Georgia won.
That should come as no surprise as Georgia was actually playing Georgia. But in the eyes of coach Mark Richt and his staff, the Bulldogs were playing Clemson as they held a game-simulation scrimmage Wednesday night at Sanford Stadium.
And apparently Georgia had to fight hard for the victory. The Bulldogs won 42-41 on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Murray to Arthur Lynch and an extra point from somebody Richt would not identify. The scrimmage was closed to media and the public, so all information and any statistics provided came from UGA.
The good news is that Georgia’s “win” came in one half of football after Clemson had been staked to a 28-0 halftime advantage. The bad news was the Bulldogs’ varsity defense gave up 13 points, including “one legitimate touchdown drive,” to a scout team running the Tigers’ offense.
“Georgia had to go down the field to score and make the extra point to win the game with just a couple of seconds on the clock,” Richt said, completely serious. “Georgia won 42-41 in a barn-burner.”
Clemson and Georgia will play for real on Aug. 31.
Statistical standouts for the Bulldogs’ varsity squad were Murray, who had 194 yards and three touchdowns on 11-of-14 passing, and freshman tailback J.J. Green, who was the leading rusher with 62 yards on 12 carries and Quayvon Hicks scored touchdowns on his only runs, which totaled seven yards. Starting tailback Todd Gurley did not play because “we’ve seen enough of him,” Richt said. Backup Keith Marshall had two receptions for 46 yards, including a TD. Malcolm Mitchell also scored on a 25-yard catch.
Defensively, Jordan Jenkins had four tackles and a sack of Christian LeMay, who played the role of quarterback Tajh Boyd in the scrimmage. Linebackers Reggie Carter and Amarlo Herrera each had three tackles. Freshman cornerbacks Brendan Langley and Shaq Wiggins each had an interception, and Wiggins returned his for a touchdown.
“Those guys are getting some reps with the varsity and making some plays,” Richt said of Langley and Wiggins. “They do have some ball skills.”
Starting cornerback Sheldon Dawson did not participate in order to rest a shoulder sprain and safeties Tray Matthews (hamstring) and Corey Moore (knee) were also sidelined. However, junior Damian Swann came back a day after missing practice with a hip flexor and groin strain.
Richt declined to say who made the game-winning kick. “I can’t tell you secret stuff,” he said.
The Bulldogs are expected to be without starting place-kicker Marshall Morgan due to suspension for the Clemson game. The sophomore was arrested for boating under the influence of alcohol this summer.
No stats were kept for the fictional Clemson team.
“We got done what we wanted to get done,” Richt said. “We had a lot of live kicking situations and the transitions we needed to see from a kicking play to a scrimmage play back to a kicking play. We played a legitimate half of football and I thought we did a pretty good really.”
In the Sanford Stadium locker room after warmups and before the “second half,” Georgia coaches announced captains for the Clemson game, “based on what they’ve done January to today,” Richt said. Murray and Lynch will captain the offense, senior defensive lineman Garrison Smith the defense and senior safety Connor Norman special teams.
Georgia will continue its preparations for the opener with a “situational scrimmage” on Thursday. Then the Bulldogs will work on all the special situations that did not arise as they “played it as it went along” Wednesday night. Thursday’s workout will also be closed to the media and the public.
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