Jordan Jenkins stands out in Georgia win over Vanderbilt

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- It doesn’t come easy in the Music City.

In recent years, No. 10 Georgia has found it tough to come away with victories on the road at Vanderbilt. Three of the four previous meetings between the two teams were decided by five points.

While the Bulldogs pulled out a 31-14 win, it was a game Vanderbilt (0-2, 0-1) was very much in deep into the fourth quarter.

Georgia (2-0, 1-0) committed 10 penalties for 92 yards, had outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter ejected for a targeting penalty and had two breakdowns on special teams -- one that led to a first-down run from Vanderbilt’s Tommy Openshaw and one that resulted in a recovered onside kick at Georgia’s 15-yard line in the fourth quarter.

Place-kicker Marshall Morgan missed two of his three field goal attempts. Quarterback Greyson Lambert went 0-for-5 in the first half and didn’t complete a pass until his eighth attempt of the game.

Yet throughout it all, Georgia still recorded a win.

Senior outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins is familiar with the bizarre scenarios that seem to play out at Vanderbilt Stadium. In 2013, Jenkins saw the game spiral out of control late with the Bulldogs losing.

He didn’t want that to happen this time.

“Every time I come here, there’s something that goes wrong,” Jenkins said. “There are always some bad things that always happen. Stuff doesn’t always go our way.”

Jenkins was the most consistent player for Georgia from start to finish. Jenkins finished with 11 tackles, 5½ tackles for loss and two sacks. Both of his sacks came in the first half, with Jenkins applying pressure on the Vanderbilt offense all game.

Even when Vanderbilt threatened in the fourth quarter following a pooch-kickoff and penalty, Jenkins was the one who put pressure on Vanderbilt quarterback Johnny McCrary on a second-and-goal play from Georgia’s 8-yard line. That helped lead to a timely interception from Jake Ganus.

“He’s got that ‘C’ on his chest for a reason,” Ganus said, referring to Jenkins’ team captain status. “He brings so much to the table. He brings so much energy and gets us going.”

Both of Jenkins’ sacks came in the first half, which gives him three for the season. It was also the first time since the 2013 Vanderbilt game that Jenkins recorded two sacks in a game. His 11 tackles set a career-best in a single outing.

“Jordan played with such a great edge,” head coach Mark Richt said. “Jordan decided to come back for his senior season. It was something he felt very strongly about. He felt like he had to get better, just some things he felt he could improve on. That’s what I like about him.”

Georgia got on the scoreboard first when Isaiah McKenzie returned a punt 77 yards for a touchdown at the 4:33 mark in the first quarter. Following a 47-yard field goal kicked by Vanderbilt’s Tommy Openshaw, running back Sony Michel took off for a 31-yard score in the second quarter to lengthen Georgia’s lead to 14-3. Openshaw added a 41-yard field goal to cut Georgia’s lead to 14-6 at the half.

Georgia scored the third quarter’s only points with a 20-yard field goal from Morgan and a 5-yard touchdown run from Lambert.

Leading 24-14 late, Georgia safety Dominick Sanders sealed the game by returning an interception 88 yards for a touchdown.

“I think Vanderbilt’s a tough football team. They play tough at home,” Richt said. “We just haven’t been able to finish it very often. We’ve had one game out of the last five times here where we haven’t had drama. We’ve had a lot of drama here."

This story was originally published September 12, 2015 at 9:29 PM with the headline "Jordan Jenkins stands out in Georgia win over Vanderbilt ."