ATHENS — Georgia will be looking to get off to a fast start after failing to score in the first quarter of its past two games against Missouri and Auburn.
The No. 1-ranked Bulldogs play host to Vanderbilt at 3:30 p.m. (TV: SEC Network) in their designated homecoming game on Saturday.
Coach Kirby Smart attributed his team’s recent slow starts to “missed opportunities,” adding that, “when you play in the SEC, you play against really good quality defenses, and usually at the start of the game, they’re at their best.”
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Georgia (6-0, 3-0 SEC) has failed to score in the first quarter of its past two games against Missouri and Auburn, needing six drives to put points on the board at Mizzou, and four drives to score in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.
The Bulldogs’ season scoring trend has seen the team score almost twice as many points in the second quarters of games (82) than in the first quarters (46). UGA has scored 54 points in third quarters and 55 in fourth quarters including 21 last Saturday against Auburn.
The Commodores rank 126th in the nation in total defense and are playing their third consecutive Top 10 team.
Vanderbilt, which actually led No. 9 Ole Miss by a 20-17 count at halftime last Saturday, plays an aggressive scheme under former Notre Dame defensive coordinator and second-year head coach Clark Lea.
“Defensively they change up the gaps, they pressure a lot, they mix and mingle,” Smart said. “They’re not gonna sit back and be static.”
Smart explained how the Vanderbilt linebackers attack the line of scrimmage often, challenging offenses.
Georgia is due to respond in a big way: Quarterback Stetson Bennett has not thrown a touchdown pass in any of the past three games.
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Smart and Bennett acknowledged missing on three open throws that would have led to explosive plays in the 42-10 win over Auburn.
The head coach has been looking for more answers beyond that, taking the same detailed approach after each game in his four-to-five hours of postgame film study.
“I think there’s a lot of good information in that,” Smart said. “How did that team attack you? What were they trying to do?
“What is the next team, or teams, going to see from the tape? And what glaring errors did you have?”
Smart said Georgia has had a good week of practice leading up to the game, so things are more likely to get interesting quickly against Vanderbilt, than not.
