It may not have been pretty, but Georgia handled their business and rolled to a comfortable 38-14 win over Vanderbilt. So far this season Georgia hadn't been pushed at any point in any game, but through the first 30 minutes Vanderbilt challenged Georgia more than they expected.
There was a lot of good and bad things that occurred during this game, but these five observations stood out the most.
1. Gunner Stockton had one of the best games of his career
Saturday may have been Gunner Stockton's best performance so far this season. He finished the day throwing for 295 yards and three touchdowns while completing 25 of 32 passes, but the stats don't tell the full story.
One thing Stockton struggled with last season was tucking the ball and running on designed pass plays far too quick. On Saturday he showed that isn't a problem anymore as he was patient and let routes develop instead of running too soon.
This helped him identify more opportunities to take shots down the field, and when he took those shots he was extremely accurate.
This is the Gunner Stockton Georgia needs to make a run at a national championship, and if he can keep this up against the better teams on their schedule then the sky is the limit.
2. Georgia's defense made too many careless mistakes
Georgia's defense was close to perfect in the second half, but they played their worst half of football this season in the first half. Not only did Vanderbilt move the ball throughout the entire half, but Georgia made too many careless mistakes.
Missed tackles, zero quarterback pressure, too many penalties and careless play in the secondary helped Vanderbilt score 14 points and rack up more yards than Georgia would've liked to give up. That isn't what anyone in Athens wanted to see one week before playing Alabama.
The good news for Georgia is that they've played nine good halves on defense so far this season. At this point their poor first half performance on Saturday is the outlier, but if that happens again at Alabama they could be in serious trouble.
3. Georgia may need Nate Frazier more than they think
Nate Frazier got two carries against Vanderbilt on Saturday which hopefully means he’ll be ready for his normal work load against Alabama next week. After the Oklahoma game last week it seemed like Georgia could get by just fine without him, but that may not be the case anymore.
Georgia obviously would prefer to be as healthy as possible when they play a team as good as Alabama, but that is especially the case at running back. Chauncey Bowens not only got hurt during the final play of the first half, but Georgia wasn’t as effective running the ball as they typically are.
They finished the game averaging 5.2 yards per carry. That is a solid average, but they only hit that average because of a couple long runs which includes Bo Walker’s 59 yard scamper in garbage time.
Frazier’s return should help sure up their running game going forward especially if Bowens is out for any significant amount of time, and thankfully it looks like he’ll be back next week against Alabama.
4. Georgia missed out on an opportunity for revenge against Jared Curtis
The only thing that matters for Georgia is winning, and they got the job done against Vanderbilt on Saturday even if it wasn't the prettiest win. They however missed out on an opportunity for revenge that they've waited close to a year for.
Former five-star quarterback Jared Curtis flipped from Georgia to Vanderbilt right before signing day last year. He started the last two games for Vandy heading into Saturday's game but he was sidelined due to an injury.
Georgia will be happy they got the win, but it would've been much nicer if they got to beat Vandy with Curtis on the field.
5. Georgia has plenty to clean up before playing Alabama
Alabama will be Georgia’s biggest test potentially all year when they travel to Tuscaloosa next week. The Tide are 5-0 after dismantling previously undefeated Mississippi State on the road on Saturday, and they have an offense Georgia should be concerned to play against.
Georgia’s defense has been great for much of the season, but they did not look good in the first half against Vanderbilt. If they repeat that performance against Bama then they might never get a stop.
Georgia’s offense may not have as many concerns heading into this game, but you never truly know how any offense will do before their first game in an intimidating environment.
Georgia must play better than they did against Vanderbilt if they’re going to beat Alabama. They are more than capable, but there are a few cracks that were shown against Vandy that Alabama could expose.
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