NASHVILLE — Georgia football drummed Vanderbilt in the Music City on Saturday night, 30-6
The No. 3-ranked Bulldogs scored touchdowns on their first three drives en route to their 14th straight win against SEC East Division opponents dating back to 2016.
A sellout crowd of 40,350 was on hand, approximately 75 percent wearing Georgia red, as Coach Kirby Smart began his fourth season at the helm.
Heisman Trophy candidate D’Andre Swift led the way for the Bulldogs with 16 carries for 149 yards.
Quarterback Jake Fromm, in his first outing under new UGA offensive coordinator James Coley, was 15-of-23 passing for 156 yards with a touchdown.
The Bulldogs out-gained the Commodores 481-225 yards, but they left Nashville with plenty of things to work on.
The defense had three personal foul penalties, and there were three holding calls on the offensive line.
Two Georgia players made their first career starts: redshirt freshman WR Kearis Jackson and redshirt freshman OLB Azeez Ojulari.
Two notable backups who did not travel with the team were outside linebacker Robert Beal and offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer.
Salyer has been out of practice with a lower body injury for more than a week. Beal was expected to serve a one-game suspension after his April 2 arrest on misdemeanor marijuana possession charges.
GEORGIA SCORING RECAP
FOURTH QUARTER
Georgia 30, Vanderbilt 6, 2:13: Rodrigo Blankenship 31-yard field goal. Drive: 8 plays, 31 yards, 3:23.
Georgia 27, Vanderbilt 6, 7:20: Rodrigo Blankenship 37-yard field goal. Drive: 5 plays, 20 yards, 2:21.
THIRD QUARTER
Isaiah Wilson limped off the field with about a minute left in the third quarter. Cade Mays came in at right tackle, Ben Cleveland at right guard.
Georgia 24, Vanderbilt 6, 7:48: Rodrigo Blankenship 50-yard field goal. Drive: 8 plays, 56 yards, 5:23. Key play: D’Andre Swift 37-yard run on second-and-12 from UGA 10.
Note: Zamir “Zeus” White was greeted with cheers of “ZOOOOS” from UGA fans when he entered the game for the first time with 11:05 left in the third quarter. White carried out a play fake on his first play and carried for 3 yards on the next before being taken out.
HALFTIME STATS
STATS OF NOTE
Vanderbilt QB Riley Neal 11-of-13 passing for 63 yards, one sack
Georgia RB D’Andre Swift 8 carries, 74 yards, 9.2 yards per carry
SECOND QUARTER
Georgia 21, Vanderbilt 6, :04: Ryley Guay 46-yard field goal. Drive: 7 plays, 52 yards, 1:02. Key play: Ke’Shawn Vaughn 12-yard catch to Vandy 48, plus 15-yard face mask penalty on Richard LeCounte to Georgia 37.
Georgia 21, Vanderbilt 3, 2:25: Ryley Guay 26-yard field goal. Drive: 12 plays, 73 yards, 5:36. Key play: Riley Neal 6-yard run on third-and-2 at Georgia 17.
Note: Georgia committed two 15-yard penalties on the drive, a face mask (Justin Young) and late hit (Divaad Wilson)
Georgia 21, Vanderbilt 0, 8:01: Brian Herrien 1-yard run (Rodrigo Blankenship kick). Drive: 7 plays, 80 yards, 4:03. Key play: D’Andre Swift 16-yard run to Vanderbilt 5-yard line.
Note: Eli Wolf lined up at fullback and was the lead blocker on the Herrien off-tackle TD run.
Note: Lawrence Cager’s first career catch with UGA was a 38-yard gain to the Vanderbilt 21-yard line.
FIRST QUARTER
Georgia 14, Vanderbilt 0, 0:56: James Cook 18-yard run (Rodrigo Blankenship kick). Drive: 10 plays, 89 yards, 5:34, Key play: Demetris Robertson 17-yard catch from Jake Fromm on first-and-25 from UGA 25.
