Georgia vs Vanderbilt: Bulldogs Near Sinking by Commodores Reveals Flaws

No sooner had this headline been pecked out than Vanderbilt blocked a supposedly game-sealing Drew Butler punt and returned it to the Georgia 22 with a chance to win with seven seconds remaining. A penalty and two pass attempts into the end zone later, the plug had finally been pulled on Vandy's hopes of beating Georgia in Nashville for the first time in 20 years.

As they say, "A win is a win"—never truer than on the road on Saturdays in the SEC.

In a game that many Georgia fans— and perhaps a few players and coaches, as well—assumed that the Dawgs could not possibly lose, Vanderbilt proved itself to be a smart, scrappy, improving opponent with no inclination to roll over and play dead just because the 4-2 Bulldogs were in their backyard. While they never trailed in the game, Georgia could never put the dogged 'Dores away either.

In the end, Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt, who has never been accused of having mad game-management skills, fortunately decided to let the clock run down as far as possible before the blocked Butler punt attempt. Otherwise, the Commodores' Jordan Rodgers, brother of Green Bay Packers QB and Super Bowl champ Aaron Rodgers, might have managed to find a way to torpedo Georgia's win streak.

The game was really a juxtaposition of what was it supposed to be—a contest between stout defenses with the offenses being the question marks. Both the Dawgs and Commodores came into the game sporting highly ranked and stingy defenses. Georgia was ranked in seventh in total defense and 20th in scoring defense among FBS schools, while Vandy was 23rd in scoring defense and ranked highly in other defensive stat categories.

On the other side of the ball, the Georgia offense was capable and improving but often sporadic, while Vanderbilt's had been, at least by the numbers, abysmal.

No matter. On this night, the O's had it. Before the game, some suggested that the vapid Vandy offense would be unable to move the ball against the improved Dawg defenders and anticipated that Georgia territory might not even be encroached upon by the star-adorned home armada.

On the night, however, the 'Dores offense ground out 19 first downs, netted 349 yards—200 coming on the ground against the nation's 12th best rush defense—and scored three touchdowns. On many nights, that kind barrage from the Commodores recently quiet guns would have been enough to win.

But not on this night. The Bulldogs, working with great starting field position throughout the first half, started slow and sluggish. Quarterback Aaron Murray again played what has become a relatively common place game of nadirs and zeniths.

In the first quarter he just couldn't find the mark, sitting at three completions on nine attempts at one point. By halftime he had warmed up, finishing the first stanza 10-of-19 for 118 yards and two touchdowns.

After he had shaken off his tortoise start, he hared up in the second half, completing 12-of-19 passes for 208 yards and a TD. Murray, who had almost escaped the night against the nation's leading intercepting secondary, ended on an almost obligatory low note when he threw a pick at the Vandy two, giving the Commodores—who were but five points down—life with 2:30 remaining.

While the short passing game was the order of the night, so as to move the football in the absence of an infantry attack, Georgia managed a few big plays.

Junior Marlon Brown had his biggest night as a Dawg with four catches for 121 yards and 2 TDs. Hard to overly laud Brown's stellar play, however, as a busted coverage left him wide open down the sideline in the first half and Murray later baited the safety into the same mistake for a 75-yard score.

Michael Bennett, he of sticky fingers, led all Georgia receivers with seven catches, and Tavarres King followed up last week's nice performance with a five-reception night which included a touchdown catch.

For the game, Georgia ran up 443 yards, a paltry 117 of them coming on the ground. The Bulldogs managed 22 first downs had an edge in time of possession at 31:02. They repeatedly had nice drives that fizzled short of the red zone, resulting in Blair Walsh booting through four of his six field goal attempts. Walsh drilled a 53-yard attempt and could have had an even bigger night had a 50-yard attempt not caromed off the left upright.

It was fortunate that Murray, the receivers and Walsh showed up because Georgia's running attack did not.

Leading rusher Isaiah Crowell was benched for the entire first quarter. When quizzed about Crowell's absence by a sideline reporter, Richt said it was, "Because I love him." This, of course, is code for he was being disciplined. Awesome. While perhaps still slowed by nagging injuries sustained against Tennessee, it never really looked like Crowell's heart was in the game.

