While winning their fifth game in a row with a 33-28 victory over Vanderbilt, Georgia did not represent itself well. The Bulldogs committed 11 penalties for 89 yards, some of which were personal fouls. While seemingly cleaning up its act over the past year or two in that regard, Georgia appears to be back to its undisciplined, penalty-prone self that was all too familiar from 2007-2009.
But after the game, things nearly got out of hand. Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham went after Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin and had to be separated. Players began to push and shove and had to be restrained by coaches and managers.
It was not a pretty sight for Georgia fans, who remember the days of Vince Dooley when Bulldog teams played with class and discipline while also playing with fierce tenacity.
Getting to the actual game, Vanderbilt nearly won when Udom Umoh blocked Drew Butler’s punt and recovered it on the Bulldog 20. Two Commodores struggled for the ball and neither could keep their feet to return it for what would have been a game-winning touchdown. The Dores took over with seven seconds left and threw two incomplete passes.
Disaster avoided. In fact, the player of the game for Georgia may have been Butler, who made a game-saving tackle on the blocked punt.
Aaron Murray played very well for Georgia. The sophomore from Tampa completed 22-of-38 passes for 326 yards and three touchdowns, including a 75-yard strike to Marlon Brown for what turned out to be the game-winning score.
Brown was another bright spot. The sophomore from Memphis caught four passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
Kicker Blair Walsh wasn’t perfect, but did hit four of six field goals with a long of 53. He missed kicks of 50 and 42.
While getting slashed for 200 rushing yards, the Georgia defense limited Florida to 11-of-31 passes for just 149 yards and three interceptions.
Meanwhile, freshman running back Isaiah Crowell missed the first quarter due to rumored violations of team rules, then left the game due to an apparent injury. He rushed just 10 times for 40 yards.
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