Georgia Football Host Vanderbilt – Another Blowout On The Way? – Sports Illustrated

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ATHENS – The Georgia football team enter week five playing as well as anyone in the country. Now they'll host a Vanderbilt team coming off their first loss of the season to the Auburn Tigers. Here's what you need to know about Vanderbilt…
Flags Are A Problem For The Commodores
Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea is a well-respected coach within the league and typically has them playing sound, disciplined football. However, the 'Dores are playing extremely undisciplined at the moment. Vanderbilt accounted for eight penalties during their 21-15 loss to Auburn over the weekend and committed an eye-opening 13 penalties during their incredibly last-second win over N.C State. They're not playing efficiently on offense and their defense, while playing strong overall against Auburn, can be undisciplined and inconsistent. It will only get harder for them this weekend inside Sanford Stadium.
Question At Quarterback
One of the surprises this week in the injury report was that Vanderbilt starting quarterback Jared Curtis is now listed as "questionable" to play. The extremely talented true freshman and the entire Vanderbilt offense struggled last week at Auburn and look out of sorts along the offensive line. That's bad news for whoever gets the first snap at quarterback. Curtis, a former Bulldog commitment during the recruitment process, is still likely to see the field from what we're hearing behind the scenes. On the season he's thrown for 746 yards and four touchdowns and three INTs while being sacked seven times. The backup, Blaze Berlowitz, has thrown for 178 yards.
Watch Out For Linebackers
It's tough to stop run-stuffing linebackers with a struggling offensive line, and we saw that last week during Vanderbilt's tight 21-15 loss to Auburn. Tiger linebacker Xavier Atkins had a terrific day against the Vanderbilt offense, securing nine tackles, one sack and three tackles behind the line of scrimmage. He played fast and closed running lanes all game long. Bulldog linebacker Chris Cole is coming off one of the more productive games of his career and should be in a position to make more big plays this weekend.
4th Down Success
If there's one thing Vanderbilt has done well on offense it's been their success on 4th down. The Commodores are 10/14 on 4th down this season and are coming off a loss against Auburn where they converted four of five 4th downs opportunities. They converted on three of their four attempts on 4th down during their improbable win over N.C State as well. They have no problem taking a risk or two on offense, and if they get down to the Bulldogs, they'll have to take more 4th down risks this weekend.
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Matt DeBary started his career covering college football in 2014. DeBary's reporting has covered the likes of Trevor Lawrence, Kirby Smart, Stetson Bennett, Brock Bowers, Nick Chubb, Nolan Smith, Travon Walker, Sony Michel, George Pickens and a slew of other high-profile players including Jared Curtis, Caleb Downs, Derrick Brown, Andrew Thomas, Kelee Ringo, Darnell Washington, Azeez Ojulari and Mecole Hardman. His direct-to-the-point everyman commentary has made him one of the most-respected voices in the market. DeBary has covered SEC Championships, Peach Bowls, Orange Bowls, Sugar Bowls, the Rose Bowl Game and College Football Playoff National Championship Games. DeBary graduated from Kennesaw State. He assistant the football program there during his time as a student. He joined Dawg Post in 2015. DeBary is a native of Cumming, Georgia
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