Though Richard Samuel only managed 53 yards on 15 carries, he ran very hard, made some nice cuts and looked like he was excited about playing.

As Murray was sacked only once, the pass blocking was adequate, perhaps due as much as anything to the plethora of short passes that the Bulldogs employed. While not having access to the film and offensive line grades, a safe assumption is that the run blocking was not.

Defensively, the middle of the defense was gashed by nice runs between the tackles throughout the night. On the night, Vanderbilt averaged 5.7 yards per carry with tailback Zac Stacy picking up 97 yards and Rodgers running out of the pocket for another 80. Fortunately, the Commodores could muster but 149 yards through the air, as the Dawgs secondary remained stingy.

Brandon Boykin, Shawn Williams and Bacarri Rambo all had interceptions. While Georgia only managed one sack against the Commodores, defensive tackle Abry Jones had three batted passes among Georgia's 10 pass break-ups for the game.

Georgia's leading tackler was Bacarri Rambo with eight, followed by Williams, Jarvis Jones, and Sanders Cummings with six apiece. Freshman outside linebacker Ray Drew saw some nice series, finishing the game with the lone sack, three tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery

Against the Commodores, several trouble spots were evidenced with some being recurring issues:

- The Bulldogs' defense gave up its halfback pass for a touchdown this season. The DBs have to be disciplined enough within their more aggressive style of play to honor their responsibilities.

- Georgia was once again ill-prepared for a fake punt. Fortunately, unlike the TD run given up against South Carolina, this pass only picked up the first down. It did, however, keep a drive alive that resulted in a Vandy TD. Opposing coaches have obviously spotted something.

- Special teams gave up a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, and a blocked punt that could have cost Georgia the game had there been just a bit more time on the clock. As mentioned, Blair Walsh had his best night of the season, perhaps ending his slump. Still though, he missed a 42-yarder that had come to be almost almost automatic over the previous two campaigns.

- Brandon Boykin was "shake-and-baked" again for a nice gain when he had the ball carrier dead to rights. The first occurred on Carolina defensive lineman Melvin Ingram's 63-yard touchdown run on that aforementioned fake punt. The announcer's claim that Boykin is Georgia's best open field tackler is, therefore, a little worrisome.

- The Dawgs were penalized 11 times for 89 yards, drawing three personal fouls. Two of them were on Shawn Williams and both were completely unnecessary. Georgia drew eight fouls for 75 yards just last Saturday against Tennessee, creating the now famous second down and 56 yards to go. Lately, it has been a little reminiscent of the penalty-riddled play of past seasons of late.

- Georgia's yards per rush average continues in the sub-four yards per carry range. Tonight it was 3.4. The Dawgs' passing attack is going to neutralized on of these Saturdays, and the offense will need to control the line of scrimmage and grind out some yardage on the turf.

- Judging by the punishment, Crowell's transgression must have been minor, but that there was a disciplinary hiccup, at all, at this early stage is at the very best irritating and at worst to be kept an eye upon. Watching him after carries does not conjure up images of Knowshon Moreno, but on a positive note, he is not pulling himself out of the game after every couple of plays either.

- Of continuing concern, the offense failed to score much in the second half. Over the last four games, all SEC contests, Georgia has posted but 30 second-half points. Summarizing why this problematic seems unnecessary. Failure to counter halftime defensive adjustments, fatigue and absence of a killer instinct are possible explanations of this foreboding phenomenon.

As suggested at the outset, any win in the SEC, especially on the road, is a good win. In that losing sucks, winning ugly and close is an eminently better alternative. Some games just have to be survived. If nothing else, it will keep the Dawgs' defense grounded and will keep the squad as a whole hungry to continue to improve

With the fifth notch of the year on their belts and a much-needed open date next Saturday, the Dawgs can return to Athens, rest and heal up and begin preparations to face their scaly, swamp-dwelling boggart (if you had an 11-year-old, you would know what that was), or boogie man. A blow-up win versus Vandy may have made those preparations more difficult, so perhaps there is a silver lining to every cloud.

While the loss to South Carolina means that the Bulldogs don't control their own destiny, remaining in the thick of the SEC East title race to the end remains completely in their big hairy paws.