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Georgia’s backs have answered, but the Vanderbilt game asks another question
Nate Frazier did not play against Oklahoma after being a game-time decision. Georgia still scored 41 points and got touchdowns from two other backs. Chauncey Bowens scored twice on nine carries, while Dwight Phillips, Jr. ran for 84 yards on eight attempts, including a 54-yard touchdown. The production reflects a roster with alternatives; it does not settle how Georgia should build a full game around them.
Bowens’ recent work has been concentrated near the goal line. He scored three times at Arkansas and twice more against Oklahoma, finishing runs when the defense had little field left to surrender. His nine carries for 26 yards against the Sooners also show why touchdown totals cannot stand in for a complete account of the running game. The staff needs dependable gains between the 20s as well as someone who can finish the drive.
Phillips provided the explosive answer Saturday. His 54-yarder helped stretch the lead after Oklahoma had made the third quarter less comfortable. That play counts, of course. It also makes the distribution worth examining: 84 yards on eight rushes included one run accounting for most of the total. Against Vanderbilt, the question is whether Georgia can repeatedly create manageable second downs and stay out of the third-down traps that damaged the Commodores at Auburn.
The home team has several ways to do that. Gunner Stockton can punish a defense that crowds the box, as he did when he hit Talyn Taylor for a 35-yard touchdown against Oklahoma. Taylor finished with 110 receiving yards, giving Georgia an outside threat that makes a safety think before charging downhill. Tight end Ethan Barbour caught a fourth-down conversion on Georgia’s long opening scoring drive. Those plays mattered because the offense could keep drives alive even when the first rushing attempt didn’t solve everything.
Vanderbilt’s attack offers a warning about the opposite outcome. The Dores gained 311 yards at Auburn but converted only four of 17 third downs and scored one touchdown. Georgia does not need a spectacular rushing average to avoid that pattern. It needs backs who protect Stockton, linemen who prevent free penetration and a play caller who can use the threat of the run without asking every drive to survive third-and-seven.
Frazier’s status should be checked before this article posts; the available information through Sunday establishes only that he missed Oklahoma. Whatever the availability report brings, the Bulldogs have already shown they can score with Bowens and Phillips. Vanderbilt is the next chance to show that their running game can set the terms of a possession, rather than waiting for one long run to rescue it.
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