UGA Football: ‘Competitive Nature’ On Display At G-Day

There were deep balls and short touchdown runs. There were interceptions and even some late-game drama as Jared Zirkel connected on a 27-yard field goal as time expired to give the Black squad a 26-23 G-Day win over the Red on Saturday at Sanford Stadium.

While the result of Georgia’s spring football game didn’t really matter, as head coach Kirby Smart said afterward, what the Bulldogs individually and collectively did both in the annual scrimmage and during the 14 spring practices before very much did.

“It was a really competitive game, kind of a back-and-forth game, like it always is. We want it to be as much action, close, game coming down to the wire, not so much for you guys or the fans but for us,” Smart said. “I don’t think you get better in games that are lopsided, you get better in competitive action. We tried to make that happen as much as possible. … I was really proud of the competitive nature the guys played with today.”

The stakes for the game involved something that matters to all of the players: food. The winning team earned the right to chow down on steak and lobster, while the losers had to settle for beanie weenies. It’s not the same as playing in the National Championship Game, but what would you rather eat?

“We won — no beanies and weenies,” said a smiling Black squad rising offensive lineman Warren McClendon, who had to settle for the beanie weenies his freshman year. “Some people, they kind of like the beanies and weenies, and some people like the steak. It depends on the person.”

This G-Day game featured plenty of offense, almost all of it through the air. The Red squad threw for 341 yards and ran for 87, while the Black got 330 of its 348 yards of offense from the passing game. Starting quarterback Stetson Bennett threw for 273 yards and three touchdowns for the Black team, hitting on 15 of 35 attempts and throwing two interceptions.

“There was a lot of good and a lot of bad,” Bennett said.

At the end, with the game tied at 23, Bennett and the Black offense got the ball back with 55 seconds left at the Black 30-yard line. After a first-down incompletion, Bennett hit Brett Seither for 15 yards. Two plays later, he hit big tight end Arik Gilbert, who had a big day, for a 27-yard gain. Defensive back David Daniel-Sisavanh tried to make a play on the ball on Bennett’s throw and came up empty, allowing the 6-foot-5 and 248-pound Gilbert to make the catch and gain yardage to the Red 28.

Red defensive lineman Jalen Carter sacked Bennett on the next play, followed by an incompletion, but then on third-and-17 at the Red 35, Bennett hit Kearis Jackson for a 25-yard gain to the 10. That set up Zirkel for the game-winner.

Backups Carson Beck and Brock Vandagriff spent time playing for both teams, though predominantly on the Red squad, with Beck finishing a combined 14 of 26 for 274 yards and Vandagriff 12 of 26 for 117.

Smart, who stood behind the offense throughout the game, said he thought the quarterbacks did well Saturday and showed progress throughout the spring.

“Standing back there with them, they stood in the pocket, made good decisions with the ball, made some vertical plays down the field, and our style is, hey, we’re going to make shots,” he said. “It really wasn’t a shot-type day because it wasn’t a play-action type day, it was a drop-back pass type day. Those guys executed well and made some plays.

“They really all three got so much better during the spring. Just the growth within the offense, you see so much promise in each one of them.”

When it comes to the stakes of Saturday’s game, what happens to the players that saw action for both teams? Since Beck started with the Red team, Bennett joked, he should miss out on the steak and lobster.

“We are trying to make sure Carson eats beanie weenies because he said once he switched teams in the second half he was going to go with the winning one,” Bennett said. “We were like, ‘No… you’re with the Red team.'”
Gilbert, who sat out last season, had three catches. He caught the 27-yarder on the final drive and earlier he had touchdown catches of 16 and 6 yards.

“He has come on this spring,” Bennett said of Gilbert, who played his freshman year at LSU. “First of all, he’s just a freak. Second, he knows football. He knows space. Not just the two touchdown passes, but the one in the two-minute drill, right before we kicked to field goal to win the game. He made some great catches. I’m kind of getting that trust with him and getting to know where he is going to be on the field.”

Freshman tight end Oscar Delp led all receivers with seven catches for 91 yards for the Red team. Rising redshirt junior Dominick Blaylock added five catches for 67 yards for the Red and even attempted a pass on a trick play. Jackson and running back Kenny McIntosh led the Black squad four catches each. Jackson’s went for 107 yards, including 42 yards after the catch, and McIntosh for 48.

Cornerback Kelee Ringo, who clinched Georgia’s national championship with his late interception against Alabama, said Saturday’s game was a great way to wrap up a productive spring.

“I feel like we put out a good representation of what we did this spring,” he said. “A lot of young guys were able to go out there and showcase their talent and what they bring to the table.”

Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men’s Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He’s also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.