Clark Lea knows what waits for Vanderbilt in Athens, and he knows where the first collision point usually is: Georgia’s run game.
That’s the part of the matchup that tends to tell the story when the Bulldogs line up against the Commodores, and the numbers back it up. Georgia is averaging 222.2 rushing yards per game, good for fourth in the SEC and 22nd nationally. Vanderbilt has been steadier against the run than that ranking might suggest, giving up 115.5 yards per game on the ground, which places the Commodores 10th in the league and 48th in the country.
Lea said this week that Vanderbilt’s front has a chance if it plays with discipline and force at the point of attack.
“The numbers are the numbers, but my belief is if we’re playing Vanderbilt football and we’re structured, and we have intensity at the point of attack, we can make those run plays hard and force them into higher-leverage pass situations on third down,” Lea said at his press conference this week. “If you don’t do that, you’ll be chasing the game down.”
He also made clear the kind of defensive night Vanderbilt may need against Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton: survive the long drives, avoid the killer mistake, and keep the Bulldogs from turning a routine possession into a back-breaking play.
“Drives that sustain into the red zone don’t feel good, but every time they snap it, you have an opportunity to make a play,” Lea said. “What cannot happen is one of those runs break the line of scrimmage and gets into the end zone, or, it’s a play-action shot (deep pass) that gets behind us because we have bad eyes or we’re not contesting the ball down the field.
“I’ve got confidence in our run wall, and if we’re flattening blocks an playing aggressive at the second level, I expect our run defense to be able to handle the run game.”
Georgia enters at 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the SEC, ranked No. 2 in the AP Top 25 Poll and No. 3 in the Sagarin computer rankings. Vanderbilt is 3-1 and 0-1 in league play, sitting No. 41 in the Sagarin rankings.
The game will be on ESPN, with radio coverage on the Georgia Bulldogs Sports Network and Sirius XM 84 or 172. The forecast calls for partly sunny skies, a high of 84, and a chance of showers and thunderstorms.
Georgia leads the series 61-20-2 and won 37-20 in Nashville in 2023. In that last meeting, the Bulldogs piled up 552 yards to Vanderbilt’s 219.
The game also carried some lasting side effects: Brock Bowers suffered an ankle injury that forced him out and affected him the rest of the season. On Vanderbilt’s side, then-freshman receiver London Humphreys caught an over-the-middle pass and turned it into a 49-yard touchdown to put the Commodores ahead 7-0 early.
That play caught Kirby Smart’s eye, and Humphreys later transferred to Georgia, where he has become one of the team leaders.
Both teams are coming off uneven but revealing outings. Georgia turned four Oklahoma turnovers into points, including an 85-yard Chris Cole fumble return touchdown that pushed the Bulldogs ahead 21-0 after the Sooners had reached the Georgia 4-yard line.
Vanderbilt lost 31-15 at Auburn despite finishing with a 311-279 edge in total yards and controlling possession for 37:32 to 22:28. Freshman quarterback Jared Curtis went 22 of 33 for 199 yards with an interception on a Hail Mary attempt, added 46 rushing yards, and Vanderbilt went 4 for 4 on fourth-down tries with him at quarterback.
The injury report adds another layer to the matchup. Georgia lists OLB Amaris Williams, S Tyriq Green, and OL Marcus Harrison as out, with RB Nate Frazier, WR Isiah Canion, and OLB Chase Linton questionable. Vanderbilt’s report includes CB Jaylin Lackey, LB Jamison Curtis, DL Aaron Bryant, and DL Nikhil Jefferson out; QB Jared Curtis questionable; and EDGE Miles Capers, OL Clinton Azubuike, and OL Lyndon Cooper probable.
Georgia is a 24.5-point favorite.
A few other numbers frame the matchup: Georgia has scored two defensive touchdowns and 12 points on defense through four games, with Tyriq Green’s fumble return against Western Kentucky and Chris Cole’s return against Oklahoma. That is the program’s most defensive scoring in a season since the 2021 CFP championship team put up 28 points on defense with four pick-sixes and two safeties.
The Bulldogs have also started fast in a major way, outscoring opponents 63-0 in first quarters and 133-12 in first halves.
For Vanderbilt, Junior Sherrill has been the main target for Jared Curtis. Sherrill ranks fifth in the SEC and 21st in the FBS with 367 receiving yards, and he has caught four or more passes in eight of the past nine games.
On the defensive side, Vanderbilt comes in ranked fourth in the SEC and 12th in the FBS with 3.25 sacks per game. Georgia is tied for eighth in the SEC and tied for 27th nationally at 2.75 sacks per game.
And then there’s Stockton, who has been efficient all season. His 209.05 pass efficiency rating ranks second in the nation behind Miami’s Darian Mensah, who is at 228.23. Stockton is also on pace to set Georgia’s school record for completion percentage at 70.13%, and his 37 career touchdown passes put him ninth in school history, one behind UGA offensive coordinator and former quarterback Mike Bobo, who has 38.
In Other News...
Kirby Smart Seemed To Send A Message In Georgias Vanderbilt Win
Jared Curtis did not suit up in Vanderbilts recent meeting with Georgia after the quarterback, who had flipped his commitment from the Bulldogs to the Commodores last year, was injured. Georgia handled the game the way a team trying to stay in the thick of the national title race needed to, while Vanderbilt came away with its season outlook looking far less secure than the one in Athens.
Afterward, Curtis made his way toward Kirby Smart, setting up a moment that drew attention for what happened as much as what did not. Smarts body language suggested he was not eager to linger, and the interaction felt like the sort of understated sideline scene that can say plenty without anyone having to say much at all. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Left Vanderbilt With Two Concerns Alabama Will Test
Georgia left Nashville with a win and a cleaner record, but not a clean bill of health on the details that usually travel with them into bigger games. The Bulldogs beat Vanderbilt 38-14 to move to 5-0, and Carson Beck turned in another efficient day by completing 25 of 32 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns. Even so, the outing had the kind of uneven stretches Georgia cannot ignore when the schedule sharpens, especially with the ground game not finding much rhythm.
The defense also had its lapses, most notably on third downs, and Alabama is the sort of opponent that tends to expose those cracks quickly. Georgia did settle in after halftime and looked more like itself down the stretch, but next weekend brings a far sterner test of whether those second-half corrections can carry over. For a team that has mostly handled business through September, the trip to face Alabama now feels less like a checkpoint and more like a revealing exam. [Read more 🡒]
Kirby Smart Is Already Pressing Georgia On One Concern Before Alabama
Vanderbilt kept things interesting for a half before Georgia pulled away for a 38-14 win, scoring the final 17 points to close it out. Clark Lea had reasons to point to some progress on the Commodores side, especially in protection and the run game, while Kirby Smart came away talking about the kind of things he likes to see from his own team this time of year: conditioning, execution and the steadier finish that can matter when the schedule tightens.
Smarts focus now turns quickly to Alabama, and it sounds like he is already sharpening one concern before that matchup arrives. Even after a comfortable win, Georgia is still looking to clean up areas that can become costly against a better opponent, and Smart did not hide that there is more work to do before the next test. [Read more 🡒]