This Is Our Year – Vanderbilt

Good morning, y’all. All of my pregame preparations and rituals were called in to play last weekend. Red sock, left foot, black sock, right foot, vintage cap and t-shirt, and Butts was in his favorite spot. In spite of having all of my mojo working, a great many supplications were required to satisfy my inner Munson. The Bulldogs pulled one out Saturday in Music City, 62-0. It wasn’t really that close.

The good news is that we seem to have found a generational defense. There is marked improvement from last year to this. Comparing the current Bulldog defense to the Grantham years is like college to high school. Our defense was in place before the snap, they communicated with each other and we were treated to a few blitzes. Jordan Davis was a full on Manster and Jalen Carter was pulling his weight on the other side as well. Seemed like the only thing the defense couldn’t control was the announcers. I know it must be hard to try to pretend to be interested in the game when the game was decided when Georgia got off the bus, but these guys seemed to rise to a new level of inanety.

The Dog’s defense made two picks to Vanderbilt’s total of five receptions. Georgia’s two interceptions netted twenty yards, Vanderbilt’s five receptions netted twenty four yards. I like those comparisons. When you add in the recovered fumble, the four tackles for loss and one sack, it’s a monster day for the defense. Vanderbilt was held to 53 yards rushing, 77 yards of total offense. Amazing stats considering second, third, and fourth team were playing by the end of the game.

The Georgia offense on the other hand was a study in quarterbacks. JT Daniels continues to be the all-world quarterback we need. JT was 9 of 10 for 129 yards and two touchdowns before he earned his shower. BTW, the incomplete pass was a drop. It’s great to have an elite quarterback starting.

Stetson Bennett came in and put up respectable numbers. He was 11 of 15 for 151 yards and one touchdown. He ran for 37 yards on five carries which placed him third on the rushing list. Zamir White led the pack at RBU with 9 carries for 48 yards. Zamir was closely followed by Daijun Edwards with 10 carries and 46 yards. Probably the coolest run of the day was the end around by all-world freshman Brock Bowers. It was only twelve yards, but it ended in the end zone. I guess he could have run the play multiple times with the same result, but what would have been the point? RBU combined for 241 yards on 48 carries by 9 different ball handlers. Adding in the 292 yards of passing, the Georgia Offense put up 532 yards on the Vandy defense. Not bad for a game that started at noon. 

Special teams were special again. Kenny McIntosh is a force and it’s just a matter of time before he breaks a kickoff for a TD. Jack Podlesny was perfect on the day with two field goals and 8, count them, 8 extra points. Jake Camarda was less then his usual all world self. He punted twice for 70 yards, well below his average. I guess with Vandy’s anemic offense there was less of an urgency to pin them near their goal line.

Our defense holding strong and pitching another shutout allowed us to return to Athens with our head held high and another W in our pocket.

In celebration of what appears to be a new day on defense, I introduce the Godfather of Soul: