Led by Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, Georgia finished with 423 rushing yards.
photo by Red and Black /Justin Fountain
Georgia defeated Vanderbilt 45-14 Saturday and is 6-0 for the first time since the 2005 season, the last time the Bulldogs won an SEC title. They did it with a running backs coach named Kirby Smart.
The Bulldogs ran the ball on the first seven offensive plays and 24 of the first 30 in jumping out to a 21-0 lead. Georgia finished with 423 rushing yards, the most since 454 against Vanderbilt in 1987, as the Bulldogs demolished yet another SEC opponent.
Georgia (3-0 in SEC) won for the 12th time in the last 13 games in the series in Nashville and avenged a 17-16 homecoming loss at Georgia last year.
"Physicality on the front, I was really proud of the offensive line today," Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said.
"They had a little bit of a chip on their shoulders from last year, because they didn't feel like they played their best game against that team. Obviously, they don't have some of the same guys back, but they have some of them - it was the same defensive lineman. We think our offensive line played physical and our backs ran hard. Jim (Chaney) called a good game and the offense did a nice job today."
Senior Nick Chubb did the most damage in the first half, rushing for 108 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns in the first half alone and finishing with 138 yards on 16 attempts. Sony Michel, was not to be outdone, rushing for 150 yards on 12.
A Georgia team that was 21st in the nation in rushing at 237.4 had 224 in the first half alone.
“We just want to see if we can make the other team quit,” Smart said of the offense. “If you can try your best to make them quit and you start to see the falling in of the defensive line, the pushing, the movement, you know that you got them where you want them.”
At the half, Georgia had 224 total yards with 173 yards coming from the rushing attack on 24 carries and 51 yards through the air. Fromm was an efficient 5-for-7, while Chubb already eclipsed the 100-yard mark at 106.
Michel took an inside handoff 50 yards for a touchdown, having just enough left in the tank to reach the end zone after breaking a tackle at the Vanderbilt 45.
Sophomore Elijah Holyfield joined the party, zooming up the middle for a 15-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
Vanderbilt was held to 236 yards as Georgia made it three straight blowouts to open SEC play, having beaten Mississippi State, Tenenssee and now Vanderbilt a combined 117-17.
Jacob Eason entered the game with 10:15 to go with Georgia ahead 45-7 and was promptly sacked on a jarring blindside hit by cornerback Bruce Lewis that the Commodores returned to the one yard line.
Starter Jake Fromm completed 7 of 11 passes for 102 yards and two touchdowns.
The Bulldogs have now turned the tables on two teams that beat them last year after crushing Tennessee 41-0 last week. They get a shot at another at the end of the month against Florida in Jacksonville, but first comes SEC East cellar dweller Missouri (1-3, 0-2 entering a Saturday night game at Kentucky).
Vanderbilt (3-3, 0-3 SEC) had won two of last four with Georgia, but continued its fade this season after a 3-0 start.
Playing before a crowd of 36,282 that was probably about 60 percent Georgia fans, Chubb piled up 69 yards on five carries on Georgia’s first offensive drive, capped by a 33-yard touchdown run.
Georgia seemed intent to attack a Vanderbilt defense that ranked 106th in the nation in stopping the run at 204.6 yards per game.
Most of Vanderbilt’s offense came through the air. Quarterback Kyle Shurmur passed for 172 yards and a touchdown on 31 throws. Shurmur has only thrown one interception this season and managed to avoid being picked off by the Bulldogs on Saturday and was not sacked.
“We did not play our best defensive football game,” Smart said. “But you know what, our defense needed that.”
Five different Georgia players had carries in the first half and center Lamont Gaillard maybe should have been credited for one when he pushed the pile for five yards on one first-half run.
Chubb started the scoring on a 33-yard touchdown run on an 83-yard scoring drive in the first quarter. The Bulldogs went hurry-up with effectiveness on the last three plays of the drive.
Georgia made it 21-0 after a Fromm 5-yard touchdown pass to running back D’Andre Swift and a 14-yard Chubb touchdown run, racing to the end zone after finding a big hole on the right side.
Georgia finished with its sixth most rushing yards in school history.
Chubb eclipsed the 4,100 yard mark for his career, making him one of only two backs in Bulldog history to rush for over 4,000 yards. Chubb trails only Heisman Trophy-winner Herschel Walker, who amassed 5,259 yards while playing for Georgia between 1980 and 1982.
Georgia completed the game with a season-high 549 total yards and was 4-for-4 in the red zone to stay perfect in that area at 23-for-23 on the season. The Bulldogs also collected a season-best 27 first downs.
The Bulldogs continue conference play against the Missouri Tigers at Sanford Stadium Saturday, October 14th.