Vandy Penalties

One final thing that I keep kicking around is how much the Vandy players got under the Georgia players' skin last year. Some of that was legit due to questionable blocking and such. Some was just flat out smack talk that Georgia's players didn't rise above. Georgia picked up eleven penalties, with three of them being personal fouls (2 on Shawn Williams, who was obviously letting Vandy's smack talk and play get to him). Vandy, on the other hand, only picked up one non-false start penalty, which was (not even the most egregious) illegal block.

Although, if he shows up with a goatee...
(Image: Hipple)

Last year, Vandy averaged over six penalties a game. This season, they are at 4.3...but a full 1/3 of their penalties are for personal fouls.  None of them are illegal blocks, which is interesting considering the new emphasis and change in the illegal blocking rule. Either Vandy has gotten chippier (more chippy?), officials are more closely policing them, or other teams are ignoring them or baiting them into being the second guy, who always gets caught.

What does that mean for tomorrow night? We have to let them talk, play hard football and get into their heads with hard play. We can't afford to give up yardage and first downs on either side of the ball due to bad decisions. New Vandy™ will be looking to establish their presence with authority. Just let our play tell them that it takes more than pointing and yelling brash talk to get respect.

TD

Tweet