Deadline Gamer
The Red Team Overcomes the Black Team 34-17 in Georgia’s Annual G-Day Game
The Red Team beat the Black team 34-17 in Georgia’s annual G-Day game. With a young team growing and developing, we saw some new faces and talent. Here are some key plays and what we learned about the game:
Keys to the game
Offensive line was performing well on the Red team to open up room for Stockton and Puglisi to complete passes. Georgia lost four starters on the offensive line, but have players such as Micah Morris, Drew Bobo, Earnest Green and Monroe Freeling that remain. Injuries in the previous season allowed for more players to file in and get reps throughout the season.
The quarterbacks showed some competition with completions and touchdowns from both Ryan Puglisi and Gunner Stockton. We saw some young faces, such as Hezekiah Millender who scrambled for a 15-yard rush. Colter Ginn got some reps in as well for 57 yards. Puglisi and Stockton got the most reps. Puglisi totaled 224 yards and threw two touchdowns between both teams, and Stockton totaled 309 yards and threw two touchdowns.
Black team was strong on defense. CJ Allen led the Black team with six tackles. Demello Jones played for both the Red and Black team with four tackles total. JaCorey Thomas was all over the field with three tackles. Daniel Harris had an interception and four tackles. We have also seen some new players such as Dominick Kelly on the Red team who had an interception. On the Red team, Zion Branch (seven tackles), Justin Williams (seven tackles) and Chris Cole (six tackles) stood out.
Zachariah Branch had a great start for the Red team. He was all over the field and completed several passes to gain yardage. His key pass was on the 1-yard line that set up Nate Frazier’s touchdown. Branch transferred from USC.
Wide receivers performed well on both teams, highlighting players on the Red team: Dillon Bell, Lawson Luckie, Zachariah Branch and Nate Frazier. Standout receivers on the Black team included London Humphreys, Ethan Barbour, Talyn Taylor and Sacovie White. The Red team totaled 441 yards and the Black team totaled 313 yards.
What we learned
With so many players leaving from the previous season, the team is very new and very young. Smart is working to get the younger players into shape and fill in missing gaps such as on the offensive line, wide receivers, and safeties.
There are many safeties, but there are not a lot of stand outs. Losing Dan Jackson and Malaki Starks has been hurtful, but they built a solid foundation and standard for players like K.J. Bolden and Daylen Everette.
Many other teams have cancelled their spring games based on a variety of reasons. Smart considered the possibility of not having a spring game, but continued with tradition. The game was not televised per usual, which could be a likely result of the spring transfer portal. Georgia is already low on players in some position areas, so losses from injuries and the transfer portal are harder to sustain.
There are certain returning starters such as tight ends Lawson Luckie and Oscar Delp leading the offense. The wide receivers struggled with completing passes last season, but players like London Humphreys, Demello Jones, Zakariah Branch, Jeremy Bell and Sacovie White are players who stuck out on offense.
Micah Morris is the only remaining player from Georgia’s 2021 recruiting class, and one of two players, alongside Cash Jones, remaining from the 2021 national championship team. Returning players are expected to step into leadership roles to prepare the young roster.
