Dawn of the Dawg
Fansided

Reflecting on every exciting Georgia football opening victory under Kirby Smart

By Payton Wilkerson

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - SEPTEMBER 04: Head coach Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs leads his team onto the field before their game against the Clemson Tigers in the Duke's Mayo Classic at Bank of America Stadium on September 04, 2021 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - SEPTEMBER 04: Head coach Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs leads his team onto the field before their game against the Clemson Tigers in the Duke's Mayo Classic at Bank of America Stadium on September 04, 2021 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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Georgia football saw an SEC season opener for Year 4 of the Kirby Smart era

2019: Georgia beat Vanderbilt 30-6

Georgia football not only replaced players at the end of the 2018 season, but head coach Kirby Smart had to replace both his offensive and defensive coordinators. Jim Cheney left to join first-year head coach Jeremy Pruitt at Tennessee, while Mel Tucker took the head coaching job at Colorado.

Smart promoted quarterbacks coach James Coley as the offensive coordinator, who had previously held this role with Miami and Florida State. He made a bold move on defense when he promoted outside linebackers coach Dan Lanning, who had been at Georgia for one season up to this point, as defensive coordinator. What a move that would turn out to be.

For the first time since 1995, the Dawgs would begin their season against an SEC opponent as they traveled to Nashville to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores. At this point, Georgia won 11 of the last 14 meetings against Vandy, and they were heavily favored in this one.

Georgia’s run game dominated the Commodore defense with 323 rushing yards, with touchdown runs from James Cook and Brian Herrien. D’Andre Swift led all running backs with 147 yards.

The defense held Vandy to six points and pressured their quarterback all night. Travon Walker, the future No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, made his Georgia debut alongside Nolan Smith.

Rodrigo Blankenship accounted for 12 Bulldog points on the day. He was 3-for-3 in field goal and extra point attempts. Hot Rod would win the 2019 Lou Groza Award at the end of the season.

Georgia would make it to their third straight SEC Championship Game, but they ran into the juggernaut that was Joe Burrow and the LSU Tigers. The Tigers finished 15-0 and won the 2019 College Football Playoffs National Championship.

The Dawgs finished 2019 12-2 and defeated Baylor in the Sugar Bowl. To the surprise of many, Jake Fromm declared for the 2020 NFL Draft and got picked up in the fifth round by the Buffalo Bills.

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