At the end of the day, it was just a scrimmage. But you wouldn’t know that from the postgame scene in the Georgia Bulldogs’ locker room at Sanford Stadium.
On one side of the room stood Todd Grantham, coach of the winning Black team, surrounded by reporters and smiling as he answered questions about his squad’s 23-17 victory over the Red in UGA’s annual G-Day spring football game Saturday at Sanford Stadium.
Across the way Mike Bobo, who coached the Red team, sat in a chair perusing a one-sheet of statistics as a single media member asked for his thoughts.
“I was the losing coach today,” said Bobo, whose full-time job is offensive coordinator. “We want to win; we play to win. (The Black team) did a good job today of making enough plays on their side of the ball. We had a chance to win, and we didn’t make the play.”
The reality is, there were no winners or losers as the Bulldogs renewed their annual G-Day tradition under blue skies and warm temperatures — and in front of 45,113 spectators.
“I thought it was a great day,” said Georgia’s real head coach, Mark Richt, who watched two quarters of the game from the press box. “It was beautiful weather, and I think we broke a record for attendance. … Overall it was a good game, and Georgia won.”
The outcome was a bit of a surprise.
Bobo was overseeing the Red team, which featured Georgia’s No. 1 offense and returns 10 starters from its record-breaking output of a year ago. Grantham’s Black squad was anchored by Georgia’s No. 1 defense, which is in the midst of rebuilding from the loss of seven starters, all of whom are expected to play in the NFL.
But after falling behind 10-0, the Black rallied to score 16 consecutive points to take the lead. Then it thwarted the Red’s fourth-quarter comeback attempt with a stop on fourth-and-1 and an interception by Connor Norman in the waning seconds to preserve the final score.
“Overall it was good work, and I’m pleased with their effort and energy,” Grantham said. “I see us getting better with every practice. I really see us improving as a defense the more we take the field.”
Kyle Karempelis ran for 89 yards on 13 carries, and junior-college transfer Jonathan Rumph caught four passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Black.
Most of the Bulldogs’ frontline stars played only sparingly. Quarterback Aaron Murray was 12-of-18 for 200 yards and two touchdowns in a little less than two quarters of work, and star tailback Todd Gurley had only four carries for 25 yards. No. 2 quarterback Hutson Mason led the Black with 191 yards on 16-of-27 passing and threw a touchdown pass and an interception.
On defense, linebacker Kosta Vavlas led both teams with 12 tackles, and freshman linebacker Reggie Carter recorded seven tackles and an interception, his third in three spring scrimmages.
But the day’s biggest surprise was Rumph. A 6-foot-5, 215-pound transfer from Holmes (Miss.) Community College, Rumph came to UGA with strong credentials, but had not displayed the playmaking ability that he did Saturday, when he scored on passes of 47 and 20 yards.
“He’s been struggling all spring to learn the playbook, and we installed it so fast that I think today really helped his confidence,” Mason said of Rumph. “I think he’d be a huge threat for us, but he’s got to have a big summer. He’s got to learn what to do, and he’s got to learn really how to use his body. … I’m happy for him. He’s just got to keep working because we need him.”
Other points of interest on defense, freshman Reggie Wilkerson started at field corner in place of injured starter Sheldon Dawson (hamstring); freshman Tray Matthews and sophomore Josh Harvey-Clemons were the No. 1 safeties; redshirt sophomore Sterling Bailey started at defensive end rather than Ray Drew; and the Black recorded six sacks and seven tackles for loss.
“There’s just so many candidates for playing time out there,” Richt said. “More than I can ever remember.”
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