Hoping that losing to Mississippi State last week will be enough motivation to win this Saturday against Georgia certainly is not enough for the No. 22 Vanderbilt Commodores (5-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) to bank on when they face the No. 10 Bulldogs. That loss, however, did provide Vanderbilt with a wake-up call to spark its anemic offense before going into their toughest challenge of the season.

That spark is personified by the replacement of redshirt senior Chris Nickson with redshirt junior Mackenzi Adams as the starting quarterback after Nickson went 3-10 for 15 yards with an interception against Mississippi State.

Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson was asked whether his team would have an edge going into Athens because of the loss to Mississippi State.

"Well, I certainly hope so," said Johnson. "We want to play a whole lot better than we played against Mississippi State. Believe me, it'll take that to have a chance to win."

Although the Commodores went "between the hedges" in 2006 and came away victorious against Georgia, their task will be extremely difficult this Saturday against the Bulldogs (5-1, 2-1 SEC). Georgia is coming off of a lackluster victory over a struggling Tennessee team and an embarrassing defeat at home against Alabama the week before. Needless to say, the Bulldogs will be hungry to regroup against a ranked SEC opponent. Vanderbilt is also looking to re-group and is putting the ball into the hands of Adams, who led the team to victory against Auburn three weeks ago.

"We're definitely confident," said Adams. "We didn't play well last week, but we put it behind us and I think we'll be fine. I'm glad I get a chance to help the team win and hopefully provide a spark. We just have to move the ball and score points."

Though the Commodores and Bulldogs stand at 5-1 going into the game, the two are vastly different teams. Georgia's offense is more explosive with the help of redshirt sophomore phenom Knowshon Moreno, whose play at running back and average of just less than 100 rushing yards per game has carried the team. The Georgia offense also leads the SEC in total offensive yards and total passing yards.

"They've got it all - a running game, a passing game," Johnson said. "They're averaging some pretty gaudy numbers now. They've got all the ingredients."

The Vanderbilt defense has proven to be up to the challenge this year, but this is the most high-powered offense they have faced all year. The Vanderbilt offense will still need to show up in a big way to keep it close.

Johnson believes Adams is the man for the job.

"I think he will bring a fresh start to the team," Johnson said. "He can find the open receivers and do a good job hitting the receivers. Mackenzi is a good athlete and he has shown he can make some very fine runs this year."

Going with Adams after only one loss was a move that gained some interest around the sports talk world, but Johnson and the team are confident going into the game. If the Commodores can execute they way they did earlier in the season, use their poor performance against Mississippi State last week as a learning experience and maintain poise in a difficult Athens environment, they should be able to keep it close against the Bulldogs.

This Vanderbilt team has played in tough atmospheres before, is motivated after their first loss of the year and is still looking for that elusive sixth win. If they do it against Georgia this weekend, it will be an amazing accomplishment for one of the most surprising teams in college football.