Judging from what I’ve read on other blogs, I doubt I have any special insight, but here goes nothing.
- Statistically speaking, this shouldn’t be a close game. Georgia is by far the best offensive team that Vanderbilt has faced this season; on the flip side, Vandy has the worst offense of any team Georgia has played this season. Even if you take the position, as some Tennessee (the state, not the school) writers have, that the defenses and special teams in this game are fairly even, this is still a huge gap and really should be the difference maker tomorrow.
- It’s not fair to say that the Commodores have been lucky so far this year. They are, instead, an opportunistic and disciplined bunch that’s taken advantage of the situation when it’s presented. That’s reflected in their red zone percentage and turnover margin numbers. One thing that’s critical for the Dawgs tomorrow is to avoid turning the ball over.
- The other area that’s important is on the defensive line. In last year’s game, particularly in the first half, Vandy repeatedly gashed Georgia on running plays to the outside where the Dawg d-line failed repeatedly to maintain containment on the Vandy QBs. Lomax in particular was a serial offender in this. The defensive line has to do a better job of keeping Adams boxed in and letting the linebackers (hello, Mr. Curran!) clean up. The Commodores receiving corps is less formidable in the wake of Bennett’s departure, and their running back, while solid and tough, isn’t a burner. Make these guys one-dimensional, which the Georgia defense has been successful doing most of the season, and it will be a long afternoon for Vandy’s offense.
- From a margin of error standpoint, this is a big game in that if Georgia prevails tomorrow, it can take a hit at Baton Rouge and still come back to control its fate in the SEC East by winning in Jacksonville.
- Let’s hope nobody gets hurt tomorrow. Clint Boling, our Dawgnation turns its lonely eyes to you.
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I just want to see efficiency tomorrow out of the team (coaches too) and don’t care what the final score is – minus the Dawgs having more points. We are, as you point out, playing someone that we should be able to dictate the action to on our terms – it is a matter of execution (meaning it is an ‘us’ problem, not a ‘them’ problem if we struggle)
Vandy has a good vibe to them this year – so let’s not keep them in the game and give them hope for a…..wait for it…..(gulp) second straight win in Athens.
Great stuff as always –
Go Dawgs!
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We Vandy fans still haven’t figured out why Adams didn’t start last week against Mississippi State, much less sit on the bench until the fourth quarter, after his really strong performance against Auburn the previous week. In any event, I expect Vandy to come out and play hard, as they’ve rarely played back-to-back bad games under CBJ, but Athens isn’t a good place for us to get well. We’ll need some short fields and/or easy points, otherwise Georgia will gradually pull away. If nothing else, for just once this year, could we at least score first in a game?
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