Kyle Karempelis ran for 89 yards on 13 carries and junior college transfer Jonathan Rumph caught 4 passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Black Team to a 23-17 win over the Red in UGA’s annual G-Day spring football game Saturday at Sanford Stadium.
The victory was somewhat of an upset since the Black squad featured the Bulldogs’ No. 1 defense and the Red Team was led by the No. 1 offense. Georgia returns 10 starters from its record-breaking offense of a year ago while the defense is rebuilding from the loss of seven starters, all of whom are expected to play in the NFL.
“I thought it was a great day,” said Georgia head coach Mark Richt, who watched two quarters of the game from the press box while coordinators Todd Grantham and Mike Bobo coached the respective squads. “It was beautiful weather, I think kwe broke a record for attendance… . Overall it was a good game and Georgia won.”
Georgia’s No. 1 offense failed to convert on fourth-and-one in the fourth quarter and Connor Norman intercepted a deflected pass to seal the game for Black Team in the final seconds.
Most of the Bulldogs’ frontline stars played only sparingly in the contest. Quarterback Aaron Murray was 12-of-18 for 200 yards and 2 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 Team with 191 yards on 16-of-27 passing and threw a TD and an interception.
But the day’s biggest surprise was Rumph, a junior college transfer from Holmes (Miss.) Community College by way of his hometown of Cayce, S.C. Rumph came to UGA with strong credentials but had not displayed the play-making ability he did on Saturday, when he scored on passes of 47 and 20 yards.
“It was good to see him make some plays,” said Bobo, Georgia’s offensive coordinator. “He hadn’t really made any plays all spring. He’s a big guy and we kept wanting him to make some and he made some today, which was awesome.”
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