Moreno, Bulldogs Hold Off Vanderbilt

Homecomings are supposed to be a guaranteed W.

Traditionally Vanderbilt supplied an easy win on the record in what is otherwise a difficult SEC schedule. However, this is not your father's Vandy.

Coach Mark Richt called Saturday's close win, simply a victory, and he seemed thankful for it.

"It wasn't pretty," Jr. quarterback Matthew Stafford said. "But we were able to grind it out and get things done."

Stafford's play, especially, wasn't pretty as he had a pedestrian day, by his standards, finishing with 194 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Running back Knowshon Moreno did all the work, carrying the Bulldogs to the victory, running for a season-high 172 yards and one touchdown.

Vandy has shown an uncharacteristic toughness this season and the Bulldogs got familiar with it quickly. As the game progressed one couldn't help but get the feeling Georgia simply wanted to end this game and escape with a victory.

For the second straight week, the UGA offense seemed inept at times against teams they should have been able to run up the score against.

Stafford's second interception, in the third quarter, led to a Commodore score and drawing them within one touchdown of tying the game.

The well-dressed Sanford Stadium crowd had little to celebrate at that point as concern that another home loss to Vandy was imminent.

The score remained 21-14 late into the fourth quarter when kicker Blair Walsh had an opportunity to put the game out of reach with less than three minutes remaining.

He missed and gave the Commodores some hope. "I thought when the ball hit the upright and came back, it was a good omen for us," Vandy's Coach Johnson said.

The typically reliable freshman kicker had a tough day missing two of three field goals, but he made his last one count.

After the Bulldog defense ratcheted up the pressure and stopped the Vanderbilt offense, Georgia took over at Vandy's 29 yard-line. Three plays later, Walsh turned his fortunes around and delivered the Bulldogs from harm's way, connecting on a 39-yard field goal, putting the game out of reach with 17 seconds remaining.

As Richt said after the game, "I would love to think we could have separated from them, but Vanderbilt has a lot of heart and fight and discipline. You have to give them credit."

That inability to separate in games has the Bulldog Nation alarmed and scratching its head.

Inside the red zone this team has shown the ability to come away with points, scoring on 24 of 28 trips. However, outside of high-light-reel freshman A.J. Green, who had another great game with 132 yards and one touchdown, and Moreno this team seems to struggle to find a player through the ebb and flow of a game to step up and take pressure off their young dynamic duo. Too often the offense stalls and so far Georgia has escaped with minimal damage.

This will be a problem in the coming weeks as they face two tremendous defenses in LSU and Florida. A safe assumption is that those two teams will have a plan to stop Green and Moreno.

Always the optimists, Georgia fans will look for a silver lining in each game. In this one? The offensive line surrendered no sacks and the Bulldogs were penalized a manageable five times for 47 yards.

"They hit the magic number of five or less, so no up-downs this week. They cheered for that pretty loud in the locker room. We're headed in the right direction," Richt said.

The most penalized team in the nation may be headed in the right direction towards removing that moniker, but it remains to be seen if this team has the ability to move towards their ultimate goal: an SEC title and a national championship.

Right now, the direction they're headed in is Baton Rouge next Saturday, possibly at night. After that, a cocktail party for the ages with a lot more than an SEC East lead on the line.