MVDs: Most Valuable ‘Dawgs From Georgia’s Win Over Vandy

All ‘Dawgs are created equal. But on some fall Saturdays certain ‘Dawgs distinguish themselves over and above their brethren. They are the MVDs. The Most Valuable ‘Dawgs, and for Georgia’s 30-6 win at Vanderbilt they are as follows:

Offense: the offensive line. The whole lot of them. Running for 324 yards in a season opener doesn’t just happen, and while the talented stable of running backs behind them certainly helped, these guys were opening holes I could have run through. Also of note, I think the one holding call on Isaiah Wilson early was the only penalty for the whole unit. Not a single offsides penalty, lineman downfield, or similar mental error. That’s equally impressive.

Defense: This was a tough one, but I’m going with Monty Rice. His 7 tackles tied with Mark Webb for the team lead, but the big selling point for me was that he did a great job finding and bottling up star tailback Ke’shawn Vaughn all night. Vandy fans crowed about Vaughn being the best tailback in the league before the game. He finished the night with a pedestrian 74 yards on 15 carries. A lot of that was Monty Rice.

Special teams: Rodrigo Blankenship. Punter Jake Camarda hit a couple of nice seven iron shots, and Tyler Simmons would have had a mile’s worth of punt return yards if we could have avoided holding penalties. But Rodri-Goat hit three extra points, three field goals, and knocked every kickoff out of the back of the end zone except the one he was told not to (and that one was downed inside the twenty). His presence remains a blessing of which we are not worthy, and a debt which we’ll never be able to pay back.

So am I right or am I wrong? Which ‘Dawgs do you believe did the most to bring home the victory?

Go ‘Dawgs!!!