UPDATED: No drama this time as Georgia Bulldogs roll Vandy 48-3
Georgia's Jarvis Jones -- aka SacMan Jones -- pulls down Vanderbilt quarterback Jordan Rodgers for an 11-yard loss and yet another sack Saturday night. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
ATHENS – This time around, the only drama between Georgia and Vanderbilt was the pregame coin toss.
The No. 5-ranked Bulldogs won that little contest and nearly every one thereafter, cruising to a 48-3 win over the Commodores Saturday night at Sanford Stadium.
The stress-free victory came less than a year after Vanderbilt pushed the Bulldogs to the brink in Nashville before losing 33-28 in a nail-biter that ignited a postgame shouting match between Commodores head coach James Franklin and Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham. This time it ended in a friendly handshake between the two men at midfield.
“We were going to go out there and, you know, have a group hug and then everybody’s going to go their way and move on,” Grantham quipped afterward. “They coach them hard, they play hard and they’re trying to be competitive. We’re all competitive. So we shook hands and moved on.”
Said Georgia coach Mark Richt: “That’s good. They should shake hands.”
There wasn’t much to argue about Saturday as the Bulldogs jumped out to a 27-3 first-half lead and never looked back. Georgia, which came into the game averaging 47.7 points and leading the SEC in total offense, have now scored more than 40 points in four consecutive games for the first time in school history. Coupled with the stingy defensive effort and solid specials teams play, it ended up as one of the Bulldogs’ most complete victories in recent memory.
“It’s hard to do that,” Richt said. “It’s just rare. I think our guys really wanted this one bad. They didn’t feel good about the way things went a year ago. . . . We wanted to prove we were better than that.”
The win was the 14th straight regular-season victory for Georgia and gets it off to a 4-0 start for the first time since 2008, when they began the year ranked No. 1.
The Bulldogs take a 2-0 SEC record into next week’s home game against Tennessee, which will be nationally-televised on CBS. The Vols (3-1, 0-1 SEC) defeated Akron 47-26 Saturday night in Knoxville.
Georgia’s win was one of such total and complete domination it is difficult to know where to begin. Start with quarterback Aaron Murray, who had passed for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns and ran in for another one by the end of the third quarter. He didn’t play the fourth.
“I felt good,” said Murray, who completed his first 12 passes of the night and hit nine different receivers on the night. “The O-line did one heckuva job and gave me plenty of time. Any quarterback can sit back there with a nice pocket. My job’s easy when you have a great offensive line and great receivers.”
The Bulldogs’ dynamic freshman tailback duo of Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall continued to wow.
Gurley executed a 29-yard scoring run that was reminiscent of the kind another freshman back made at Georgia 30 years ago. He broke four tackles on the jaunt, including stiff-arming a safety to the ground to spring him the final 15 yards. Gurley finished with 130 yards on 16 carries and 2 touchdowns. That gives him 406 yards rushing and 7 touchdowns on 44 carries for the season.
“That was kind of Herschel Walker-ish,” senior flanker Tavarres King said with a grin.
Said junior guard Dallas Lee: “That was the coolest stiff arm I’ve ever seen in person. I can’t wait to go back and watch it on film. He’s a great running back and I love watching him run. It’s an honor to block for him.”
Marshall also scored twice and added 82 yards on 10 carries. The Bulldogs rushed for 303 yards on the night and had 568 yards. Georgia has now scored more than 40 points in four games in a row for the first time ever.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs’ defense could do no wrong either. The Commodores appeared to have scored a touchdown on a Jordan Rodgers’ run early in the fourth quarter. But an official review of the TD ruling on the field was overturned via replay. Rodgers’ had fumbled the ball into the end zone and Georgia was given the ball via touchback.
“We love the way we played today,” said junior outside linebacker Jarvis Jones, who had a sack and three tackles for loss among his 7 tackles. “We played good on every level, offense, defense and special teams. We’ve got to play like that every week to be a championship-caliber team. If we keep playing like that I think we can go where we’re trying to go.”
The game got off to a perfect start for Georgia. After winning the toss and deferring to the second half, the Bulldogs, with the help of three offensive penalties, limited Vanderbilt to one yard and the Commodores had to punt from their own 15. Malcolm Mitchell returned the ensuing punt 14 yards to midfield.
Georgia then ran the ball five times in seven plays where Gurley scored on a 4-yard run over left tackle to post a quick lead. Gurley ran the ball four times for 21 yards on the drive and Murray had completions of 16 and 11 yards.
