No. 10 Georgia Holds off No. 22 Vanderbilt

Article courtesy of SEC Sports Hub.

The Georgia Bulldogs held off a gritty Vanderbilt team, winning 24-14 to move into a first-place tie with Florida for the SEC East lead at 3-1.

Running back Knowshon Moreno carried the Bulldogs with 172 yards and one touchdown.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford had an erratic day, throwing two touchdowns and two interceptions.

The Bulldogs also answered the questions about their offensive line that arose when their best offensive lineman Vince Vance went down last week with an injury.

The line opened holes for Moreno all day and Stafford had ample time to throw the majority of the day.

Georgia kicker Blair Walsh missed a 40 yard field goal attempt on the Bulldogs’ first offensive possession, but Georgia got on the board on their following drive.

Stafford found freshman wide receiver A.J. Green, who had 7 catches for 132 yards on the day, on a 17-yard route to put the Bulldogs up 7-0.

The Bulldogs added a second touchdown about three minutes before the second half when Stafford found Mohamed Massaquoi on a 9-yard pass to the left corner of the end zone.

But Mackenzi Adams and the Commodores answered quickly.  Adams found Jamie Graham for an 18-yard touchdown with under 30 seconds left in the half to cut the lead to 14-7, seemingly taking the momentum.

Whatever coach Mark Richt said at halftime must have worked, as Georgia came out and scored on its opening possession of the second half.

Moreno took a carry to the right side, breaking a tackle and taking it into the end zone.  But the touchdown was overruled, as Moreno’s knee hit the ground as he was spinning off the tackle.

Moreno came back and scored on a run to the left side on the next play to put Georgia back up by 14.

Adams and Graham hooked up for their second score of the day a little later in the third quarter on a perfect fade route into the left corner of the end zone, once again cutting the lead to seven points at 21-14.

After a defensive struggle through the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs seemed poised to put the game away.  But after driving from their own 5-yard line, Blair Walsh missed his second field goal of the day when his kick hit the right upright.

The Bulldogs were able to stop Jamie Graham a half-yard short on fourth down on the following drive, taking over with two minutes remaining.

Walsh finally knocked through his first field goal of the game, a 39-yarder that iced the Commodores.

The loss dropped Vanderbilt to 5-2 overall and 3-2 in the SEC.