ATHENS -- A combination of a dominant Georgia performance against the Auburn Tigers and a host of other underwhelming games around college football last Saturday propelled the Bulldogs back to being the top-ranked team in the country.
Georgia defeated longtime SEC West rival Auburn, 42-10 at Sanford Stadium on Oct. 8, and head coach Kirby Smart attributed some of the team’s success to the great environment Bulldog fans created when he spoke to the media in last Monday’s press conference.
“I want to open by thanking the fans, again, for a tremendous home environment,” Smart said. “That’s the expectation we’ve set at UGA; for an environment to be intense and fun and exciting, and I thought that the crowd did that and we want the same this week.”
With the win, the Bulldogs moved to 5-0 on the season and 3-0 in conference play. The victory came hours before former No. 1 Alabama defeated Texas A&M by only four points, which vaulted Smart’s squad back to the top and slid the Crimson Tide down to No. 3.
As the midway point of the season approaches, Georgia now turns its attention to the Vanderbilt Commodores for another SEC showdown this Saturday in Athens.
The Commodores have already surpassed their 2021 efforts, earning a 3-3 record to this point in the season, compared to their 2-10 campaign last year. Head coach Clark Lea has seemed to bring new life to the program, and Smart respects his ability to coach a team up.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Clark. You know, he’s an alumnus of the school, similar to me. I’ve always respected the work and job he did,” Smart said. “He did a tremendous job when he was at Wake, and we copied a lot of the things he did there, defensively, then competed against him as a defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, as well.”
Smart is as familiar with Lea as the Bulldogs are with the Commodores. The two programs have played each other 81 times since 1893, and the Bulldogs have the edge all-time with a 59-20-2 record.
Recently, it has been all Georgia, which has won the last four matchups by a combined score of 178-33; however, the Commodores did shock the Bulldogs in Athens back in 2016 when the visiting Vanderbilt team won 17-16.
The Commodores have beaten the Bulldogs only three times since 2000, and Georgia seems to have all the momentum heading into this Saturday.
Even with that, Smart will not overlook an SEC opponent, especially after a couple of lackluster performances earlier in September. He acknowledged that regardless of the program’s history, Vanderbilt has improved and needs to be taken seriously.
“I mean, you watch the Ole Miss tape and they came out and attacked and played well. I mean, [they are] well coached, so the expectation is that you’re going to grow and get better,” Smart said. “Everybody measures that in different amounts. I’m sure Clark has his way of measuring it just like we have our way of trying to measure improvement, but they are, probably to me, one of the most improved teams in the league in terms of the way they’re playing right now.”