Bulldogs remain undefeated with 37-20 win at Vandy

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The top-ranked Georgia football team got three field goals from kicker Peyton Woodring, ran for 281 yards, and remained undefeated with a 37-20 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon at FirstBank Stadium.

Georgia (7-0, 4-0) extended its school-record winning streak to 24 games, and the victory was the Bulldogs 23rd straight SEC regular-season win. Georgia is off next Saturday before facing Florida in Jacksonville on Oct. 28.

The Bulldogs out-gained the Commodores 542-219, with quarterback Carson Beck completing 29 of 39 passes for 261 yards and touchdown. Running back Daijun Edwards ran for a career-high 146 yards on 20 carries and helped seal the win with a 1-yard score with 3:13 remaining in the game.

Vanderbilt (2-6, 0-4) struck first, completing all four of its passes on the game’s opening drive, including a 49-yarder from quarterback Ken Seals to wide receiver London Humphreys for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 12:07 left in the quarter.

The points were the first Vanderbilt has scored against Georgia since 2019, when the Bulldogs won 30-6. The teams didn’t play in 2020 due to the pandemic, and Georgia won the 2021 and ’22 games by a combined score of 117-0.

The Commodores defense forced a Beck fumble on Georgia’s first drive of the game, taking possession at the Bulldog 32-yard line. The Bulldog defense got three stops and then Vanderbilt kicker Jacob Borcila missed a 47-yard field goal attempt.

Georgia escaped trouble on its next drive when center Sedrick Van Pran picked up a botched handoff on third-and-1 and ran for 6 yards and a first down. Edwards ran for 20 yards on the next play, Milton ran for 28 yards down to the 1 later in the drive, and Beck scored on a 1-yard plunge to make it 7-7 with 5:42 left in the opening quarter.

Georgia’s defense forced a Vandy punt on the ensuing drive, and the Bulldog offense went 77 yards for a touchdown and the lead. Beck connected with wideout Ladd McConkey on completions of 31 and 13 yards to move the ball into Vandy territory, and Milton later finished off the drive with a 3-yard run to make it 14-7 with 13:42 to play in the second quarter.

The Bulldogs added to their lead late in the second quarter with Woodring’s 31-yard field, making it 17-7 with 3:49 left in the half. Bowers suffered an ankle injury on the drive and did not return.

Georgia defensive back Tykee Smith ended the Commodores’ ensuing drive with an interception, his fourth of the season, at the Georgia 45 with 37 seconds left.

Going on the attack, Beck hit tight end Oscar Delp for 20 yards to the Vandy 37. On the next play, Beck went deep to wideout Dominic Lovett for 30 yards, down to the 5, with 19 seconds left. Two plays later, Beck and Lovett connected on a 4-yard touchdown in the left corner of the end zone, pushing the Bulldog lead to 24-7 with 12 seconds remaining.

The Bulldogs got the ball to start the second half, and the drive ended with a career-long 44-yard Woodring field goal, pushing the Georgia lead to 27-7 with 6:22 left in the third quarter.

Vanderbilt cut the Bulldog lead to 27-14 on the first play of the fourth quarter, scoring on a 3-yard pass from Seals to receiver Richie Hoskins. The Bulldogs answered on their next drive, going up 30-14 on a 30-yard field goal by Woodring with 9:05 left in the game. It was the eighth straight made field goal by the freshman.

The Commodores’ CJ Taylor intercepted Beck with 6:17 to go in the game and returned the ball to the Bulldog 1. On the next play, Sedrick Alexander scored to cut Georgia’s lead to 30-20. Vanderbilt went for 2 and Seals’ pass was incomplete.

Edwards did all of the work on Georgia’s next drive, running the ball on five straight plays, including a 62-yarder down to the 6-yard line. He later scored from the 1 to make it 37-20 with 3:13 left in the game.

POST-GAME NOTES

*Extending The Streaks: With today’s 37-20 win, top-ranked Georgia (7-0, 4-0 SEC) has extended its school record for consecutive victories now to 24. The streak began during the 2021 season (Dec. 31) when the Bulldogs beat #2 Michigan 34-11 in a CFP semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl. This streak ranks as the fourth longest in SEC history.

*Georgia now has tied a school record with its 23rd consecutive regular season SEC victory dating to a 31-24 win over Miss. State on Nov. 21, 2020. Also, Georgia won 23 SEC games in a row during a stretch from 1980-83. The 23-game streak ranks third in SEC history.

*The Bulldogs extended their school record for consecutive regular season wins to 34, which leads all of FBS. This streak began during the 2020 season with a 31-24 win over Miss. State. on Nov. 21.

*Georgia improves to 7-0 for the fourth time in the Kirby Smart era (now 88-15 overall), joining the 2017, 2021 and 2022 clubs.

