Georgia’s offense kept finding answers and the No. 2 Bulldogs pulled away from Vanderbilt in a 38-14 win at Sanford Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The victory pushed Georgia to 5-0 for the seventh time in 11 seasons under Kirby Smart, and the Bulldogs are doing it with some serious production on the scoreboard. They’ve piled up 257 points through five games, which ranks as the second-best five-game total to open a Georgia season, behind only the 1910 team’s 258. Georgia is also outscoring opponents 257-67 overall.
The Bulldogs were sharp through the air from the start. Gunner Stockton completed 25 of 32 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns, including a first half in which he went 15-for-18 for 192 yards and a score. Georgia finished with 471 total yards, splitting 176 rushing yards and 295 passing yards across 66 plays.
Georgia set the tone on its opening drive, marching 80 yards in 10 plays over 5:30 and finishing with Stockton’s two-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Landon Roldan. That gave Roldan the first receiving touchdown of his career. He already had a rushing touchdown earlier this season against WKU.
After Vanderbilt tied the game at 7, Georgia answered immediately with a quick-strike drive that covered 75 yards in just three plays and 43 seconds. Roldan’s career-long 55-yard catch from Stockton set up the Bulldogs at the 1-yard line. Junior tight end Jaden Reddell then scored his first career rushing touchdown on a one-yard run to make it 21-7 late in the second quarter.
Georgia went to halftime with a 21-14 lead after a first half in which it produced 215 yards on only 29 plays. The Bulldogs’ ground game was slow to get going early, finishing the first half with just 20 rushing yards on 10 attempts before settling in after the break.
The second half belonged to Georgia. Up 21-14 to start the third quarter, the Bulldogs opened with a 75-yard touchdown drive in 11 plays, capped by a one-yard scoring pass to sophomore tight end Elyiss Williams. That was Williams’ second touchdown of the season and third of his career.
Georgia added a 39-yard field goal on its next possession to stretch the margin to 31-14 with 12:27 remaining, then closed the game with another touchdown drive after Ellis Robinson IV picked off a deep ball at the UGA 30 in the fourth quarter. Georgia turned that takeaway into a 70-yard march in 12 plays, finished by a touchdown that made it 38-14.
Robinson’s interception was his first of the season and fifth of his career. Senior Gabe Harris Jr. also added a sack in the second half, his second of the year and fifth career sack.
On defense, Georgia held Vanderbilt scoreless in the second half and limited the Commodores to 14 points on 293 yards and 51 plays. Senior QB Blaze Berlowitz started for freshman Jared Curtis, who did not play. Vanderbilt had 14 points and 234 yards in the first half, and its first-quarter touchdown - a 60-yard scoring catch by Junior Sherrill on third-and-9 with 12 seconds left - was the first points Georgia had allowed in the opening quarter all season.
Georgia’s defense also got a key special-teams boost in the second quarter when senior Jordan Hall blocked a 58-yard field-goal attempt. It was the first blocked kick by a Bulldog since 2024, when Dan Jackson did it against Auburn. The play gave Georgia the ball at the UGA 40 and helped set up a touchdown drive that pushed the lead to 21-7.
Raylen Wilson and KJ Bolden led the Bulldogs with seven tackles apiece. Last week against No. 24 Oklahoma, Wilson posted 11 tackles, a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble.
The receiving production was spread around. Ten Bulldogs caught passes, and sophomore tailback Dwight Phillips Jr. had the biggest day of his career with five receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown.
He also had a career-long 30-yard catch in the first half and added a 12-yard touchdown reception in the second half. Coming into the game, he had five career catches for 29 yards.
Sophomore Thomas Blackshear led Georgia in the first half with three catches for 33 yards, but he did not return after halftime because of an upper body injury.
On the ground, Georgia finished with 176 rushing yards on 34 carries after that quiet opening stretch. Junior Chauncey Bowens ran 10 times for 31 yards and a touchdown, giving him a team-leading sixth rushing score of the season on his 27th carry. Sophomore Bo Walker led the team in rushing with 71 yards on five attempts.
Senior Peyton Woodring added eight points with one field goal and five extra points while handling kickoff duties. Junior Drew Miller punted twice for a 44.0-yard average and placed one inside the 20 at the 5.
Georgia scored seven points off one turnover and has now produced 59 points off 10 turnovers this season. The Bulldogs entered the game as the SEC co-leader in turnover margin and are now plus-6 for the year.
Georgia’s captains were Chauncey Bowens, Dontrell Glover, Khalil Barnes and Jordan Hall. The Bulldogs won the coin toss and deferred to the second half.
On offense, Blackshear and Reddell made their first career starts. On defense, Joseph Jonah-Ajonye and Rasean Dinkins made their first starts of the season, while Chase Linton made his 2026 debut. Nate Frazier did not play in the first half but started the second half, and Isiah Canion missed his second straight game after starting the first three.
The Homecoming King and Queen were fourth-years Jack Hobgood of Peachtree Corners, Ga., and Carter Nichols of Duluth, Ga.
Georgia now turns to a road matchup at No. 7 Alabama on Oct. 10 at 7:30 pm ET on ABC.
Alabama also improved to 5-0 and 3-0 in the SEC after beating No. 16 MSU 56-23.
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 🡒]