That proved to be just the beginning for Murray. The Bulldogs’ junior signalcaller completed his first 12 passes of the night – that’s third-best in UGA annals – and Georgia scored touchdowns on its first four possessions of the night in building a 27-0 lead in the first 25 minutes. The only blemish was a botched snap on a point-after try.
Even when the Bulldogs had to punt it went well for them. Vandy’s Caleb Azubike was called for roughing Collin Barber on Georgia’s first punt of the night, and the Bulldogs covered the remaining 60 yards in two runs by Marshall, the second one going 52 yards up the middle for a touchdown.
“I have to give Georgia credit; they are a very good football team and ranked No. 5 for a reason,” Vanderbilt’s Franklin said. ” I think the difference in the game was up front, especially with their offensive line. They did a good job.”
COMPLETE COVERAGE OF GEORGIA-VANDERBILT GAME:
Game story: No drama this time as Bulldogs rout Vandy 48-3
In the spotlight: Huge night for Aaron Murray
Mark Bradley column: Yeah, it was only Vandy. It also was utter domination by UGA
Quotes: What players, coaches said after the game
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117 comments Add your comment
Game Changer
September 23rd, 2012
1:23 am
Best game in years. Best discipline in years. Best cohesiveness by teammates in years, best coaching in years,
Need to continue this style of play and discipline and just maybe, the special season could turn out to be 2012
alwayzadawg
September 23rd, 2012
1:28 am
It amazes me to see the bandwagon fans comin on board. 2 weeks ago against mizzu everyone is on this blog fore Richt, Bobo. Now its all undefeated talk. Mizzou ain’t any good. This was a good win but damn people its STILL candy. All of says is we are 4-0 and are winning the games we should. Beat a mediocre UT team like we should and USC should be for the east. Till then take it easy
alwayzadawg
September 23rd, 2012
1:29 am
Candy not candy
alwayzadawg
September 23rd, 2012
1:29 am
Damn auto correct
jojo
September 23rd, 2012
1:36 am
One game at a time. One win at a time. Enjoy each win as it comes and then get ready for the next game- no matter who it is. They all count. Go Dawgs!!
Dawg-Gawn
September 23rd, 2012
1:47 am
Uga Grad 94:
That’s plane ignert whut you jes sed, git sum edgy-cation boy! u trol awl up!
Lord o’mercy Bobo’s outta kilter… Ida claire he’s gawn plumb crazy!
Tore-nader cum thru alabammer tore up everythang… made $20,000,000,000 inpruvments!
Jawjuh Bawling – dem bammer boys better git reddy cus we b lookin fer sum ice n lanner!
Next-Up SOD… snot gona b purdity over thar at Dooley holler, no whut I meen?
From That Girl - Richt's a Bum
September 23rd, 2012
1:49 am
Yeah, he can beat the “high school teams,” but he can’t beat the real men. Georgia needs a stud as a coach, not a prissy.
smellyfinger
September 23rd, 2012
1:52 am
I went to the Ga tech section to troll…once I saw how sad those losers were I came back here and smiled. They just keep digging the bottom deeper…and me loves it.
What they said after Georgia’s rout of Vanderbilt | UGA sports blog
September 23rd, 2012
2:07 am
[...] Game story: No drama this time as Bulldogs rout Vandy 48-3 [...]
Extremely satisfying day for Todd Grantham and Georgia’s defense | UGA sports blog
September 23rd, 2012
2:27 am
[...] Game story: No drama this time as Bulldogs rout Vandy 48-3 [...]
UPDATED: No drama this time as Georgia Bulldogs roll Vandy 48-3 | Georgia Bulldogs Football
September 23rd, 2012
2:32 am
[...] The stress-free victory came less than a year after Vanderbilt pushed the Bulldogs to the brink in Nashville beforeArticle source: http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/2012/09/22/no-drama-this-time-as-bulldogs-roll-vandy-48-3/ [...]
daddo
September 23rd, 2012
3:03 am
When VANDY is your best game in years, it tells u what a mediocre program u really are. A soft schedule creates the illusion of progress. Won’t be long until that offensive line and weak defense is exploited by a ranked team, u know, something your q b has never beat. WE BEAT VANDY, WE BEAT VANDY. Just sad. LOL.
dawg52
September 23rd, 2012
3:45 am
True Dawg Fan…..put nicely……this was our complete night we’ve been waiting for…..solid all the way around….Vols will b pumped Saturday……got to show up and play aggressive….nice effort tonite
Free the 'Tree
September 23rd, 2012
5:11 am
Let this team show up next week vs. UT, the following week against the Cocks, and for the love of God please agaist Florida. Please. With Rambo and ‘Tree back we got to be better.
