ATHENS — The gloomy overcast sky that hung over Athens Saturday afternoon set an eerie tone.
Then the Georgia football team turned the mood even more somber after falling to Southeastern Conference bottom-feeder Vanderbilt 17-16 at Sanford Stadium.
Talk about a way to kill the Homecoming spirit.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart’s body language at his post-game press conference did little to lift the dark clouds.
“We need to practice better and execute better. That’s on me,” said Smart, who will have two weeks to try and turn things around before the Bulldogs (4-3, 2-3 SEC) head to Jacksonville to take on Florida in their annual Cocktail Party.
“We came out sloppy. The specials teams did not play well and the responsibility falls on me. Penalties hurt us in key situations. Hopefully we’ll find out the next couple of weeks what kind of team we are. When you get knocked down, you have to get back up.”
Georgia had a chance to stay in the race for the SEC East title with a win and a Tennessee loss to Alabama. But now they are left trying to assemble enough FBS wins to qualify for a bowl game.
Usually one of the more raucous environments in college football, Sanford Stadium was turned into the world’s largest funeral parlor for most of the day right from the opening play -- a 95-yard Darrius Sims kickoff return to the Georgia 3 that led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Ralph Webb two plays later and a 7-0 lead just 22 seconds into the game.
Special teams play was crucial for both teams. Vanderbilt later built a 10-6 lead in the third quarter on a 38-yard Tommy Openshaw field goal after a short Georgia punt and a another Sims return gave them the ball at the Bulldogs 27.
Georgia was able to stay in the game on the strength of three Rodrigo Blankenship field goals (45, 22, 36 yards). The 45-yard attempt would have been good from well beyond 50-yards.
“I think we found out that Rodrigo is pretty good,” Smart said. “He was good all week in practice and came out and had a good game.”
However, when Georgia had a chance to retake the lead midway through the fourth quarter after driving to the Vandy 35, Smart elected to punt instead of trying a 52-yard field goal.
The Bulldogs never had another real scoring threat the rest of the way punting twice and getting stopped on 4th-and-1 at the Vandy 41 with 56 seconds left to essentially seal the win.
A key battle that Georgia needed to win was a shaky offensive line keeping the SEC leader in tackles, Zach Cunningham, and his linebacker partner Ja’Karri Thomas out of the backfield and off its running backs. Cunningham finished with 19 tackles, including the most decisive one when he stuffed Isaiah McKenzie on the fourth down run inside the final minute. Thomas had eight tackles and the pair combined for 3 1/2 tackles for loss.
“Their defense made some plays when they needed too,” Smart said.
The Dogs final play will certainly bring some scrutiny. Nick Chubb, Georgia's leading rusher this season, was the lead blocker on the play with Sony Michel not on the field.
“We have confidence in ourselves,” Chubb said. “It’s just one yard, but we weren’t able to get it. “He felt like that was a good play. We all agreed on it, Coach (Kirby) Smart, Coach (Sam) Pittman, we all agreed. We thought it would work, but they came up and stopped it.”
Vanderbilt (3-4, 1-3 SEC) never trailed until the third quarter when freshman Georgia quarterback Jacob Eason and freshman tight end Isaac Nauta decided to play a little pitch-and-catch. On consecutive plays Eason connected with the former Buford High standout on a 28-yard pass to the Vandy 17 and then a 17-yard touchdown strike to give the Bulldogs a 13-10 lead. Blankenship’s 36-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter extended their lead to 16-10.
But the Georgia defense, which had dominated the Vandy offense the entire day allowing just 85 total yards through the first 46 minutes of the game, wilted in a four minute span.
The Commodores used an 8-play, 75 yard drive in 4:04, capped by a 2-yard Khari Blasingame touchdown run with 9:43 left, to recapture the lead at 17-16. The Vandy defense, which had been torched for nearly 400 yards by Eason and the offense, responded forcing two punts and getting the key 4th down stop over the final nine minutes to preserve the Commodores first win in Athens since 2006.
“You have to give (Vandy) credit. They played harder than us,” Smart said. “Our defense, except for one drive, played outstanding I thought. But, you have to make plays when they matter most and we weren’t able to do that.”
Eason was far better this Saturday than last connecting on 27-of-40 passes for 346 yards and no interceptions. But the Bulldogs ground game was shut down by Cunningham, Thomas, and the rest of the Vandy defenders yielding just 75 yards on 35 carries (2.1 yards per attempt) for the game.
For the second time in three games Nauta paced the Georgia receiving group with five catches for 74 yards and a touchdown. Another freshman, Riley Ridley, had five catches for 67 yards.
Sims was the yardage leader for Vanderbilt with 124 return yards. Quarterback Kyle Shurmur had just 109 yards passing on 7-of-18 attempts and the Commodores managed just 62 yards rushing on the day.
SCORING SUMMARY
Vandy........7.....0....3....7 -- 17
Georgia.....3.....3....7....3 -- 16
First Quarter
V -- Webb 2 run (Openshaw kick) 7-0, 14:38
G -- Blankenship 45 FG 7-3, 4:15
Second Quarter
G -- Blankenship 22 FG 7-6, 9:43
Third Quarter
V --Openshaw 38 FG 10-6, 12:26
G -- Nauta 17 pass from Eason (Blankenship kick) 13-10, 9:46
Fourth Quarter
G -- Blankenship 46 FG 16-10, 13:47
V -- Blasingame 3 run (Openshaw kick) 17-16, 9:43
