G-Day News and Notes

Following Saturday’s G-Day game Kirby Smart was asked if this was the deepest quarterback room he’s had during his previous five years as Georgia’s head coach.

His answer may or may not surprise you.

After all, during Smart’s tenure, he’s coached the likes of Jacob Eason, Jake Fromm, and Justin Fields. Although the trio was briefly together when Fields initially came to Georgia as an early enrollee, Smart acknowledged his current quartet of JT Daniels, Carson Beck, Stetson Bennett, and Brock Vandagriff has a pretty positive feel.

“Top to bottom, I really feel really good about all four of them. I don’t know that we can say we’ve ever had four that you feel confident about. These four I feel really good about,” Smart said. “I think they’re good football players. I think they’re bright, I think they are intelligent, and they challenge themselves.”

All four certainly flashed during Saturday’s G-Day game, won by the Red team over the Black, 28-23.

Daniels completed 28 of 41 passes for 324 yards and three touchdowns while quarterbacking the Red squad, with Beck completing 22 of 31 passes for 236 yards and two scores for the Black.

Stetson Bennett completed three of the four passes he attempted for 58 yards, while Vandagriff made a favorable impression with his play in front of Georgia fans for the first time.

The former five-star completed the first two passes he attempted before running for 13 yards. He finished 6 of 9 for 47 yards.

Per Smart, what fans saw Saturday was basically what he and his offensive coaches witnessed all during the spring.

“It’s hard to compare it to other years, as we’ve certainly had a talented quarterback room before. But with four guys you feel good about, it’s hard to have that in college football. They challenged themselves, and to be honest, we set our practices up where they get to develop,” Smart said. “You only got to see a piece of that today, and it’s unfortunate, because there’s only one quarterback on the field at a time. In our practices, a lot of times there are two out there and more reps available. So, we’re trying to get their growth to happen a little faster than it would without getting the reps.”

Georgia’s first-team offensive line was as follows: Xavier Truss (left tackle), Justin Shaffer (left guard), Warren Ericson (center), Tate Ratledge (right guard), and Warren McClendon (right tackle).

Jamaree Salyer would rotate with Shaffer at left guard later in the game. He also played left tackle at times.

Smart made it clear, however, that every spot on the line definitely remains in flux, and will not be decided until sometime during fall camp.

“It’s all up for grabs. We’ll review the tape and see how they did,” Smart said. “Jamaree didn’t get to practice all spring; he had some practices he had to miss, so he might have been a little rusty out there.”

The second-unit shaped up with Amarius Mims (left tackle), Clay Webb (left guard), Sedrick Van-Pran (center), Owen Condon (right guard), and Broderick Jones (right tackle).

“In the SEC, you’ve got to have a firm pocket, and you’ve got to be able to move people. You’re going to go against the best defensive lines every year in our conference, and you’ve got to have some mass,” Smart said. “You’ve got to have some guys who can sustain heavy rushers, and we think Tate does a good job with that. Shaffer and Jamaree have been splitting some reps, and Jamaree has been doubling up with Truss. We’re not where we need to be with the offensive line.

“If we’re going to be a good team, we’ve got to protect the quarterback, and we’ve got to be able to run the ball. That’s one of the areas we’re going to have to take the largest leaps to get where we want to go.”

Georgia’s first-team secondary on the Black squad consisted at Ameer Speed and Jalen Kimber at cornerback, Lewis Cine and Christopher Smith at safety, and Latavious Brini at star.

Redshirt freshman Kelee Ringo played corner for the Red team.

Others on the second unit included Lovasea Carroll (cornerback), Javon Bullard (star), Dan Jackson (safety), and Major Burns (safety).

Smart said challenging the group was one of the major G-Day goals.

“The more you throw the ball, the more you challenge them. You challenge them by what you call. But you also challenge them by putting air in the ball and throwing it around,” Smart said. “So, we got to challenge those guys.”

Smart said that work will continue over the summer.

“We’ll get to do that all summer in seven-on-seven. We’ve got to grow and get better, and we’ve got good players. We’ve got to coach them up and get them ready to play at a high level. They’ll get challenged obviously in our opener and in conference play,” Smart said. “The teams that we play next year, there’s some teams that can sling the ball. This game’s about skill. So, if you’ve got skill level out on the perimeter, it’s hard to stop people. I don’t care who your corners are, how good your corners are, you’re not shutting people down.”

…During special team warmups, Kearis Jackson, Arian Smith, James Cook, Zamir White, and Daijun Edwards fielded balls during kickoff.

…George Pickens attended Saturday’s G-Day. The junior has already had surgery to repair his torn ACL, but it was interesting that he was not using crutches while he watched the game from the sidelines.

…Freshman cornerback Nyland Green did not take part. Sources tell UGASports he was under Covid-19 protocol.

…Jermaine Burton, Arian Smith, Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint and Justin Robinson dressed out, albeit in white, non-contact jerseys.

…Walk-on quarterback Nathan Priestley lined up at and played wide receiver asUGASports reported he would

…Punter Jake Camarda received some work at kicker, missing a 42-yard field goal on the Red Team’s opening drive.

…We’d heard that freshman receiver Adonai Mitchell had been making waves, and he proved it by starting for the Red team and finishing with a game-best seven catches for 105 yards and a touchdown.

…Darnell Washington’s 53-yard catch from Caron Beck was a thing of beauty. Washington (6-foot-7 and 265 pounds) made a nice catch and rolled right over safety Dan Jackson on his way down to the 8-yard line. Kendall Milton scored from 8 yards out to convert the Black team’s opening drive.

…Ladd McConkey returned the first punt for the Black Team.

…Although he was in a white, non-contact jersey, Arian Smith (wrist) was able to play, and just missed hauling in what would have been a long pass from Carson Beck.

…Lewis Cine and Dan Jackson had interceptions in the game.