Some early thoughts on the Vanderbilt game

Two good points to consider:

• Greg McElroy notes that Georgia’s offense is predicated on the play action pass.  There are two parts to that:  one, a successful running game and two, an ability to hit the deep ball.  The Dawgs appear to be rounding into shape with the first requirement, but Eason is a woeful 6 of 34 on balls thrown 20 or more yards downfield.  He’s dead on when he suggests that Derek Mason should play to stop the run at all cost and not worry about Eason’s ability to hit the big play.  I’m expecting to see a loaded box and a lot of press coverage on Georgia’s receivers to frustrate Eason’s chances in the short passing game.  He’s going to have to hit a few big plays to resurrect that threat and get Vandy to back off.
• I get the impression listening to Chuks Amaechi talk about Vanderbilt’s pro-style offense that he and his mates are really looking forward to playing against a “normal” offensive scheme for once, a scheme that the defense faces regularly in practice when the ones face off against the ones.  A bad (Vandy is the only team in the conference averaging less than 300 yards per game) and familiar looking offense may be just what the doctor ordered for Smart’s defense.

All told, that suggests we might be looking at a low scoring game, or a game in which turnovers and special teams play have an outsized effect on the outcome.  Unfortunately, Georgia doesn’t have much of an advantage as to the former and is wretched when it comes to the latter.  The reality is that this is a game where Eason needs to step up.