Arik Gilbert stands out in Georgia’s G-Day game

As usually is the case, players on offense had the most enjoyable afternoon. The two sides combined for 776 yards of offense. The Black team fielded the majority of the front-line players on offense, including quarterback Stetson Bennett, while the Red team featured what looks for now to be the No. 1 defense.

It’s on defense where the Bulldogs are enduring the majority of transition from last season’s 14-1 squad, with the need to replace eight starters and 30 lettermen overall.

That was evident early in the first half when all the starters were on the field. Bennett’s Black team got the ball first and promptly mounted an 8-play, 70-yard scoring drive that ended in a 16-yard touchdown pass to sophomore tight end Arik Gilbert.

That seemed very impressive until the Carson Beck-led Red team offense took the field. It took that unit all of two plays to knot the score at 7-7, beginning with a 60-yard strike from Beck to speedster Arian Smith on first down. The next play was a 10-yard touchdown run by running back Daijun Edwards around right end. So, six minutes in, and the Georgia’s defense essentially was down 14-0.

The Bulldogs’ defenders seem to settle in at that point and, as substitutions began in earnest on both teams, the competition seemed more evenly matched. The next two alternating possessions ended in punts, and the two following that each resulted in field goals of 24 yards by Jack Podlesny and Zirkel and a 10-10 tie.

By halftime, the score was knotted at 17-17, with the corresponding offenses accounting for 454 yards. Bennett threw an interception in the Red’s end zone at the halftime buzzer, picked off by defensive back Javon Bullard. But sitting at the 6-yard line with three seconds remaining in the second quarter, normal circumstances would have dictated a chip-shot field goal there.

Bennett was 11-for-27 passing for 197 yards and three touchdowns by the time he came out with one possession in the third quarter. In the first half, he was spelled on the Black squad by redshirt freshman Brock Vandagriff, who was 4-of-7 for 29 yards at that point.

Beck got all the first-half work for the Red team, going 12-of-20 for 233 yards in the first half. Red teammate Gunner Stockton, a freshman early enrollee from Rabun County, did not get any action until the second half. At that point, Beck switched to the Black team to get some work with the No. 1 offense. The teams combined for 454 yards of offense in the first half.

Bennett returned late in the scrimmage to get some work on the two-minute offense. It didn’t go well as his second pass was tipped an intercepted by linebacker Trezman Marshall, setting up the Red squad for a potential come-from-behind win at the Black 40-yard-line.

With Vandagriff at the controls, an illegal-procedure penalty was followed by a sack credited to linebacker Jalon Walker, the Red faced third-and-long when Vandagriff took off for a 17-yard run and a first down. But he couldn’t get them in from there, however, settling for a game-tying field goal.

Bennett hit Jackson with a 25-yard pass to the Red 10 to set up the game-winning 27-yard field goal that actually went through with two seconds remaining. Smart waved off the final two ticks.

As for overall quarterback play, Smart snuffed the thought of any brewing controversy heading into next fall.

“I don’t have to say it: Our team knows that Stetson is the quarterback,” Smart said in his postgame press conference. “Stetson has done an incredible job. Stetson has been an incredible leader, done what we’ve asked. But you know what? Those other two guys (Beck and Vandagriff) have also done a tremendous job. I think if you ask them, they are really comfortable back there in the bullpen throwing the ball.”

Gilbert was one of the offensive stars of the day. His first two catches of the day went for touchdowns. Bennett tried hard to hit him for another at the end of the first half before getting picked off. Gilbert’s 27-yard catch on the final drive set up the game-winning field goal and gave him 49 yards receiving on the afternoon.

“Well, first of all he’s a freak,” Bennett said of his rapport with Gilbert. “Second of all, he knows football, he knows space. Not just the two touchdown passes, but the one in two-minute drill where we kicked the field goal to win the game, that was a great catch. So I’m getting that trust with him, getting to know where he’s going to be on the field, all that kind of stuff.”

With tight ends Brock Bowers (shoulder) and Darnell Washington (ankle) both sidelined for the spring with injuries, freshman Oscar Delp had a productive day, with seven catches for 91 yards. Slotbacks Kearis Jackson and Dominick Blaylock were the most productive wideouts for their respective sides with four catches for 107 yards and five for 67, respectively.

But the scrimmage was set up as a pass-happy endeavor that favored offensive fireworks.

“Man, every single day we’re putting the ball in the air and trying to find the ball,” cornerback Kelee Ringo said. “Outside of that, we’re just all trying to play with patience and not come away with PIs (pass interference). ... I know I’m getting better in all aspects of my games, and this is something I’ve been looking forward to.”

The highlight of the day came a break between the first and second quarters. That’s when Georgia’s seniors and matriculated underclassmen were lined up between the numbers on the 10- to 25-yard lines on the southwestern side of Dooley Field and recognized for last season’s accomplishments. Cameras zoomed in close on the right hand of star defensive lineman Jordan Davis, who revealed for the first time the Bulldogs’ national championship rings.

Neither Smart nor any of the returning players have gotten their championship rings yet. But that will happen at Monday night’s post-spring banquet dinner. That’s when the Red squad, as the losing team, has to eat “beanie weanies,” while the winning Black squad receives steak and lobster.

The rings should render food options moot.

“I’m excited to get mine,” said Jackson, a fifth-year senior. “I’ve never won a national championship, but I’ve never won a ring. So, I’m excited to finally get a ring.”

Of course, Saturday’s game was as much about recruiting as it was anything else. As usually is the case, there was a large group of prospects on hand, and they could be seen overlooking warm-ups from the west-end balcony of Georgia’s $63 million locker room and recruiting lounge. But even that seemed a bit more muted an affair than usual, without Arch Manning or any prospects of that ilk in attendance.

There were a few injury revelations from the game. Projected defensive starters Kamari Lassiter (illness) at cornerback, outside linebacker Robert Beal (ankle), and Tramel Walthour (knee) at defensive end didn’t play. Smart said all would be back for summer workouts.

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

Going forward, Smart and the staff have some tough decisions to make. They remain over the 85 scholarship limit, which will have to change before the next semester. Meanwhile, there are some areas of concern the Bulldogs might want to address via the transfer portal.

Smart said he hopes the team can develop an identity between now and preseason camp the first week of August. That’s still a blank slate at least a dozen players from last year’s team expected to hear their names called in the NFL draft.

“They can’t emulate what some of those guys do on the field; they can emulate the standard, though,” Smart said of the 2022 Bulldogs. “And I thought they really did that. For 14 of the 15 practices, I was like, ‘Dude they had a great attitude today; we made it tough and they did great! So we’re going to have a little bit of personality. We’re going to have to have some grit, some toughness, because it won’t just be talent.

“We were really talented last year. Not that we’re not talented now. But we’re going to have to win in different ways.”