 Alabama and No. 6 Tennessee were locked in a back-and-forth battle at Neyland Stadium.
As for Saturday in Athens, the Bulldogs punted once and took a knee once on the way to a 28-0 halftime lead. A personal-foul penalty left the Commodores with a scoring opportunity at the end of the second quarter. But then a grounding call was followed by a missed field-goal attempt. And so it went for Vandy.
Even the Bulldogs’ scoring drives lacked scintillating highlights. And even the ones that were, weren’t.
It looked like freshman receiver Dillon Bell had gone 66 yards for a touchdown midway through the first quarter. But an exhaustive video replay review determined his elbow had touched the ground on the attempted tackle.
No matter. The Bulldogs simply proceeded with an offensive formula they would stick with all day. That is, no-nonsense demonstrations of fundamental football executed with superior personnel.
Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken was nothing if not patient calling plays. Ten plays, 75 yards; four plays, 42 yards; 11 plays, 81 yards; 10 plays, 55 yards. So went the Bulldogs’ offense, which was more than happy to possess the football for nearly 20 1/2 of the game’s first 30 minutes.
The last drive of the opening half typified the slow-bleed that characterized the afternoon. On this one, there was a 34-yard pass to Darnell Washington to start it and a 21-yarder to Ladd McConkey on third down in the middle of it. That was the first of three third-down conversions. The last one was a 10-yard touchdown pass to Dominick Blaylock. PAT, kickoff, repeat.
At the end of it, Stetson Bennett and many of the Georgia offensive starters were able to skip another fourth quarter. The last play for the Bulldogs quarterback was holding for a 35-yard Jack Podlesny field goal. The play before he was smashed hard running the ball out of bounds on the Vanderbilt sideline and came up wind-milling his right shoulder.
Bennett was OK, but coach Kirby Smart had seen enough. And so had most of the crowd, which had left by then to catch the end of Bama-Tennessee. Bennett led a Georgia offense that finished with 579 yards. After not throwing a touchdown pass in the previous three games, Bennett threw two in the first half and totaled 289 yards on 24-of-30 passing. Backup Carson Beck matched him with two TD throws and went 8-of-11 passing for 98 yards through the air.
The Commodores could do nothing on offense. Their 10th first down didn’t come until the play on which the final buzzer sounded. That gave them 150 yards — total.
There wasn’t much Vanderbilt representation in the crowd at Sanford Stadium, but the close-knit, black-clad group in the northwest corner had its greatest rejoicing to that point when the Commodores’ defense finally held Georgia to a field goal on the Bulldogs’ first possession of the second half. That made the score 31-0 and seemed to suck out whatever oxygen remained in the air above Dooley Field.
The only moment of true consternation for Georgia fans came a few minutes earlier when McConkey had to be helped off the field. The 6-foot, 185-pound sophomore was unable to get up under his own power after hauling in a pass on the UGA sideline for an 18-yard gain. After a long examination inside the Bulldogs’ medical tent, McConkey left with his helmet on but stood among his position mates for the remainder of the game.
Even Georgia’s suffocating defense lacked a very noteworthy moment. Kelee Ringo had at least two opportunities to intercept a pass, none better than the Commodores’ last possession of the third quarter. There was nobody between him and the Vandy end zone when he stepped in front of A.J. Swann’s pass for Gamarion Carter but didn’t catch the ball.
