ATHENS – The Georgia Bulldogs will hold their first scrimmage of preseason camp Saturday at Sanford Stadium. The practice is closed to the public, but members of the Magill Society donors club and parents will be in attendance.
This might be the most competitive of Georgia’s 25 preseason practices. With three weeks remaining before the season opener against Clemson, the Bulldogs’ coaches will want to use Saturday’s game-simulation atmosphere to help make determinations on the closest position battles.
Those will include:
- Left tackle, where sophomore Xavier Truss is the heir apparent, but Amarius Mims, Broderick Jones and Jamaree Salyer also are getting work.
- Cornerback, where senior Ameer Speed is trying to hold off Kelee Ringo and other young players.
- Star, where transfer Tykee Smith and senior Latavious Brini are battling for snaps.
- And wide receiver, where the competition for the back half of what will be a six- or seven-player rotation is intense and closely contested.
That wideout battle is particularly interesting, as Jermaine Burton, Kearis Jackson and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint look solid as the first three. Sophomore Arian Smith and freshman Adonai Mitchell have proved they deserve reps. Redshirt freshman Justin Robinson now is healthy and making plays. Former starting slot receiver Dominick Blaylock (knee) is going to come back at some point. Meanwhile, everybody’s excited to see what LSU transfer Arik Gilbert, a converted tight end can do as a full-time wideout.
Otherwise, most of the starting positions are fairly well locked down at this point.
Who is QB2?
Based on all accounts, junior JT Daniels has a stronghold on the No. 1 quarterback job. But where it’s not as clear-cut is Daniels’ primary backup. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken was asked about that Thursday and said that redshirt freshman Carson Beck “left spring as our No. 2.” But he added that “we’re working through that now” and that the “next two scrimmages will have a lot to say about it.”
At issue is the unknowns about Beck. While he has performed well in the Bulldogs practices and, at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds with a strong arm, clearly has some physical gifts. But less evident is how Beck might respond to a charged, night-game environment such as the one expected at Bank of America Stadium on Sept. 4 against Clemson.
The Tigers are expected to get after Daniels with one of the best defensive fronts in college football. Daniels was sacked 10 times in his four games with the Bulldogs last season.
The question then becomes, should Daniels get zonked and have to come out unexpectedly, would Monken be comfortable throwing Beck in that environment for his first collegiate experience? The same scenario would be challenging for freshman Brock Vandagriff.
Meanwhile, Stetson Bennett at least has played in a big game. Including 12 starts at Jones College and five with the Bulldogs, he has 24 games of collegiate experience. While his 55.4% competition percentage, 1,179 yards, eight touchdowns and six interceptions a year ago won’t turn any heads, he did experience road environments at Arkansas, Alabama and Kentucky and against Florida in Jacksonville.
Monken added that Bennett has continued to progress.
“Stetson has greatly improved,” he said. “… He’s worked awfully hard. He’s really intelligent. He has improved a ton.”
Speaking of Clemson
The Bulldogs haven’t spoken much yet about their monumental matchup against the Tigers. Coach Kirby Smart and Monken both said recently that Georgia hasn’t fully turned its attention to the game plan.
But there has been a lot of work done behind the scenes by the Bulldogs’ coaches and their support staff. And both programs are very familiar with the other.
“Brent Venables is one of the best in the country,” Monken said of the Tigers’ well-respected defensive coordinator. “When I was at Oklahoma State, we went against him when he was at Oklahoma. They do a tremendous job of creating some conflict issues with you offensively. They’ve done a really good job of recruiting, and then they’ve got some real good glue guys that are tough, outstanding football players. They’re returning a good number of players.”
Monken added, “With that being said, we go up against a pretty good defense every day ourselves.”
