Vanderbilt's 2012 trip to Athens earned a special date on the calendar last fall, when Commodores head coach James Franklin got into a heated confrontation with Bulldogs' defensive coordinator Todd Grantham following Georgia's tight 33-28 win in Nashville.
With the 'Dores due in Athens Saturday, coaches on both sides are trying to downplay the incident, according to Macon.com, but the players remember:
"It’s not just Coach Grantham. It’s the whole team, offense and defense, everyone," Commings said. "Any time something goes down like that after a game, we kind of put that in the back of our minds, and we bring it back up when we play that team again. So that’s definitely gonna be on our minds throughout this week and definitely on Saturday in the game."
Franklin has been repeatedly quoted from his statements at the SEC meetings over the summer that he holds no ill will towards Grantham, Richt or anyone on the UGA staff:
"I’m a very emotional, passionate guy. This is personal to me. But on the same hand I’m a guy who once things happen, I move on," Franklin said. "I have tremendous respect for Coach Richt and that program. I have respect for Coach Grantham, as well, and what he’s trying to do. I think Coach Grantham was trying to do everything he could to support his players and show them that he had his back. And I was doing the same. And those things happen from time to time."
The heated moment is likely to be played up in the wake of a lopsided match-up, as 3-0 Georgia is a 16-point favorite against Vandy, who enter Saturday 1-2 and without a win over a FBS opponent. Then again, the Dawgs opened Monday of last year with a healthy -11.5 spread as road favorites...
For more on Georgia, check out Dawg Sports. Vanderbilt news and info can be found at Anchor Of Gold, and all your SEC football news is available at Team Speed Kills and SB Nation's college football page.
