Georgia stock report: Bulldogs ring the bell 55 times, skill players on upswing

By Mike Griffith, DawgNation

October 17, 2022 at 10:23 am EDT

Darnell Washington Georgia tight end Darnell Washington (0) during the Bulldogs 55-0 win over Vanderbilt in a game played October 15, 2022, at Sanford Stadium at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA. Photo credit Perry McIntyre. (Perry McIntyre/© 2022 Perry McIntyre)

By Mike Griffith, DawgNation

October 17, 2022 at 10:23 am EDT

ATHENS — Georgia football rang the bell 55 times on Saturday, doing what the No. 1 team in the nation should do against the worst defense in the Power 5 ranks.

“That was an outmanned team,” Smart said of Vanderbilt after the Bulldogs disposed of the Commodores 55-0 at Sanford Stadium. “We were better than they were.”

Smart kept the hammer down on Vanderbilt, the program that cost his 2020 seniors an opportunity to set the school record for most wins by a class when the Commodores canceled twice amid covid conditions.

It’s likely Georgia’s decision to allow quarterback Carson Beck to throw the football in the fourth quarter had more to do with the need for Beck to have game reps under his belt should anything happen to starter Stetson Bennett.

Smart and his staff substituted so liberally that walk-on running back Cash Jones scored a touchdown on a handoff from third-team quarterback Brock Vandagriff.