Georgia football winners and losers after crushing Vanderbilt

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Georgia football winners and losers after crushing Vanderbilt

Winner: Jalen Carter

On a day where the Georgia defense had just one sack, it might be hard to select a standout player. Chris Smith and Kamari Lassiter both had interceptions. No player had more than 3 total tackles. It was truly a total team effort in shutting out Vanderbilt.

But it was very obvious to those who watched just how dominant Jalen Carter was against the Vanderbilt Commodores. He was one of six Georgia defenders to wrap up 3 tackles on the day.

One of those went for a loss. Another came on a third-down to end Vanderbilt’s opening drive of the game. He added a quarterback pressure that forced an incompletion to end another Vanderbilt drive.

Carter would probably be the most talented player on Vanderbilt’s team. He did not even start for the Bulldogs.

Georgia’s September schedule was quite soft. Its slate of October games will be much tougher.

As of this writing, three of Georgia’s next four games will come against teams that are currently ranked in the AP Poll. The fourth team is Kentucky, which happens to be 4-0 on the season.

Two of those ranked contests will come against teams currently ranked in the top-10. The first comes this Saturday when No. 8 Arkansas visits Sanford Stadium. To end the month, the Bulldogs will take on No. 10 Florida in Jacksonville, Fla.

This next month will tell us a lot about just how serious Georgia is about being a national title contender. The Bulldogs have aced just about every test so far in the 2021 season. But the next four teams should provide a stiffer test than what Georgia saw against Vanderbilt, South Carolina, UAB and Clemson to this point.

Related: Arkansas win, Clemson loss show why Georgia football must continue to play to its ‘standard’

Not many people would’ve said that to start the season, given the expectations for Clemson and Arkansas. But one of those teams is in the top-10, while the other is holding on at No. 25 in the AP Poll.