The offense looked amazing last week, but then again, it was just Florida Atlantic.
Vanderbilt will offer more resistance than the Owls, and I don't think anyone has forgotten the fireworks after last year's Georgia/Vanderbilt game.
The on-field altercation between Georgia Defensive Coordinator, Todd Grantham, and Vanderbilt Head Coach, James Franklin was the story, which is probably good for Georgia because that meant no one was talking about the game itself.
Georgia had quite possibly the worst special teams game in the program's history. Vandy returned a punt for a touchdown, blocked a Georgia punt, and Georgia missed field goals. It is ironic, that Drew Butler, Georgia's punter last season, made the game winning play when he tackled the Vandy player that blocked the punt.
Last year is in the past, and I'm sure that nothing will happen between Franklin and Grantham this time around.
On the field, this game will be a chance for Georgia to show where it stands in the SEC. South Carolina struggled with Vanderbilt in the opening game of the season, so a big Georgia win would help show that the Dawgs are the class of the SEC East.
Offensively, Georgia looks to be coming into their own. My only worry is Georgia's ability to manage all of the talent, especially in the backfield. I don't want to see a repeat of the terrible handling of the Thomas Brown, Kregg Lumpkin, Danny Ware fiasco in 2006. Georgia would have been better if one of those guys transferred.
Just when one guy started getting a rhythm going, here comes one of the other backs because the coaching staff wanted to keep everyone's carries equal. To me it is very simple, Todd Gurley is the starter, he should get between 20 and 25 touches per game, Keith Marshall is the backup and he should get about 10-15 touches per game, and Boo Malcome is the guy you give about 5-7 touches per game. That is right, do the math. I think Georgia should be running the ball between 35-50 times per game. The running game is the strength of the offense, and the passing game is going to be so much better when you don't throw it 40 times per game.
The key to Saturday's game is the fact that for the fourth consecutive week, Georgia is the more talented team. They are also playing at home.
Vandy has some talent, and I fully expect them to play a tough game, but in the end, Georgia should win this game by about 2 touchdowns.
This game will tell me a lot about what type of team we can expect to see from Georgia for the remainder of the season. The top teams in this league, Alabama and LSU, dominate games like this. See what Alabama did to Arkansas last week? That was a road game for Alabama! Watch and see what LSU does to Auburn this week on the Plains. You can't play close games all season long and not lose one along the way. Georgia is going to play some tough games over the next 6 weeks against some really good teams. They can't afford to play around with Vanderbilt. If this is going to be the kind of team that can reach that ultimate goal, then they need to come out and put Vanderbilt in their place on Saturday night.
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