One of the benefits of being on a bye week is teams like Georgia can not only relax and get healthy, but they can take an honest assessment from afar at other teams of intrigue in their league. While Georgia got a huge boost from Ole Miss beating Oklahoma to effectively knock the Sooners out of College Football Playoff contention, they got something almost similar out of Vanderbilt vs. Missouri.
The No. 10 Commodores outlasted the No. 15 Tigers by a few blades of grass in the end. Vanderbilt improved to 7-1 overall and 3-1 in SEC play with its thrilling 17-10 home win over Missouri. The Tigers lost their star quarterback Beau Pribula on what looks to be a season-ending leg injury early in the third quarter. True freshman and former Georgia recruit Matt Zollers did make this one interesting...
Vanderbilt was able to stop a goal-line completion by merely inches to win this game. If Pribula was healthy enough to finish, maybe the game does go the Tigers' way? In the end, Missouri is even more out of it than Oklahoma is. As far as Vanderbilt is concerned, Georgia does not have to exhaust much oxygen about them getting in the way of all they want to accomplish in the College Football Playoff...
Although Vanderbilt is a good team with a ton of heart, it may lack the horses to keep pace with UGA.
Georgia can cross off Missouri already, should not worry about Vanderbilt
At 7-1 (3-1) on the season, all Vanderbilt has to do is win three of its final four conference games to reach the College Football Playoff. Every single one of them is winnable, but their two hardest games will be on the road at Texas next week and then at in-state rival Tennessee to end the season. The 'Dores still have games with Auburn and Kentucky at home. A loss to either would be so devastating.
So in a way, Vanderbilt has become what Ole Miss was entering this week. They need one more quality win down the stretch to conceivably make the playoff. They will need to end either Texas or Tennessee's bid at it, but could become the fourth or fifth SEC team to make it in behind the likes of Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss and Texas A&M, in some order. Again, Georgia will not face Vandy in 2026.
To be quite frank, there are levels to this... A year ago, did we really think Indiana and SMU had it in them to win playoff games, especially first-round ones on the road? While Indiana kept it close with in-state foe Notre Dame, SMU was a dead horse vs. Penn State in State College. If Vanderbilt makes the playoff, it will be a huge accomplishment for the university, but it may go like Indiana and SMU did.
For now, Georgia will need to focus on the task at hand, which is to beat the snot out of rival Florida.