As expected, Georgia backups received a heavy workload in Saturday’s 56-7 win.
The participation list was an extensive one.
On offense, quarterback JT Daniels saw his first action in two weeks, completing 7 of 12 passes for 73 yards and one touchdown.
He was not the only one. Redshirt freshman Carson Beck started Georgia’s second offensive series, was picked off in the end zone to end his first possession but came back to hit tight end Brett Seither with a 9-yard touchdown pass. The score was the first of Seither’s career.
Beck finished 5 of 10 for 77 yards with the interception and the touchdown.
True freshman Brock Vandagriff finished out the contest, attempting one pass.
Many of Georgia’s young and seldom-used offensive linemen also received extended looks.
That group included Owen Condon (left tackle), Amarius Mims (right tackle), Austin Blaske (center), and Devin Willock (left guard). Two others, freshmen Micah Morris (left tackle) and Dylan Fairchild (left guard), saw thier first action. Redshirt freshman Chad Lindberg played in his fourth game, repping at right tackle.
At wide receiver, backup Jackson Meeks was the beneficiary of extra reps, while tight end Ryland Geode played for just the fifth time this year.
“When there’s good morale on your team with guys that played, they certainly give better effort in practice,” head coach Kirby Smart said. “I know the picture we’ll get in practice will be better.”
Defensively, Georgia’s second- and third-team unit played the entire second half.
Of note were true freshman defensive ends Jonathan Jefferson and Marlin Dean, defensive lineman Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, and linebacker John Staton IV, each seeing their first action, with outside linebacker MJ Sherman seeing his first extensive time on defense.
True freshman linebacker Xavian Sorey was also credited with an interception off a deflection by Dean, only to have the ball ripped away by Cayden Jordan, who raced away for a 65-yard touchdown.
Cornerback Kamari Lassiter, linebacker Juman Dumas-Johnson, safety David Daniel, defensive tackle Bill Norton, defensive tackle Tymon Mitchell, and safety William Poole were among those who also received their most reps of the year.
“Some of the younger players got a chance to play a lot of snaps. A lot of times you find out where you are, because a lot of times you hear how good they are, and maybe they go out and play against Charleston Southern and they don’t do as well as they think,” Smart said. “They start thinking maybe they should go back and get to work and get to work in the weight room, get to work in the classroom, get to work in nutrition, maybe take their reps a little more seriously. I think we’ve got some guys that maybe learned that today.”
Dumas-Johnson led the Bulldogs in tackles with six, followed by Daniel with five.
On Georgia’s final offensive possession, several longtime walk-ons received their opportunities. Among them were redshirt sophomore tight end Michael Haggerty and offensive lineman Blake Watson.
“So many of those young guys, it’s not just the guys on scholarship who need the reps to get better. For me, it’s about the walk-on guys, who go out there and put their body on the line and do everything the entire team does,” quarterback Stetson Bennett said. “They get beat up every day, but when we have a 5:30 a.m. run, they’re there doing everything. To see them get to go out there in front of 90,000 fans and live out their dream, that’s the coolest thing for me.”
Smart could not agree more.
“Great things to me were getting on the field. I really believe that. A young man who works really hard for us—we call him Sarge. (Michael) Haggerty, he’s been here a long time. He’s a tight end and works really hard. He got to go out and play. Matt Brown is one of the best walk-ons I’ve ever been around in terms of he never complains, all he does is complete and give great effort,” Smart said. “Blake Watson is a guy who’s a tackle, I can’t tell you how many snaps he’s taken on that scout team, and he got to go out there and play, just did a tremendous job. Jalen Kennerly, a nickel, Tyler Milachis—there were a lot of guys that got out there to play, and I was proud of them.”
