Georgia’s prominent players scored 38 points and didn’t allow any to the reserves Wednesday afternoon as the Bulldogs held a simulated half of football at Sanford Stadium.
The practice marked Georgia’s third and final scrimmage of the preseason, which will be followed by a special teams scrimmage today and a situational scrimmage Friday. Wednesday’s workout was accompanied by Southeastern Conference officials and included Bulldogs assistant coaches working in the booth.
“We really tried to make it feel like a game,” coach Mark Richt said. “I think it’s just a healthy experience for coaches, players, managers, trainers and everybody. It’s kind of a game-day feel.”
The reserves were simulating Louisiana-Lafayette, next week’s opening foe, and were spotted 21 points. Richt also counted a missed field goal by the backups as a score, so the Bulldogs registered an unofficial 38-24 win over the Ragin’ Cajuns before nearly 93,000 empty seats.
According to statistics provided by Richt, quarterback Aaron Murray completed 9 of 17 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown to A.J. Green.
“He’s still learning,” Richt said. “He’s still a freshman. It wasn’t real bad, but there were a couple of times he could have made a better decision.”
Green had four receptions for 40 yards, while Kris Durham had three catches for 78 yards. The top tailbacks had similar showings, with Caleb King rushing five times for 36 yards and a touchdown and Washaun Ealey carrying four times for 31 yards.
There were big plays defensively, as Jakar Hamilton had a 42-yard interception return and Bacarri Rambo scored a touchdown on a 66-yard interception return. Marc Deas played for the reserves and was the leading tackler with 11.
On special teams, Branden Smith had a 63-yard punt return and a 31-yard kickoff return, and Marlon Brown returned a blocked punt for a touchdown.
“I like the way we came out and played,” fullback Shaun Chapas said. “It was great to get out there in a game atmosphere. The team is putting in a lot of hard work, and Aaron is understanding stuff that only comes with experience.”
Chapas has been named the offensive captain for the opener, while defensive end Demarcus Dobbs and cornerback Vance Cuff are the defensive captains. Backup fullback Fred Munzenmaier will captain the special teams.
After concluding last season with only two coaches in the booth, the Bulldogs will begin this season with four. Richt said running backs coach Tony Ball, tight ends coach John Lilly, inside linebackers coach Warren Belin and secondary coach Scott Lakatos will be working upstairs.
Owens medically out
Redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Jonathan Owens has been granted a medical disqualification and will no longer be able to compete due to chronic patella instability in his right knee. The 6-foot-4, 300-pounder from Blountsville, Ala., played in one game, last season’s 38-0 whipping of Tennessee Tech.
David Paschall is a sports writer for the Times Free Press. He started at the Chattanooga Free Press in 1990 and was part of the Times Free Press when the paper started in 1999. David covers University of Georgia football, as well as SEC football recruiting, SEC basketball, Chattanooga Lookouts baseball and other sports stories. He is a Chattanooga native and graduate of the Baylor School and Auburn University. David has received numerous honors for ...
If this was a simulated Dogs vs the Ragin' Cajuns game... the pessimist side of me says 24 points is too many points to give up to Louisiana-Lafayette. Our Defense better be much better than that come next Saturday. I like the 38 on offense though. However, our biggest problem, the past couple of years, has not offend been putting points on the board, it's been keeping more of the opponents points OFF!
Coach Grantham better channel Erk Russell ( http://howboutthemdogs.com/erk.htm )and and shut those Cajuns out.
Tit4tat, you may want to read that again if you think the defense gave up 24 points.
jdawg, I realize it was the scrub team, but I don't want ANY configuration of a Georgia defense giving up 24 points. 6 is respectable... even if it's against a first-team Dawg offense.
And remember... I said the 'pessimist' in me feels that way. ;-)
tit4tat----have some coffee, get fully awake and let's try that again: the scout team scored zero, that's 0, nada. Richt GAVE them 21 points as a way to equalize the scrimmage for just one half. Then he GAVE them 3 points for a FG they actually missed. So they had 24 PRETEND points while the 1st and 2nd team players scored 38 REAL points in just 2 quarters of plays. Very dominating, but then, it was just a practice to get them ready to learn how to get on and off the field. It all starts for real next week, then we will see.
Good point Macallanlover. I am fully awake now and see that the points were 'pretend'. I guess I just have such a bad taste in my mouth for the Defenses of the past three years that any time I see points against the Dogs, I cringe. Thanks for the heads-up. And, I also appreciate your other posts in other threads. Nice insight.
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