There seems to be a historical first with each passing week during Kirby Smart’s first season as Georgia’s head football coach.
The Bulldogs had never fallen 45 points behind Ole Miss until doing so on Sept. 24. They had never given up a Hail Mary on the final play inside Sanford Stadium until doing so against Tennessee on Oct. 1, and they had never played a regular-season game on a Sunday until defeating South Carolina in Columbia on Oct. 9.
Now, for the first time in Georgia annals, the Bulldogs head into an open date following a home loss to Vanderbilt. The Commodores traveled to Athens on Saturday and pulled out a 17-16 upset despite amassing just 171 yards while giving up 421.
“I don’t think you ever anticipate losses. I really don’t,” Smart said in his news conference Saturday. “I think it’s a matter of where we go from here. We have an off week, and we have to get better. We have to grow as a team.
“We’ve got to get better on special teams. We’re getting field position that’s a nightmare.”
Georgia’s stunning setback was largely the result of the opening kickoff in each half.
Darrius Sims took the game’s opening kickoff 95 yards to Georgia’s 4, where the Bulldogs were promptly flagged for being offside and for a substitution infraction. Ralph Webb then ran 1 yard for a touchdown on Vanderbilt’s first play from scrimmage.
At the start of the second half, Georgia receiver Reggie Davis tried to field the kickoff but stepped out of bounds at the 3. The Bulldogs went three-and-out, and Kalija Lipscomb’s 17-yard punt return to the Georgia 28 set up Tommy Openshaw’s 38-yard field goal that extended Vanderbilt’s lead to 10-6.
“It’s sickening, and you know what it is? Special teams and penalties,” Smart said. “We’ve talked over and over and over about special teams and taking pride in that. The field position in the first half was killer.
“It’s just a comedy of errors when you start looking at what’s happened back to back on special teams.”
Smart said the Bulldogs will look this week at alternate kicks and better personnel for special teams.
Saturday’s Southeastern Conference loss dropped Georgia to 4-3 overall and all but out of the SEC East race at 2-3 in league play. The Bulldogs, who have not played in the SEC title game since 2012, could at least stay relevant this season with a win over Florida on Oct. 29.
A loss to the Gators would saddle the Bulldogs with a 4-4 mark and leave them needing to win twice against the closing quartet of Kentucky, Auburn, Louisiana-Lafayette and Georgia Tech to extend their consecutive bowl appearances streak to a league-best 20 seasons.
“We have to come out this week and just work,” junior outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter said. “Work is the only thing that can nullify all the pain that we’ve gone through with these losses.”
Cunningham honored
Vanderbilt redshirt junior linebacker Zach Cunningham, who had a career-high 19 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss and one pass deflection against the Bulldogs, was recognized Sunday as the national defensive player of the week by the Walter Camp Foundation. With 1:01 remaining in the game, Cunningham stuffed Isaiah McKenzie for no gain on a fourth-and-1 rush from Vandy’s 41-yard line.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.