The Georgia Bulldogs look like the one team from the SEC East who could threaten Alabama’s grip on a conference championship. Can they continue to blaze a path of destruction when they travel to Nashville on Saturday? The No. 5 Bulldogs will face a reeling Vanderbilt Commodores team to begin their October. Kickoff is scheduled for noon ET and will be broadcast live on ESPN (live stream).
Georgia vs. Vanderbilt 2017 live stream: Start time and how to watch online
The Bulldogs are rolling -- can the Commodores stand in the way?
Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Georgia is cresting after a 41-0 domination of Tennessee on the Volunteers’ home field last week. The Bulldogs have also beaten ranked opponents Notre Dame and Mississippi State this fall to creep into college football’s elite. Vanderbilt, on the other hand, has lost two straight after upsetting then-No. 18 Kansas State in its third game.
Time, TV channel, and streaming info
- Time: Noon ET
- Location: Vanderbilt Stadium, Nashville, Tenn.
- TV: ESPN
- Streaming: Watch ESPN
- Odds: Georgia is favored by 15.5 points
Georgia at Vanderbilt news:
- Vanderbilt’s inability to get Florida’s offense off the field was its undoing in last week’s loss to the Gators.
And third down. Oh, third down. Florida went 7-of-16 on third down and 3-of-3 on fourth down, meaning that when Vanderbilt’s defense got Florida to third down, the Gators converted 10 times out of 16. That’s ... bad.
- Kirby Smart called Georgia’s game against Vandy a tremendous opportunity for his Bulldogs.
As expected the head ‘Dawg artfully dodged questions about who will start at quarterback, adhering to the philosophy he brought from Alabama: every player at every position competes for his job every week, and quarterbacks aren’t an exception.
- Vanderbilt’s budding offense is going to have its hands full with Georgia’s stifling defense.
The Dawg defense held Notre Dame’s Brandon Wimbush to a total of 212 yards despite the Irish QB throwing or running 55 times, an average of 3.9 yards per play with a pair of lost fumbles. They held Nick Fitzgerald to 130 total yards on 39 combined passes or runs, for a total of 3.3 yards per play with a pair of interceptions to boot. They also held the Irish to almost seven yards below their average per carry otherwise (1.49 to 8.28) and MSU to more than a yard per carry less than LSU allowed (4.78 to 5.94).
- Derek Mason wants Kirby Smart to cut out the coaching drama — he knows Jake Fromm is starting on Saturday.
Can the Commodores pull themselves out of a two-game funk?
Vanderbilt is at the tail end of a brutal stretch in which it has played four straight ranked opponents. That worked out fine against Kansas State, but decidedly not so in its last two games against Alabama and Florida. A pair of double-digit losses have pushed the Commodores back to an afterthought in the SEC, but a win at home Saturday would instantly boost their profile — and keep them in contention to win the East.
Georgia at Vanderbilt prediction:
Vanderbilt has struggled to stop the run against SEC opponents. That’s a terrible weakness to have against the Bulldogs, who have run for 237 yards per game this fall. Expect that average to go up after UGA leaves Nashville with a win.
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