Georgia football vs. Vanderbilt: Scouting report, prediction
Georgia football hits the road for its second game away from home this season with a Saturday noon ET game at Vanderbilt.
The Bulldogs have seven home games this season and the neutral site game against Florida Oct. 28.
Vanderbilt started the season with wins against Hawaii and Alabama A&M but is on a five-game losing streak, tied with Arizona State for longest among Power Five conference teams.
Here are five things to know heading into the SEC East matchup:
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Hard hat area for Vanderbilt Commodores stadium
Playing at Vanderbilt is always different than other SEC road trips.
It’s the smallest SEC venue and often feels like a home game for the Bulldogs because their fans travel in large numbers to Nashville.
This time what’s now called FirstBank Stadium is a construction zone behind both end zones.
“I’m looking out of my office window right now and it’s a lot of dirt, rock and heavy construction equipment,” Commodores coach Clark Lea said last week.
Attendance has been reduced from 40,350 to 28,500. Georgia’s ticket allotment is 5,000, down from 6,000 in 2021.
Visiting teams are using a temporary locker room that includes bathrooms, showers and air conditioning, according to The Tennessean.
“I’ll say this, the temporary locker room is as nice as anybody in the SEC from a locker room standpoint,” said Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz whose team won 38-21 there on Sept. 30. “I’m not going to throw anybody else’s names out there because that will just start a whole other issue on Twitter. What they’ve done to accommodate the visiting team through the construction is really good.”
Georgia coach Kirby Smart said team operations staffers visited the site over the summer.
“We got some different things that they have handled with our ops people in terms of where we arrive, where we go, where we change, where we go to at halftime,” he said. “All that stuff has changed."
Vanderbilt is using a baseball pitching lab underneath the stands to meet during games.
Plans call for a new video board and premium seating on the north end zone side where there will be a new visitor’s locker room, expanded concourse, a building that will include 90,000 square feet of practice gyms, lounges, weight room and training facility as well as premium hospitality areas.
The south end zone will have new luxury seating and suites, a new videoboard and sound system, an expanded concourse and a 130,000 square foot building, a locker room, training table and dining area.
“It’s a little bit different because you’re looking at construction on both sides but you can tell what the future’s going to be,” Drinkwitz said
Brock Bowers just keeps rolling for Georgia Bulldogs
Brock Bowers put up eye-popping numbers the last three weeks.
The Bulldogs tight end combined for 24 catches for 410 yards and 4 touchdowns against UAB, Auburn and Kentucky.
Bowers is a focal point of defenses, but still getting open. He has 375 yards after the catch, according to Pro Football Focus.
“You can't just key him because when you play zone defense, you don't know who has him,” Smart said. “When you play man defense, you can't cover him. So there's illusions, you know? … There's all kinds of action going across the field, and it's a nightmare because if you put your eyes in the backfield and you think you've got to stop the run, 19's behind you.”
Lea was asked about quarterback Carson Beck and diverted to referencing Bowers.
“He’s developed chemistry, particularly with his tight end,” he said.
Georgia is second nationally in passing plays of 10 or more yards with 83 behind only Washington’s 85. Bowers accounts for 25 of those, according to cfbstats.com
Wide receivers could test UGA defense
When Smart studied Vanderbilt offensive footage on Sunday, what jumped out to him was the players catching the ball.
“They have speed at receiver,” Smart said. “They have really good wideouts. I didn't realize… how fast they are at wideout. And the quarterback's done a great job getting them the ball. They've had some injuries up front and had some guys going in and out of the offensive line. But he buys more time. He's mobile. He's able to highlight the players they have.”
Will Sheppard is eighth in the SEC in touchdown catches with 8 after going 85 yards for a score at Florida last week, and has 35 catches for 550 yards. Jayden McGowan has 26 catches for 307 yards. Junior Sherrill had two catches for 65 yards vs. Florida and a 45-yard touchdown against Missouri,
“They have a really good receiver corps,” Georgia cornerback Daylen Everette said. “I’m excited for the challenge that they bring for us”
Vanderbilt Commodores back to the future at QB
Quarterback Ken Seals started as a freshman for Vanderbilt in 2000 and started against Georgia in the 2021 game. He stepped in for an injured AJ Swann the last two weeks and has passed for 539 yards with 4 touchdowns and an interception in those games with a rushing touchdown.
“He buys time to make throws, off-platform throws, scramble throws,” Smart said. “He's got a really good arm, and he's a good athlete. So when he extends a play, it brings what the strength of their team is up because it gives them more time to make plays.”
Seals, with 18 career starts, will start again Saturday, but Swann, who sustained an elbow injury, contusion is available.
Swann threw 11 touchdown passes but seven interceptions while completing 54 percent of his passes.
“It’s not an injury that keeps him from playing, but he was struggling in the performance,” Lea said. “We identified that part of that was not feeling 100 percent and we want to make sure that the guy we’re putting out there is able to do what that position asks.”
Georgia football wants to turn strips into fumbles
Georgia ranks 57th nationally and seventh in the SEC in turnovers gained with eight.
That’s all from interceptions because the Bulldogs have yet to gain a turnover by fumble this season and have only forced one.
“We give rewards in points, the kids compete each week for points, and we give points for strip attempts so since we’ve started going up on those point awards, they all compete to have the highest points,” Smart said. “The strip attempts have gone up but the fumbles haven’t, so we continue to chop wood.”
The defense sets a goal of trying to force five fumbles a day in practice.
On the flip side, Vanderbilt is last in the SEC and tied for 122nd nationally in turnovers lost with 13 with eight interceptions and five lost fumbles.
“There was a three-week stretch where all we could talk about was ball security and decisions with the ball,” Lea said. “We’ve gotten back on track that way.”
Georgia football vs. Vanderbilt prediction
Georgia 48, Vanderbilt 9
It seems natural to expect Georgia to be less locked in after it was close to the top of its game in drilling Kentucky. The Commodores are tied for third nationally in pass plays of 30 or more yards with 18, but are last in the SEC in points given up (34.0) and yielded 513.5 yards per game the last two weeks to Missouri and Florida.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Here are five things to know Georgia football vs. Vanderbilt
