Feeling Right At Home In Nashville
September 01, 2019 | Football, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The weight of starting the season with a road Southeastern Conference game isn't quite as heavy when you have thousands and thousands of helpers around to lend you a hand. And when you're No. 3-ranked Georgia, loaded with talent and drive.
Kicking off their 2019 season in front of a sellout crowd of 40,350 Saturday night at Vanderbilt Stadium, the Bulldogs were in their road white jerseys and surrounded by 25,000 or so of their faithful fans, most of them in red. It was a good night for the guys in white and red, with Georgia jumping on the Commodores from the outset with touchdowns on its first three drives and winning comfortably, 30-6.
It wasn't a blowout on the scoreboard, and it wasn't always pretty, but Georgia was never threatened in this one.
"We grew up some tonight," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said, adding that his team has "barely scratched the surface" of what it can be.Â
Smart and the players praised the Georgia crowd for showing up in Nashville and taking over the Commodores' stadium.
"It feels like we're at a home game," said senior running back Brian Herrien, who started in the backfield and had 65 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.
At worst, Saturday's tilt in the coziest stadium in the SEC felt like a neutral-site game, with at least one cheer for every boo as the Bulldogs ran onto the field. There wasn't the anticipation or gravitas of Georgia's now-legendary visit to Notre Dame in 2017, but the road-game takeover had a similar feel. Right below the huge section of Georgia fans in red on the UGA side of the field was an SEC logo and the words "THIS IS COMMODORE COUNTRY."
Not Saturday, it wasn't.
"The way we travel, thank you to all of the fans that come out and support us. It's a home game every time we're away," said running back D'Andre Swift after rushing for a game-high 149 yards on 16 attempts.
Nobody will ever mistake Vanderbilt Stadium for Notre Dame Stadium, but it is no small thing when Georgia's fans travel so well and make the Bulldogs feel right at home — especially in a season- and conference-opener. And don't think for a second that it goes unnoticed by the folks playing and by the coaches.
Smart started his postgame news conference by thanking the fans, saying "I think it's pretty obvious that we took over the majority of that stadium. It sure felt like a home game with the people there, the fourth-quarter lights, it was pretty special."
Fired up by the mass of fans in red and fired up to finally be teeing it up on a Saturday night again, the Bulldogs asserted themselves from the opening drive. After receiving the kickoff to start their 2019 season, Herrien ran for 11 yards. That was followed by a Jake Fromm pass right to James Cook for 7 yards, followed by Swift's 16-yard run and a Vandy personal foul on the play.
Soon enough, with maximum efficiency, the ball was in the hands of Demetris Robertson in the back of the end zone — a 3-yard touchdown catch the first reception of the redshirt junior's Georgia career. Eight plays, 75 yards, 3:59 off the clock and a bunch of offensive weapons engaged (including an 11-yard Tyler Simmons run on an end-around).
Cook made it 14-0 late in the first quarter with an 18-yard run and then Herrien put Georgia up 21-0 midway through the second. Meanwhile, Georgia's defense contained the Commodores' talented skill-position players and held Vandy without a touchdown.
On a busy opening Saturday, it's no small thing that the Bulldogs flexed a bit of muscle against Vandy given what happened elsewhere: Tennessee losing at home to Georgia State, South Carolina lost to North Carolina in Charlotte and Missouri losing at Wyoming. While those weren't conference games like the Bulldogs' win was, they were high-profile losses.
There was little chance of Georgia also stumbling out of the blocks. The Bulldogs led 14-0 after the first quarter, 21-0 soon after and Vandy never threatened despite some sloppy stretches by Georgia (10 penalties for 117 yards). It's easy to get distracted by the penalties and other mistakes but they don't overshadow the Bulldogs outgaining Vandy 481-225 and rushing for 325 yards on 40 carries.
In the third quarter, the Georgia faithful really made their voices heard when redshirt freshman running back Zamir White jogged onto the field for the first time as a Bulldog. White, the highly-touted prospect who missed last season with a knee injury, was greeted with a thunderous "ZEUSSSSS!!!!!" from the crowd, stretching out his nickname for several seconds.
But White didn't touch the ball on that first play, it was a pass play that was nixed by a Georgia penalty. After more cheers of "ZEUSSSSS!!!!!" before the ensuing snap, White took the ball from Fromm and ran for 2 yards. It wasn't a start worthy of the Hall of Fame, but it was a start and the Georgia fans showed him their appreciation for the work he put in to return this season and they showed their high exceptions for the talented back.
Later in the quarter, White again was greeted by the crowd, which clearly loved to scream his nickname, and this time he took a Fromm handoff and broke free of the line of scrimmage, cut to the outside and ran 27 yards before the ball was poked out from behind and rolled out of bounds.
It was a promising play with a sloppy ending for White, but in the end he finally made his college debut after all he's been through and ended up with 51 yards on five carries.
"I'm happy to see everybody eat," Swift said, referring to a multitude of backs making plays.
The beginning Saturday was beautiful: the crowd, the Bulldogs' start, the 21-0 lead. The rest could have been better. Regardless of style points, Georgia left Nashville with a record of 1-0. You can't ask for more than that, especially if you were among the thousands that came here and made themselves right at home in Vandy's stadium.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
