Georgia State’s White team defeated the Blue 26-3 in the scrimmage to end the spring practices on Saturday at Panthersville.
Quarterback Aaron Winchester, one of three players competing to win the starting job, had a stellar day in leading the White team to four touchdowns.
The biggest winner may have been the program, which made it through the spring practices with no major injuries as they look to improve upon last year’s 6-7 record and appearance in the Cure Bowl.
“I saw everything I needed to see today,” coach Trent Miles said.
The scrimmage had the following format: the first half was composed of two 15-minute quarters. The second half was two 12-minute quarters. There was a running clock throughout both halves, with the exception of the final two minutes.
Several players were held out of the scrimmage, either for precautionary measures or injuries. That group included tight end Keith Rucker, running backs Taz Bateman and Kendrick Dorn, wide receiver Penny Hart, offensive lineman Michael Ivory and defensive lineman Marterious Allen. Strongside linebacker Michael Shaw didn’t attend the game because he was working on a class project.
The team will open the 2016 season hosting Ball State on Sept. 2 at the Georgia Dome.
Here are is the third in a few observations about the scrimmage:
The fourth is the "new" faces. There were a few solid performances on Saturday by players who have gotten some playing time the past few seasons, but could earn more this season for reasons related to combinations of attrition at the position or their own improvement.
Todd Boyd and Mattavius Scott were two of those players on Saturday.
Boyd is a junior who has caught 415 yards in passes his first two seasons. With the graduations of several players at the position, Boyd has every chance of playing a lot this season. He helped himself in the scrimmage with four receptions for a scrimmage-high 107 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown.
Scott is a redshirt junior who joined the program in 2014 and has yet to catch a pass. His size (6-2, 206 pounds) can cause matchup problems and he did that in the scrimmage with three receptions for 67 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown. He caught a 32-yard pass on a go route that Aaron Winchester said was his best throw.
Octavious Andrews, another wide receiver who had trouble cracking the starting group because of last year’s depth, had a scrimmage-high five receptions for 38 yards.
Freshman wide receiver Jonathan Ifedi had three receptions for 32 yards and newcomer Matlin Marshall had two for 14 yards.
Kicker Brandon Wright had a 29-yard field goal and a punt longer than 50 yards.
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