No. 2 Georgia beats Vanderbilt 38-14 as Stockton throws three touchdowns

Georgia pulls away after a fast start from both sides

Georgia opened the scoring with 6:57 left in the first quarter on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Gunner Stockton to Landon Roldan. Vanderbilt answered with 12 seconds left in the quarter, a 60-yard touchdown pass from Blaze Berlowitz to Junior Sherrill that tied the game at 7-7. That was the last time it was close. Georgia scored three touchdowns in the second quarter: a 1-yard run from Chauncey Bowens with 14:29 left and a 1-yard run from Jaden Reddell with 3:58 left, putting the Bulldogs up 21-7. Vanderbilt answered with 31 seconds left before half, a 2-yard run from Sedrick Alexander that cut it to 21-14, but Georgia pulled away again after the break. Stockton hit Elyiss Williams for a touchdown with 8:21 left in the third quarter, Peyton Woodring kicked a 39-yard field goal with 12:27 left in the fourth, and Stockton closed out the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Dwight Phillips Jr. with 6:02 left. Final score at Sanford Stadium in Athens: Georgia 38, Vanderbilt 14.

Stockton spreads the ball around

Stockton finished 25 of 32 for 295 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions. He spread the scoring around to three different receivers: Roldan, Williams and Phillips. Phillips led Georgia's receivers with five catches for 75 yards and the one touchdown. On the ground, Bo Walker did the most with the least work, five carries for 71 yards. Georgia finished with 471 total yards, 295 passing and 176 rushing, to Vanderbilt's 293, and held a 26 to 13 advantage in first downs.

Vanderbilt couldn't sustain its burst

Junior Sherrill put together the best individual day on either side, seven catches for 107 yards and the touchdown that tied the game in the first quarter. Blaze Berlowitz threw for 190 yards and ran for 37 more on top of that, but he also threw an interception, and Vanderbilt couldn't keep up once Georgia's second quarter got rolling. On defense, CJ Heard led Vanderbilt with nine tackles and a sack, the kind of individual showing that doesn't change the scoreboard when the offense can't finish drives.

By the numbers

Georgia protected the ball and the line of scrimmage all day. The Bulldogs finished with zero turnovers to Vanderbilt's one, and four penalties for 40 yards compared to Vanderbilt's nine for 60. Georgia moved to 5-0 overall and 4-0 in SEC play with the win. Vanderbilt dropped to 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the SEC. On defense, Raylen Wilson led Georgia with seven tackles and Gabe Harris Jr. added a sack.

Facts per ESPN box score. Opinion is the taproom's.