Field Street Forum

ATHENS, Ga. — Jared Zirkel kicked a 27-yard field goal as time expired to lift Team Black to a 26-23 win over Team Red in Georgia’s G-Day Game on Saturday in front of 68,002 fans at Sanford Stadium and an ESPN2 audience.

Quarterback Stetson Bennett went 15-of-35 for 273 yards and three touchdowns to pace Team Black. Tailbacks Kenny McIntosh and Kendall Milton combined to rush for 44 yards on 12 carries. Kearis Jackson paced the receivers as he hauled in four passes for 107 yards, including a 25-yarder to set up Zirkel’s game-winning kick. Tight end Arik Gilbert pulled in three catches for 49 yards, including two scores.

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ATHENS, Ga. — University of Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart, along with several players, offered these comments following Saturday’s G-Day Game on Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium.

Head Coach Kirby Smart
Opening Statement … 
“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.  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 thought our fan base was awesome, to come out especially with the inclement weather earlier, to be able to come out and support us and give us a great atmosphere.  We’ve got a lot of good football players here today.  We’ve got a lot of good football players leaving, too, and got a lot of good football players on the field.  I was excited about that.  Really pleased with some things in the kicking game, and we’ve got a long way to go before we get where we need to go.  That’s the objective. I was really proud of the competitive nature the guys played with today.”

On redshirt-sophomore wide receiver Arik Gilbert … 
“Yeah, Arik is a really tough, physical player that’s done a good job.  I’m more proud of the practices he had leading up to today than today.  Today was a little bit icing on the cake.  He got some good breaks.  He had a ball that I think Stetson was throwing away that he ended up making a play on.
But he’s not where he needs to be, either.  There were two missed assignments where he didn’t block a guy that in the run game could kill us.  We get tackles for loss and we end up not blocking a guy.  He didn’t really have those kind of plays during the spring, but his conditioning level has got to continue to improve.  He lost a lot of weight, but just what he’s been through and overcome is such a great story, but he’s not where he needs to be.  He’ll be the first to tell you he’s got to continue to grow, to get in shape, to change his body, and he can get an opportunity to help us.  With the two other guys we’ve got coming back, it makes it a luxury of those guys being able to make us a special football team.”

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