Vanderbilt football put up a fight against Georgia, but a strong first half fizzled in the second half in a 38-14 loss.
The Commodores (3-2, 0-2 SEC) showed some good things in the loss, but it's far past the time for moral victories for Vanderbilt, even considering that Jared Curtis didn't play in the game due to injury.
There was a little bit of bad luck involved for the Commodores, like a tipped ball that resulted in a long completion for Georgia (4-0, 2-0). But Vanderbilt put up just 59 total yards in the second half after 234 yards in the first half. What started as the Commodores having a higher yardage at halftime turned into a yardage blowout.
Here are three things we liked and didn't like from the loss:
Things I liked from Vanderbilt football vs Georgia
Excellent run defense
Georgia has a consistently strong
rushing attack, and Vanderbilt shut it down for most of the game. Save for a garbage time 59-yard run late in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs didn't have a single run play of more than 15 yards and just two run plays over 10 yards. That one run consisted of over one-third of Georgia's rushing yards for the game.
CJ Heard, Bryan Longwell and Bryce Cowan were all impactful, and this run defense can provide a foundation for this team to build on. Against upcoming teams on the schedule like Tennessee and Florida, a strong run defense will be paramount.
Offensive playcalling
At times this season, Vanderbilt's offense has looked like it's lacked an identity. The Commodores haven't leaned as much into creative run plays as they did last season, and the passing game has been disjointed.
Even having to pivot last-minute to Blaze Berlowitz starting instead of an injured Jared Curtis, Vanderbilt found success with more misdirection and some option plays. Its run game was more effective. Junior Sherrill got open along the sidelines for big plays and Berlowitz bought time with his running ability to get receivers open when Georgia brought blitzes.
Now, it's up to the Commodores to mold that offensive style with Jared Curtis' arm strength once he is able to return.
Junior Sherrill's performance
Vanderbilt has struggled to get production from any receiver other than Sherrill, but what a season it's been from Sherrill. According to the program, Sherrill has recorded a catch in 42 straight games, which is the longest active streak in FBS. He's currently fifth among SEC receivers overall in receiving yards and fifth among SEC receivers with at least 10 catches this season in yards per catch.
It was another strong performance from Sherrill against Georgia, catching seven balls for 107 yards and a touchdown.
Things I didn't like from Vanderbilt football vs Georgia
Vanderbilt has yet to play a complete game
Vanderbilt has had spurts of good play. The first half against Georgia was one of the best first halves the Commodores have played all season. But they have yet to put four good quarters together.
"I'm really frustrated by the way we played in the second half and I'm really frustrated by the way we played in the fourth quarter because that didn't feel like the same team I had at halftime," Clark Lea said.
Too many penalties again
Vanderbilt racked up nine penalties for 65 yards against Georgia. Five of those were false starts, along with offensive and defensive holding and offensive and defensive pass interference.
Among 138 teams in FBS, the Commodores are tied for 129th in penalties per game. Vanderbilt is giving away far too many free yards every game, and it has yet to improve.
Loss of development time for Jared Curtis
The difficult part of Curtis getting injured is the game experience and lack of repetition that came from it.
To be clear, it's not worth Curtis aggravating his injury against a team like Georgia. The coaching staff evaluated that he wasn't moving around well enough to feel comfortable with him playing, and it's highly unlikely the Commodores would have won with Curtis.
But it's still an unfortunate development in a season where Vanderbilt needs to get Curtis more experience against teams like Georgia that he will be facing in the SEC
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What I liked and didn't like for Vanderbilt vs Georgia with Jared Curtis out