Deepest running back corp of GOOD backs since Henderson & Worley.
Blake
September 23rd, 2012
6:16 am
daddo=just another ignorant fool dying to eat crow! The wins are gonna keep coming cake eater!
Blake
September 23rd, 2012
6:20 am
This team is for real. It’s pretty bad when everyone is saying before this game that we’ve been not playing well, but we’re still AVERAGING OVER 47 POINTS A GAME AND OUR CLOSEST GAME HAS BEEN A 21 POINT WIN! Get a life haters! It only gets better from here. We get two All Americans back for UT. GO DAWGS!!!
Neutral
September 23rd, 2012
6:35 am
Where are all the CMR, Bobo and Murray bashers? The silence is deafening!!!!
Lonnie
September 23rd, 2012
7:44 am
True dawg and others fans who are skeptical. Let me say the key to a great team is leadership on the field and watching us this year shows leadership! If any team in the nation is missing 2 possible 1st rounders there defense would not be as good! Ogle tree and Rambo immediately improves our run defense which allows us to rush more and allow Mitchell, Cummings and Swann to stay with the receivers! The o-line is much improved and Gates is a born leader with Burnette! Yes it is only Vandy but that is what you are supposed to do to Vandy!!!!! Big props this year to Bobo mixing up the plays!!!
Dawg Heaven
September 23rd, 2012
8:16 am
Wow…calm down folks. By the sounds of these responses it would seem like the Dawgs just whipped a legit Top 10 team last night. This is amusing and sad. The team looked get, but slow down.
GeorgiaDuck
September 23rd, 2012
8:21 am
I would like to see our Defense get more tournovers and set up our offense. We played really well on offense but I also would like to see our Punt/Kick returners get a little more yards after the cartch.
chazzo
September 23rd, 2012
8:33 am
Franklin’s plan to not concede anything and return every kick was a bad one. All that he conceded was 5-15 yards at the start of every series. UGA won the field position game in the first half because of it. I am surprised too that he didn’t challenge calls, particularly the catch 93rd or 4th Q) when the guy obviously got a foot down. Screwing with the QBs in the way that he has is also a bad idea. He may have a tough time holding it together.
UGA benefitted from a couple of bad calls. Vandy, though, was simply outmanned. UT ic kind of scary. UGA is coming off a landslide win; following UT is THE GAME, and Tyler Bray and receivers will eat Malcom Mitchell’s lunch.
I love Georgia, but they better get back down to planet earth. The competition thus far has been pretty weak.
tndawg
September 23rd, 2012
8:33 am
Great job Dawgs! I can see why Ga. fans are so excited about a win over Vandy. It has been a hard game for the Dawgs for some time now. Vandy does seem at time to be on the rise and then all the close games they play. They just can`t seem put it together. A win is a win and it is a SEC game. Next week the Dawgs will face the best they have faced this season so far in TN. If Ga. keeps focused and play their ball they will win. Hopefully they will have ever one back on defense. GO DAWGS!!!!!!!
chazzo
September 23rd, 2012
8:36 am
Douche springs eternal….
I’ll leave at that.
'94 UGA Alumnus
September 23rd, 2012
8:45 am
Great win DAWGS but it’s only one game and it’s a long season. I truly believe we have a great team who could have a very special season if we do these 3 things:
1) STAY HUMBLE
2) STAY HEALTHY
3) STAY OUT OF TROUBLE
dawg walker
September 23rd, 2012
8:46 am
Marshall Morgan needs to understand the PAT goes through the middle of the uprights, not trying to hit the upright. Need to give another kicker an opportunity before luck runs out.
Tampa Gator
September 23rd, 2012
8:52 am
I think Georgia looked very good last night, but the perspective of some Dawg fans on here is downright funny. Some go from wanting to fire their coach one week to stating that “this team can beat anyone” the following week. Then say Florida is not that good because they “just” went into very hostile environments and beat a bad Texas A&M team and beat a “way overrated” Tennessee team. Then Georgia beats an obviously very slow and not very good Vandy team, and the win is the best win for Georgia “in years.” Emotion…..not reason….dominates many of you. Georgia is obviously the team to beat in the East, but dominating Vandy does not make you the sure bet champions of the SEC. Believe me, Tennessee will be better than Vandy. And South Carolina and Florida will be a lot better than Tennessee. Georgia still has some big time battles on their hands in order to…..first…..win the East. Then….if they do…….Bama is certainly not Vandy.
