UGA Football: Game Review – Red Team Tops Black In G-Day Game

ATHENS, Ga. — Spreading the ball around to 13 different receivers and playing solid defense, the Red team edged the Black, 34-17, in the Georgia football team’s G-Day spring scrimmage in front of a crowd of 35,033 at Sanford Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Gunner Stockton, who took over at quarterback in the SEC Championship Game last season after Carson Beck was injured and started against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff, led the Red squad to the win. He completed 17 of 34 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns. His top target was wideout Dillon Bell who finished with five catches for 78 yards. Sacovie White suited up at wideout for both teams and finished with a combined five receptions for 67 yards and a touchdown.

Ryan Puglisi, who started at quarterback for the Black team but also had some snaps with the Red, was a combined 23 of 49 for 224 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver London Humphreys had four catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns for the Black. Overall, the Red out-gained the Black 441-313.

The Red team got creative on its first play from scrimmage, with Stockton throwing a screen pass to the left to wideout Colbie Young, who then tried to complete a pass up the sideline to tight end Oscar Delp — but the pass fell well short.

Later, on the Red team’s second drive, Stockton produced the scrimmage’s first big play, a dart down the middle to tight end Lawson Luckie for a 26-yard gain. The Black defense forced the game’s first turnover soon after when cornerback Daniel Harris intercepted a deep ball in the right corner of the end zone.

The Red team took a 3-0 lead with 40 seconds left in the first quarter on Peyton Woodring’s 35-yard field goal, capping a nine-play, 50-yard drive. The possession featured a 12-yard rush to the right by running back Chauncey Bowens and a 15-yard reception by tight end Jaden Redell.

The Red defense continued to make life tough for the Black offense, but on third-and-14 at the Black 42, Puglisi hit wide receiver CJ Wiley for a 35-yard gain up the right side, with Wiley making a one-handed grab while well covered. Later, Puglisi hit White for nine yards on third-and-5, setting up a first-and-goal at the 9.

On third-and-goal at the 5, linebacker Chris Cole tipped Puglisi’s pass down the middle and the ball sailed out of the end zone. Kicker Liam Badger connected for a 23-yard field goal to tie the game 3-3 with 3:48 left in the half.

The Red squad got back to work on its next drive and started with a 13-yard end-around rush by Dillon Bell. Two plays later, Stockton hit wideout Cole Speer up the left side for 15 yards, to the Black 41. With 1:29 left in the half, the Red faced a fourth-and-6 at the 37, and Stockton hit wideout Zachariah Branch up the right side for a 36-yard gain to the 1. Frazier ran the ball in on the next play to make it 10-3 with 1:19 left in the half.

Cornerback Dominick Kelly got the ball right back for the Red team with an interception and 31-yard return up the left side. Stockton nearly hit Young for a touchdown on the next play, but Young was ruled out of bounds when he made the catch. The Red eventually had to settle for a 44-yard field goal by Woodring, putting the team up 13-3 with 29 seconds left in the half.

The Black team got the ball to start the second half and backup quarterback Colter Ginn hit Humphreys for a 50-yard gain to the Red 20 on the first play of the drive. Later, on second goal at the 7, Ginn hit Humphreys for a touchdown with 11:51 to go in the third.

Puglisi led the Red team on a touchdown drive to push the lead back to 10, 20-10, with 7:21 left in the third. It started on the ground with two good runs by Bowens for a combined 17 yards, featured a 19-yard catch by Dillon Bell, and ended when Puglsi hit Young for a 17-yard score on the left side.

The Red team went ahead 27-10 with 3:17 left in the third when Stockton, back in at QB, hit Dillon Bell for 49 yards down the middle on the first play of the drive, and then hit Jeremy Bell for a 31-yard score on the next. The Black answered with a scoring drive to wrap up the third quarter, cutting the Red lead to 27-17 on a short shovel pass from Puglisi to Humphreys for a 3-yard score. Running back Bo Walker had a 30-yard run to the 3 to set up the touchdown.

In the final two minutes, Stockton hit White for 24 yards and 23 yards on back-to-back plays, the last for a touchdown in the left corner of the end zone to make it 34-17 with 1:23 remaining.

Defensively, both teams got interceptions in the secondary, both teams put pressure on the quarterbacks, and the teams combined to knock down or break up 16 passes. Linebacker CJ Allen led the Black defense with eight tackles, including three for loss. Linebacker Justin Williams led the Red defense with nine stops, three of them behind the line of scrimmage.

The Bulldogs return to Dooley Field on Aug. 30, when they kick off their 2025 season against Marshall.