Note: Georgia has 106 yards rushing on 12 carries on its first two drives.
Georgia 7, Vanderbilt 0, 11:01: Demetris Robertson 3-yard catch from Jake Fromm (Rodrigo Blankenship kick). Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 3:59. Key play: D’Andre Swift 26-yard rush to Vandy 43, plus 15-yard horse collar penalty.
Note: Demetris Robertson’s first career catch for UGA was the TD against Vanderbilt.
Starting defense
DL Tyler Clark
NT Jordan Davis
DL David Marshall
OLB Azeez Ojulari
MLB Monty Rice
ILB Tae Crowder
Star Mark Webb
CB Tyson Campbell
CB Eric Stokes
S J.R. Reed
S Richard LeCounte
Starting offense
QB Jake Fromm
RB Brian Herrien
WR Tyler Simmons
WR Kearis Jackson
LT Andrew Thoms
LG Solomon Kindley
C Trey Hill
RG Cade Mays
RT Isaiah Wilson
TE John FitzPatrick
TE Charlie Woerner
Deep for kick: James Cook and Brian Herrien deep for kickoff
Georgia captains: Jake Fromm, J.R. Reed, Solomon Kindley
Travel Squad
True Freshmen italics
Quarterbacks (3)
Jake Fromm
Stetson Bennett
Nathan Priestly
Running Backs (6)
D’Andre Swift
Brian Herrien
James Cook
Zamir White
Prather Hudson
Kenny McIntosh
Receivers (8)
Tyler Simmons
Demetris Robertson
George Pickens
Matt Landers
Dominick Blaylock
Lawrence Cager
Kearis Jackson
Trey Blount
Offensive line (10)
LT Andrew Thomas
D’Marcus Hayes
Justin Shaffer
Trey Hill
Cade Mays
Ben Cleveland
Warren Ericson
Isaiah Wilson
Xavier Truss
Tight Ends (3)
Eli Wolf
Charlie Woener
John FitzPatrick
Defensive line (10)
Jordan Davis
Malik Herring
Tyler Clark
Michael Barnett
Devonte Wyatt
Michail Carter
Tramel Walthour
Travon Walker
David Marshall
Julian Rochester
Inside Linebacker (7)
Monty Rice
Tae Crowder
Nakobe Dean
Quay Walker
Nate McBride
Channing Tindall
Trezman Marshall
Outside linebacker (5)
Walter Grant
Azeez Ojulari
Nolan Smith
Jermaine Johnson
Adam Anderson
Defensive backs (12)
DJ Daniel
Tyson Campbell
Eric Stokes
Tyrique Stevenson
Ameer Speed
Mark Webb
Divaad Wilson
Richard LeCounte
JR Reed
Otis Reese
Lewis Cine
Christopher Smith
Special Teams (6)
PK Rodrigo Blankenship
Brooks Buce
P Jake Camarda
Bill Rubright
LS Steven Nixon
Payne Walker
True Freshmen Traveling
RB Kenny McIntosh, WR George Pickens, WR Dominick Blaylock, OT Xavier Truss, DL Travon Walker, MLB Nakobe Dean, OLB Nolan Smith, CB Tyrique Stevenson S Lewis Cine
Number Changes
Divaad Wilson wearing the No. 1
George Pickens wearing the No. 1
Lewis Cine wearing the No. 8
Worth noting
Pregame reads
WATCH: Georgia ‘Great Wall’ ready to live up to hype
RELATED: 5 keys for Georgia to avoid upset at Vanderbilt
Who are the next fan favorites on the team?
7 Georgia players to watch closely at Vanderbilt
Homegrown series: Jake Fromm, from Little League up
What the national media is saying about Georgia
UGA pass rush must improve to win a national title
History lesson
The Saturday night game marked the first time since 1995 that Georgia has opened the season by playing an SEC opponent, and the first season-opening SEC road opener since 1994.
Georgia leads the all-time series 58-20-2, including 27-12-2 in Nashville