NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Jay Cutler knows exactly how fifth-ranked Georgia will defend him Saturday night.
After No. 10 LSU blitzed Cutler into five sacks, 14 knockdowns and a helmet-to-helmet hit that left him with a sore jaw, the Vanderbilt quarterback wouldn't be surprised if Georgia coach Mark Richt decides to send everyone, maybe even Uga the bulldog mascot.
"Oh, definitely I expect them to blitz a lot. Cover one, a lot of man free, a lot of cover zero and bring everybody," Cutler said. "We didn't handle it well at all, and I expect to see the same from Georgia."
The looming question over Vanderbilt's best start in two decades has been whether these Commodores could stand up to the Southeastern Conference's best? Or will they fold and watch a season that started with four straight victories fizzle down the stretch?
The Commodores (4-2, 2-1) still have a chance for their best start in the league since 1950 if they can pull off an upset Saturday night against Georgia (5-0, 3-0).
Coach Bobby Johnson thinks his Commodores still have plenty of confidence that can help them rebound from two straight losses.
"Last week it was 12-6 going into the fourth quarter against LSU. Hopefully, our guys can build on the good things that happened this past week. Confidence is a big factor. If you don't have it, it is hard to win," Johnson said.
But LSU won that game 34-6. In their first test against a ranked opponent, Cutler didn't have time to find receivers and got no help from his sophomore running backs, Cassen Jackson-Garrison and Jeff Jennings. Vandy finished with a season-low 138 yards offense.
"We had a lot of one-on-one battles, and we lost the majority of them," Cutler said. "We got beat on the line, I made mistakes, and the receivers couldn't get off the line. It goes all around."
Coming off a 27-14 victory at Tennessee last week, this game wraps up a three-game SEC road swing for the Bulldogs. Richt, very mindful of taking a 2-0 lead into halftime in his last visit to Nashville, isn't taking what would be an 11th straight win in this series for granted.
He points out he voted for Cutler for All-SEC quarterback and can rattle off the Commodores' offensive stats: most first downs in the SEC, second in third-down conversions at 47.2 percent, third in time of possession and red-zone offense.
And the Commodores are third in the SEC East thanks to victories over Arkansas and Mississippi.
"They're still very much in the SEC race," Richt said. "They're very much in the race to become bowl eligible, which they haven't done in a while, so I know they're excited about that. They've got a heck of a good football team and historically we haven't played very well at Vanderbilt, so hopefully we can turn that around."
Traditionally, the Bulldogs have had an emotional letdown against Vanderbilt. It's tough on anybody playing in front of 35,000 fans a week after 108,000 at Tennessee.
Cutler leads the SEC in passing at 248.2 yards per game, but the Georgia's defense is 13th in the nation, allowing 278.8 yards and about 12 points per game.
Add in D.J. Shockley looking to improve to 6-0 as a starter with the SEC's top offense, it could be another long night for the Commodores.
"We'll be jumping from the frying pan into the fire again this week because we'll be playing another very talented football team," Johnson said.