ATHENS — Tykee Smith played a terrific game for Georgia on Saturday at Vanderbilt. In fact, he was named defensive player of the game for the Bulldogs.
But it could not have started worse for the senior defensive back from Philadelphia. On the Commodores’ fifth play from scrimmage, it was Smith’s broken coverage that allowed receiver London Humphrey to run free through the middle of Georgia’s secondary for a 49-yard touchdown catch and a quick 7-0 lead.
The key for Smith and the Bulldogs is he didn’t let the play get the best of him. He came back to play another 39 snaps against the Commodores, and those could not have gone much better. Smith finished with five tackles, a quarterback pressure and the defensive play of the game – an interception right before halftime.
But that coverage breakdown was fresh on Smith’s mind in the aftermath of the Bulldogs’ 37-20 win.
“It was definitely a miscommunication,” Smith said in postgame interviews Saturday. “That was on me. I’ll take the blame for that.”
Smith was supposed to have inside leverage on the play, in which cornerback Kamari Lassiter released the split end inside where Smith was supposed to remain. Instead, Smith dropped straight back. By the time he realized what happened, Humphrey was splitting Georgia’s safeties and arriving at the end zone untouched.
“It was a good play, and we just had to go back to the drawing board and fix it,” Smith said. “We were looking for it at the beginning of the game, but we didn’t get it right. Definitely a tip of the cap to them.”
Georgia coach Kirby Smart addressed the issue right away. He met Smith even before he reached the sideline to explain what had occurred.
The Bulldogs didn’t exactly shut down quarterback Ken Seals and Vandy’s passing attack from that point – the Commodores finished with 201 yards and two TDs through the air – but they were able to slow it long enough for Georgia’s offense to get on track and mount a comeback.
“Tykee did a good job,” Smart said. “He had some plays that he didn’t do the right thing on either, though. So, he’s got to play better for us to be where we want to go, but he made some plays, too.”
He sure did. In fact, he made a few in a row at the end of the second quarter, which helped the Bulldogs seize control of the game.
Vanderbilt was on the move again after getting a first down at midfield approaching the final minute of the first half. On first-and-10 at the Vandy 45, the Commodores ran a counter play around left end, which Smith snuffed out and combined with Javon Bullard on a tackle of Jayden McGowan for no gain. On second down, Smith dropped McGowan again for a 2-yard gain on a quick-hitch completion to the right side of the field.
Finally, on third down, the Commodores tried to hit Junior Sherrill on a crossing pattern in the middle of the field. Smith, in man-to-man coverage, stepped in front to get a hand on the ball, bobbled it briefly, then hauled it in and carried it 8 yards before getting tackled from behind at the Georgia 45.
Four plays later, quarterback Carson Beck hit Dominic Lovett for a 4-yard touchdown, and the Bulldogs suddenly led 24-7 with 12 seconds remaining until halftime.
“My man ran a dig, and I was able to slide in front of him and make a play,” Smith said of his interception. “It came at a good time, but that was (quickly) in the past because I knew we had to come out in the second half strong.”
Georgia’s offense did, receiving the second-half kickoff and retaining possession for 8-1/2 minutes before settling for a field goal after a 19-play drive. But Vandy answered with a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive of its own to stay in the game at 27-14. The Commodores would score another TD on its next possession as well, though this one covered only 1 yard because of a Beck interception.
Accordingly, Smith was far from celebratory in postgame interviews.
“I don’t even care about the performance I had and what I did,” Smith said. “We’ve got to play better as a whole team, offense and defense. Going into the bye week, we’ve got to take this time to grow and get better. Definitely got to get back to the drawing board and clean that up.”
At the least, the Bulldogs know they can count on Smith to make defensive plays. In his third season after transferring to Georgia as a two-time All-American at West Virginia, he’s finally healthy and living up to the hype that followed him to Athens.
Entering the bye week, Smith ranks second on the team in tackles (27) and tackles for loss (4.0). He leads Georgia with four interceptions, which is second only to Kentucky’s Maxwell Harrison in the SEC and third nationally.
“Yeah, Tykee’s been really solid for us,” Smart said. “He had the huge interception before the half. He did a good job.”
