G-DAY GAME: G-DAY REPORT: King loses a little ground to Thomas

Athens —- When spring practice began, Caleb King was No. 1 and Carlton Thomas No. 2 on Georgia’s depth chart at tailback.

Now?

“They are probably co-1’s,” offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said after Saturday’s G-Day game. “I was very pleased with both of them today.”

Thomas, 5 feet 7, 170 pounds from Frostproof, Fla., completed a superb spring by rushing for a game-high 59 yards on eight carries, including a 20-yard run for the day’s only touchdown.

“Carlton did what he has done all spring, which is make plays in space,” Bobo said. “He’s electric.”

King, a 5-11, 212-pounder from Norcross, rushed seven times for 22 yards. He and Thomas played on the victorious “Red” team.

“I thought both of them ran the ball hard and finished runs,” Bobo said. “Caleb has done a nice job picking up the blitz this spring.”

The competition for Knowshon Moreno’s old job as starting tailback will go into the summer, when Richard Samuel —- who missed spring practice because of wrist surgery —- will join the competition. Others in the mix will be Dontavius Jackson, Fred Munzenmaier and Kalvin Daniels.

“I know all the running backs are going to compete as hard as they can to try to get [the job],” King said Saturday, “and I’ll do the same.”

“We’re not going to have just one back,” Thomas said. “We’ll need at least three.”

Indeed, Georgia might have tailback-by-committee —- a sharp contrast to Moreno’s dominance of the position last year.

“Right now, I can’t say we’d feature one guy,” coach Mark Richt said. “But by the end of [summer] camp, or after two or three games, it might be defined.”

Quarterback battle

Freshman quarterback Aaron Murray made his Sanford Stadium debut, completing 3 of 5 passes for 62 yards in the G-Day game.

“My stomach was definitely turning when I got on the field,” he said. “I got more comfortable each snap.”

Murray and fellow freshman QB Zach Mettenberger got a jump on their college careers by finishing high school a semester early, enrolling at Georgia in January and participating in spring practice.

“It’s a big adjustment, and I just tried to get better every day,” Murray said. “From Day 1 until now, I felt I got a lot better.”

Murray’s numbers in spring scrimmages, including Saturday’s, were better than Mettenberger’s, but coaches say they were impressed by both. Bobo said they will enter summer practice as co-No. 3 quarterbacks behind starter Joe Cox and No. 2 Logan Gray. Bobo said Gray, who completed 9 of 13 passes Saturday, developed more consistency this spring.

Etc.

Fans attending the G-Day game donated some 15,000 pounds of food items to the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia. … New Georgia basketball coach Mark Fox got an enthusiastic ovation when introduced at midfield. … Asked if life feels different as starting QB, Cox said: “It feels pretty different right now.” He was surrounded by reporters at the time. … Richt on defensive end Justin Houston, credited with three G-Day sacks: “I think he’s ready to really be productive.”