Mike
September 23rd, 2012
8:57 am
Let’s see UGA beat a ranked team before we get carried away. Alabama would beat UGA by 20.
deb
September 23rd, 2012
8:57 am
that was a awsum game last nite one of every game that will be played like that by ga this season ,ga will more than run the table this year they will be 14=0 they are the eliete team this year the best team not only in the sec, but in all college football,yall will see this ,every week ga is going to get better and better in each game they play,ga will put up 40 points or more in every they wont be no tight close games for ga.ga s defence nfl like will completely shut down the opponients offence jarvis jones and defence will keep those quarterbacks dispupted every play.ga is better than alabama and lsu this year and it will show.and there better than every team in college this year, ga bulldogs will be number 1 soon and they will stay there,
'94 UGA Alumnus
September 23rd, 2012
8:58 am
Hey Hope Springs Eternal,
If you were honest with yourself and could be objective, you would have to admit that UGA looks as good as anybody right now. No one knows what will happen for the rest of the season and just like anyone else we could be decimated by injuries, but we have every right to be optomistic about this team. I am typically a pessimist and am definitely not one of the so called “Kool-aid drinkers” but I am excited about this team and the possibilities.
Tampa Gator
September 23rd, 2012
9:00 am
What do the Georgia players think about Rambo and Ogeltree? It seems to me that both are exceptional football players, but lack some basic things that are requred for a “good character” and “good teammate” label.
Carz
September 23rd, 2012
9:00 am
Stop making references the the RB of 30 years ago. It just sounds dumb. Please! Let the new guy be his own man.
Jborodawg
September 23rd, 2012
9:04 am
@A True Dawg…I’m a Georgia grad and a football fan who has spent the last six or seven years listening to the anti-Mark Richt crowd…”
Yes, and the “fire Bobo” crowd. Last year he averaged above 30 ppg and this year 47 ppg. Surprised we haven’t read, “If I see Bobo run Gurley up the middle one more time…!”
And, of course, won’t be long before Thomas Brown et al mention we haven’t beaten anybody with a winning record yet. How bout it UGA Grad 94? Is that your next post?
@1969 Grad…We’ve got a long way to go, and I’m not counting chickens just yet, but it sure was fun to see…”
I agree. We’re just celebrating a good win and being unbeaten…for now. The D almost pitched a shutout; BUT…Vandy did have some big gains and some big plays; that was a little worrisome. You could look at coach Grantham and know that he agrees; not to mention him playing starters well into the fourth quarter. A more accomplished team would have scored on us a lot more than Vandy did.
What I wanted to see, and did see, was the team and Murray come out ready to play; hitting on all cylinders from the start. For the most part, they “played 60 minutes” …except for the subs playing with eleven minutes to go.
Yes, Tenn, SC and Flawduh are going to be real tests. “The next game is the most important game.” So, we celebrate today and then get ready for the Vowels.
Great win! Said it’s great to be a Georgia Bulldog!
'94 UGA Alumnus
September 23rd, 2012
9:04 am
Hey Tampa Gator,
I agree with your comments and we have yet to see what the DAWGS will do against a really good opponent. I don’t think that will happen next week but we will find out a lot more about our team when we play the chickens at their place in a couple of weeks.
TN Vol
September 23rd, 2012
9:20 am
UGA still hasnt played anyone worthy. Unlike Florida State or Oregon, who showed what they are worth yesterday!
Tarryuga
September 23rd, 2012
9:22 am
“BLOWOUT! They’ll win by 48, don’t be surpised if it is a shutout.”
Yep, I said that prior to the game and a stinking field goal was the only thing in the way! I TOLD YOU!
WAY TO GO DAWGS! KEEP POURING IT ON! SIC’EM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tarryuga
September 23rd, 2012
9:24 am
MIKE, stick around and we will find out.
Tarryuga
September 23rd, 2012
9:27 am
TN VOL, you’ll get yours Saturday…should be a good game. I hate orange.
Jborodawg
September 23rd, 2012
9:32 am
@Tampa Gator. You make some good points, but…
“…Georgia beats an obviously very slow and not very good Vandy team, and the win is the best win for Georgia “in years”….”
Who said that? Most of us just know that Vandy has played us, and many others, very tough the last couple years. And this year they haven’t been blown out by anybody … until last night.
No, the best win “in years” was last year in Jax.
The Gaytors look like a very much improved team; whupped the Vowels pretty good. But, Tenn might get it together and play like they did against NC State. So the Dawgs have to prepare and play very well in order to get a win.
On a different note, notice how four weeks ago the pundits and detractors were saying, “Georgia doesn’t play Ala, LSU nor Arkansas”? Now they just say, “Ala and LSU”. Not a pretty picture in Fayetteville. And now they’re saying the East has more depth than the West.
