The Georgia Bulldogs improved to 4-0 on Saturday night by crushing SEC East foe Vanderbilt, 48-3. The Dawgs had little trouble taking care of the Commodores, and improved to 2-0 in the division heading into their matchup with Tennessee at Sanford Stadium next week. The offense appears to be firing on all cylinders after punishing Vandy.
The Bulldogs set the tone right away, scoring on their first two possessions. SB Nation Georgia blog, Dawg Sports, was impressed with how Aaron Murray "flawlessly executed" the opening drive to quickly dampen the spirits of the Vandy defense. Murray was solid all evening, but Dawg Sports writes that the running game afforded him the luxury to pick apart the Vandy D. The Bulldogs simply manhandled the Commodores on the ground, freeing up Murray to do what he wanted as the defense keyed on the run.
Dawg Sports addressed the exciting prospect of having an offensive line and a stable of rushers who can break the will of opposing defenses:
In fairness, some of Murray's hot start can be traced to the fact that the Vanderbilt defense was trying anything and everything to stop the Bulldog running attack. This was the first time all season, including games against the lowly Buffalo Bulls and the friggin' Florida Atlantic Owls that the Bulldog offensive line has taken its stance and simply bulldozed an opponent. There will come games later in this season, perhaps as early as next week, when we'll need to line up and just convert 3rd and 3's with a power running game.
The Bulldogs rushed 47 times for a whopping 302 yards. Freshman Todd Gurley led all backs with 130 yards on 16 carries. Both he and Keith Marshall averaged more than eight yards per rush. Dawg Sports also talked about what the gaudy numbers might mean:
On the game the Classic City Canines ran the ball 47 times, as well they should have. Vanderbilt gave them no reason to do anything else. For the first time since at least 2007 it looks like a Mike Bobo-coordinated offense may be able to just line up and run the hell over people when they want to. I cannot express how happy that makes me.
Georgia will next welcome the Tennessee Volunteers to Athens next week. The Vols struggled with MAC doormat Akron on Saturday night, and also gave up 4.4 yards per carry against the lowly Zips. They were gashed by the Florida ground game the week prior, so Georgia's rush offense could be in for another big day next week.
For more on the Georgia football, check out Dawg Sports. For more on Vanderbilt, head over to Anchor Of Gold. Don't forget to check out our SEC blog, Team Speed Kills, as well.