Georgia Bulldogs Announce Captains for Game vs. Vanderbilt
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ATHENS - The Georgia Bulldogs announced the program's captains for the Vanderbilt game on Saturday.
Jake Camarda, John FitzPatrick and Nolan Smith were named as the team's three captains heading into the No. 2 Dawgs' second SEC showdown of the season.
Until 2020, Georgia had faced Vanderbilt every year going back to 1968. However, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic forced the Commodores to cancel last season's meeting in Athens. Therefore, Georgia will be heading to Nashville again like they did in 2019 when the Bulldogs posted a 30-6 victory. The last time Georgia played two straight in the series in Nashville came in 1932 and then in 1952. Overall, Georgia leads the series 58-20-2, including 27-12-2 in Nashville.
Dominating Defense
Currently Georgia ranks second in the SEC in Scoring Defense giving up just 7.7 points per game. The defense has allowed just one touchdown this season and it came in the fourth quarter last Saturday versus South Carolina with the Bulldogs leading 40-6.
Georgia had held its first three opponents to a total of 23 points, which matches the 2019 defense through three games. This year, Georgia defeated No. 3 Clemson 10-3 in Charlotte, routed UAB 56-7 in Athens and then beat South Carolina 40-13. It is worth nothing that UAB's touchdown came on a pick-six.
Most recently, South Carolina was limited to 13 points. The Gamecocks' final stop came on 4th-and-goal from the nine. Georgia finished with one interception, three sacks and six TFLs. With 10:55 left in the contest, USC got a 36-yard TD pass from Luke Doty to Josh Vann which marked the first TD allowed by the Bulldog defense this season. In the first half, USC was held to six points on 131 yards (8 rushing, 123 passing) on 28 plays.
The leading tackler was junior Nolan Smith with a career-high 8 stops, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble that was recovered by Quay Walker. Senior Columbia, S.C., native Channing Tindall was next in tackles by matching his career-high with seven stops. Smith and Jordan Davis (2 stops, 0.5 sack) were in on a safety, the first since the final play of the 2020 season (Azeez Ojulari versus Cincinnati in the 24-21 Chick-fil-A Bowl victory).
During the Bulldogs' win over No. 3 Clemson in Charlotte, N.C., the Tigers finished the night with just three points on 60 plays and 180 yards as Georgia tallied seven sacks. The Tigers previously had a streak of 400 yards of total offense in their past 12 games. In the first half, Georgia held the Tigers to 90 yards (1 rushing, 89 passing) on 30 plays. The Dogs carried a shutout through three quarters. The Tigers longest play of the night was a 44-yard completion in the fourth. The Tigers scored with 9:08 left in the game on a 22-yard field goal to cut Georgia's lead to 10-3. Clemson's three points were the fewest scored in the Dabo Swinney era and the fewest for the program since 2007.
The Bulldogs' leading tackler against Clemson was safety Lewis Cine with nine and six different players registered a sack. Junior ILB Nakobe Dean led the way with a pair of sacks while Davis collected two tackles for loss and a sack. Davis was named the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week as well as the SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week.
2019 Meeting In Nashville: #4 Georgia Drops Vanderbilt 30-6
The Bulldogs opened their campaign with a rare SEC road game and made short work of Vanderbilt 30-6. Georgia rolled up 326 yards rushing, including 149 from current Detroit Lion D'Andre Swift, as QB Jake Fromm finished with 156 yards passing and a touchdown. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first half and allowed the Commodores only a pair of second quarter field goals. Current Indianapolis Colt Rodrigo Blankenship drilled a trio of field goals, including a 50 yarder, to add additional points for Georgia. Defensively, current Tennessee Titan Monty Rice and current San Diego Charger Mark Webb had seven tackles apiece. It was the first time since 1995 that the Bulldogs opened a season versus an SEC team and marked the first SEC road opener to a season since 1994. A pair of current Bulldogs in Kearis Jackson and John FitzPatrick made their first career starts.
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