No, Tampa, beating Vandy is not the greatest thing since sliced bread. But, we’re 4-0 and just beat a usually pretty testy Vandy. Many of us are a little skeptical of the #5 ranking. We’ve been let down before with high rankings. So, we get ready for Tenn and see what happens as the season unfolds…one game at a time.
Go Dawgs! GATA!
UPDATED: No drama this time as Georgia Bulldogs roll Vandy 48-3 – Georgia – Dawg News
September 23rd, 2012
9:32 am
[...] is the original post: UPDATED: No drama this time as Georgia Bulldogs roll Vandy 48-3 ← Back to Home Tags: aaron murray, athens, coach, football, georgia 48-3, jones, [...]
ramguy68
September 23rd, 2012
9:36 am
I wouldn’t dismiss this win over Vandy so easily, a team that went toe to toe with SC. Look at LSU/AU. One team goes in on a roll and the other comes in limping and the Bayou Bengals found themselves fighting for their lives……UGA came in and whacked Vandy…..it was an impressive win.
Jim
September 23rd, 2012
9:37 am
Pelini made that statement because Alabama shows what they do every game and Georgia shows only what need to get to get the job done.
Les Miles must have been eating a lot of grass because the pulled one out. If Van Gorder had a stick of rebar to chew on he would have spit 10 penny nails all night.
South Carolina brought their A game against Missou. Oct 6 could be interesting, but we can’t look ahead past Tennessee.
Does anyone else get tired af all these sports casters always harping on Georgia not playing LSU or Alabama and UGA’s soft schedule? Hey what can I say if we are good enouth to win the east then we wiil play one of them and then if we are good enouth to win we deserve a shot at the NCG. But we have to take care of one game at the time.
I believe the bad call on roughing the kicker resultied in the non call on fair catch.
Murray was really sharp but after 12 completions didn’t he miss the next 4-5. Big John wears that no.6 for a reason and if I were Mike Bobo when we play South Carolina he would be in the backfield and his job would be don’t let Clowney get near Murray.
Vandy it was nice but you are history now. I’m looking forward to seeing you play Missou as they will be looking for a SEC team they can whip-up on after Georgia and South Carolina got through with them.
UGA'91
September 23rd, 2012
9:45 am
I think it’s foolish to compare programs by how they look against a common opponent at this stage in the season. FAU’s Pelini’s comments should be taken with a grain of salt b/c we were looking to play our freshmen and newbies on D. Ask Vandy if UGA or South Carolina is better? Vandy should have beaten the chickens but looked awful against us. Neither is an accurate measure for who is the better team in the east. What last night showed is the team is beginning to gel and that is bad news for the rest of the SEC. BTW, UGA grad ‘94 is probably not a UGA grad misspelling a word like awful :-/.
SacMan Jones
September 23rd, 2012
9:50 am
The Sacman delivers!!!!! He even has his own shirt http://sportscrack.com
Dawgs 32
September 23rd, 2012
9:53 am
I agree with you GTBoobies, TECH does suck!
Neutral
September 23rd, 2012
9:59 am
After yesterday……the “west” is obviously the easy half of the SEC!!! Only Bama looks great and LSU and MS State are good. The rest totally $uck!!!!
harold
September 23rd, 2012
9:59 am
UGA WILL ANNILATE DEREK DOOLEY AND TENNESSEE. THIS JOKE OF A GAME “WILL” COST DOOLEY HIS JOB.
UGA WILL BE PLAYING THEIR THIRD TEAM IN THE FOURTH QUARTER.
UGA 55 TENNESSEE 3 IN A CAKEWALK. THE VOLS ARE THE WORST TEAM IN THE SEC ALONG WITH KENTUCKY.
Neutral
September 23rd, 2012
10:01 am
@Dawg 32
Was that the same Miami team that lost to KS State 2 weeks ago by 6-7 TDs????
Neutral
September 23rd, 2012
10:06 am
Harold,
I believe TN is better than the following: Vandy, KY, Miss., Auburn, Arkansas……..and they are probably on the same level as Missouri, A&M, and Miss State. It will not be an easy game with lots of passing….and more passing.
Tarryuga
September 23rd, 2012
10:09 am
Damn Harold, switch to decaf.
Duluth Dawg
September 23rd, 2012
10:13 am
@ daddo
When the Presbyterian Blue Hose is your best game that shows how pathetic your team is. Where is Presbyterian and why were you on the AJC blogs at 3 am?? Get a life, geez