The reports of Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. At least for one week against a vastly inferior opponent.

Bennett threw for 289 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead Georgia to a 55-0 win over visiting Vanderbilt on Saturday in Athens. The win kept Georgia (7-0, 4-0) undefeated heading into its bye week, where it will rest and prepare for a 4-week slate that will decide the fate of its season. Vanderbilt, meanwhile, fell to 3-4. All 4 of its losses have come against ranked opponents.

With games against Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi State and Kentucky on tap, the Bulldogs took care of business against the Commodores on both sides of the ball.

On its first drive of the game, Georgia mixed the run and pass effectively to move 75 yards in 10 plays for a score. Bennett completed 3-of-4 passes for 45 yards on the drive, which culminated in an 11-yard pass to running back Kenny McIntosh.

Two possessions later, the Bulldogs needed just 4 plays to go 42 yards. Bennett completed 3 straight passes for 35 yards, and McIntosh reached pay dirt again on a 7-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0.

Georgia added 2 more touchdowns before halftime, a 1-yard run by Daijun Edwards and a 10-yard pass to Dominick Blaylock to make it 28-0. The touchdown reception for Blaylock was his first since the 2019 season after battling injuries.

Backup quarterback Carson Beck entered the game early in the fourth quarter and added a touchdown pass to freshman Dillon Bell to extend the Georgia lead to 41-0. He later found Arik Gilbert for a 4-yard TD. Cash Jones completed the scoring with a 36-yard TD run.

Georgia passers connected with more than 10 receivers in the game for over 300 yards passing. It was a return to the passing success the team experienced early in the season before 3 weeks of a struggling offense.

Bennett had failed to throw a touchdown pass for 3 straight games before tossing 2 in the win against Vanderbilt.

The Georgia defense showed up as well, holding Vanderbilt to fewer than 40 yards rushing. Including the 62-0 win over the Commodores in 2021, Georgia has scored over 100 consecutive points without allowing a score. Nolan Smith recorded a sack for the Bulldogs, and Vanderbilt fumbled once that was recovered by Georgia’s Christopher Smith. The Bulldogs converted the opportunity for a touchdown on their ensuing drive to go ahead by 28 points.

While it was against an inferior opponent, it was a welcome site for Georgia fans to see quarterback Bennett back in a groove after questions had arisen in recent weeks.

Georgia will have a harder time after its bye next week when it travels to Jacksonville for the annual showdown with Florida. It will play No. 6 Tennessee the following week, which was leading No. 3 Alabama at the time of publication.

Vanderbilt plays on Oct. 22 at Missouri, a team that gave Georgia fits 2 weeks ago but hasn’t won a game since.