ATHENS, Ga. – Back in the good ol’ days, Georgia would have added a couple of defensive touchdowns to Saturday afternoon’s 43-0 vanquishing of Vanderbilt.
Bulldogs inside linebackers Christian Robinson and Akeem Dent were briefly credited with first-quarter scores until instant replay took them away. After the Big Ten began using replay to review calls during the 2004 season, the Southeastern Conference went to it in ’05.
“I’m not a fan of it right now,” Robinson said, smiling. “I wish I could have kept it.”
The two reversals did not dampen the spirits in Georgia’s locker room following the first shutout by the Bulldogs of an SEC foe since their 18-0 win at South Carolina in 2006. It was their first blanking of a league foe inside Sanford Stadium since a 47-0 whipping of Mississippi State in 1997.
Georgia held the Commodores to eight first downs, 140 yards and 22 minutes, 45 seconds of possession time.
“I think any time you shut somebody out, I don’t care what level it is, it’s a major accomplishment,” Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said. “All the credit goes to our players. They’ve been close in some other games, and today the biggest difference was that we didn’t give up any explosive plays. We did a good job in the run game, and they were only 1-of-12 [getting first downs] on third and fourth down.”
The Bulldogs were leading 3-0 at the 5:22 mark of the first quarter when Robinson thought he had scooped up a fumble by Vandy tight end Mason Johnston and raced 38 yards for a touchdown. After being mobbed by teammates, Robinson could only watch with hands on his hips as officials went to the replay and changed the call.
At least he has a fleeting memory that can be shared with friends and family.
“I’ve just got to find a picture of it, so I can put it up in the house,” Robinson said. “I went through high school without anything like that, so just to have it makes me want to get my hands on the ball again and run.”
Georgia was up 10-0 in the final minute of the first quarter when a snap sailed past Commodores quarterback Larry Smith, who tracked the ball down only to bobble it into the end zone. Dent originally was ruled to have recovered the ball in the back of the end zone, but replays showed he was out of bounds when he had possession.
The Bulldogs were awarded a safety that made it 12-0.
“Replay is good for the game, so they got it right, I guess,” Grantham said. “We’ll move forward, but we did get a couple of touchdowns there.”
Said Dent: “That’s why we have rules, but I liked seeing the guys out there flying around to the ball. We still got two points out of it.”
The safety was the first for Georgia since Zach Renner blocked a punt out of the end zone in last year’s 45-19 loss at Tennessee.
Dent led the Bulldogs with eight tackles, while Justin Houston had a sack to give him 6.5 for the season. Vanderbilt took its opening possession 45 yards on five plays but punted on fourth-and-2 from Georgia’s 37-yard line, which resulted in a touchback.
“They were playing field position, but our players did a good job of coming over and seeing some of the things they were doing on that first series,” Grantham said. “I thought we adjusted and handled it pretty well from then on out.”
Vandy did not get back into Georgia territory until the score was 43-0.