*With the latest victory over VU, Georgia now holds a 61-20-2 edge in the series history including winning the past six meetings.

*Summary Of The Offense: Junior QB Carson Beck went 29-for-39 for 261 yards with 1 TD and one INT in a 37-20 road victory. 

*Senior Daijun Edwards rushed for a career-high 146 yards on 20 carries including a career-long 62-yard gain in the 4th quarter. Edwards had the most rushing yards by a Bulldog since D’Andre Swift went for 179 against Kentucky in 2019.

*The Bulldogs had a season-high 281 rushing yards on 39 attempts for a 7.2 average.

*For the game, the Bulldogs had 542 yards on 78 plays with 37:19 in time of possession.

*In the first half, Beck was 17-for-20, 181 yards, 1 TD in building a 24-7 lead.  The Bulldogs collected 275 yards of offense on 38 plays (7.2 avg.), scoring on their last four possessions of the first half. 

*Georgia lost a fumble on its opening possession of the game at the UGA 29 and was trailing 7-0.

*On the 2nd possession of the game, junior center Sedrick Van Pran had an errant snap/fumble, recovered it and ran for six yards on a 3rd-and-1 at the UGA 38. On the drive, the Bulldogs eventually scored a game-tying TD, a one-yard plunge by Beck, his 3rd rushing TD. The drive covered 71 yards on 8 plays.

*On their 3rd possession, the Bulldogs took a 14-7 lead with 13:42 in the 2nd quarter on Kendall Milton’s 3-yard TD, his third of the year and 12th of his career, going 77 yards on 7 plays in 3:44. Milton finished with 

*Following an INT by senior Tykee Smith, Georgia went 55 yards on four plays for a TD in 25 seconds, the quickest TD drive of the year.          

*Junior Dominic Lovett had a team-high 9 catches for 72 yards and registered his first TD as a Bulldog (a four-yard catch) and fourth for this career (previous three at Missouri).

*Junior WR Ladd McConkey had a season-high 58 yards on four catches in the first half.

*Defensive Review: VU tallied 219 yards of offense on only 44 plays, the fewest plays ever in an SEC game in the Kirby Smart era. 

*VU was 2-for-9 on third down conversions.

*VU went 75 yards on its opening possession for a TD and then managed just 55 yards on their last five possession of the 1st half with a turnover.

*In the 2nd half, VU scored on its opening possession of the 2nd half, going 75 yards on 13 plays in 6:25 to cut it to 27-14.

*On UGA’s 2nd possession today, VU recovered a fumble a the UGA 32 and VU ran three plays for three yards before missing a 47-yard FG.

Senior Tykee Smith had five stops with an INT (team-best 4th of the year and 8th of his career). 

*Junior Smael Mondon had a team-best six tackles plusnotched his 2nd sack of the year and fourth of his career.

*Rushing Defense: The Commodores had 18 rushing yards on 15 attempts.

Woodring Hits Career Long 44-Yarder: Freshman PK Peyton Woodring made a 30 and 31-yarder and a career long 44-yard FG plus was 4-for-4 on PATs for 13 points. The 44-yarder came on a 19 play, 60-yard drive to open the second half that chewed up 8:30.

*Bowers Moves Up In Bulldog Record Book: In the first half, junior TE Brock Bowers had four catches for 22 yards and two carries for 11 yards. He now has 2,391 career receiving yards, which moves him to fifth in school history and his 160 career catches puts him in the sixth spot in Georgia history. He left the game in midway through the 2nd quarter with an ankle injury and did not return.    

*Red Zone Report: Georgia went 7-for-8 (4 TDs, 3 FGs, 1 Kneel down end of game) in the Red Zone while VU was 2-for-2 (2 TDs). 

*Points Off Turnovers: Georgia got a TD off one INT; VU got two TDs off a Bulldog fumble and an INT.  Georgia is Even in turnover margin.

*Captains, Coin Toss and For Starters: Senior Kendall Milton (RB), redshirt sophomore Tate Ratledge (RG), senior Zion Logue (DL) and sophomore Malaki Starks (S) served as the game captains. Georgia won the toss and elected to defer the ball until the second half. Junior centerSedrick Van Pran made his team-leading 37th career start. There were no first-time starters.

*Honoring #77 Devin Willock: Senior Xavier Truss (RT), normally #73, wore #77 today in honor of his late teammate Devin Willock. A different Bulldog offensive lineman will be wearing #77 each game this season.

*Up Next: Top-ranked Georgia (7-0, 4-0 SEC) has an open date and then faces Florida in Jacksonville on Oct. 28 at 3:30 p.m. (CBS).

Later today, UF (4-2, 2-1 SEC) faces South Carolina in Columbia and then will be off next week too.

POST-GAME QUOTES

Coming soon.