It was stunning to see Georgia open as 32 point favorites against Vanderbilt. It has been even more jaw-dropping to see that line grow to 33.5 over the course of the week.
Granted, the Commodores (1-4, 0-3 SEC) are not a very good team this year as they make the transition to new coach Derek Mason. But nearly a five-touchdown underdog to a conference opponent? That’s nearly unheard of.
As one might expect, the No. 13 Bulldogs (3-1, 1-1) are working hard to tune all that out.
“I don’t really have time to consider all that,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said when informed of the growing line on Wednesday.
“All I’m worried about is watching the film, getting the plan, trying to get our guys in the best possible shape and focused on the job at hand. Our lives are kind of crazy in that just about every minute of the day there’s something we’ve got to do. It’s always the next thing, the next thing, the next thing, the next thing, until somewhere between 10 and midnight, you go home and just kind of pass out and wake up and do it again.”
Helping the Bulldogs’ motivational cause is what happened last season in Nashville. Already playing shorthanded due to an avalanche of injuries, Georgia made every conceivable mistake that could be made and got out-scored 15-0 in the fourth quarter on the way to a 31-27 upset loss.
“We fought hard last year, we just didn’t play very smart at times,” Richt said. “Made some mistakes, some big mistakes. But they capitalized on a lot of big things that happened.”
“A lot of things happened in that game,” said linebacker Ramik Wilson, who was flagged for a controversial targeting penalty that led to one Vandy score. “Special teams, muffing the punt, snapping the ball over the punter’s head, those two calls and a lot of injuries too. A lot of factors in the game.”
While Vanderbilt has played Georgia close in Nashville of late, the same can’t be said of Athens. The Bulldogs have won by the combined scored of 91-3 the last three times they’ve met in Sanford Stadium. Of course, the time before that, 2006, the Commodores pulled off a 24-22 upset.
Last year’s events have the Bulldogs on guard against another such let down.
“Yeah, we’re motivated; I can promise you I’m motivated,” Richt said. “Hopefully our guys will see that and respond to that. But I think they’re motivated, too.”
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