University of Georgia quarterback Hutson Mason prepares to launch a deep pass during team practice on March 25 in Athens, Ga.Starting quarterback Hutson Mason put up solid numbers during Georgia's first spring scrimmage Saturday afternoon at Sanford Stadium.
His backups did not fare as well.
Mason, a fifth-year senior, completed 12 of 18 passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns, according to statistics kept by coaches. Redshirt sophomore Faton Bauta, redshirt freshman Brice Ramsey and early enrollee Jacob Park combined to complete just 5 of 29 passes for 72 yards and an interception.
"Hutson had a very high percentage of completions," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said in his post-scrimmage news conference. "There were multiple dropped balls. There were some pretty good throws by all our quarterbacks that should have been caught."
Bauta, who has been taking the second-team repetitions, was 2-for-11 for 20 yards and had the interception. Saturday's scrimmage was closed to the public.
Senior receiver Chris Conley caught Mason's two touchdown throws, totaling 54 yards. Redshirt senior Michael Bennett had a team-high five receptions for 48 yards, while senior Jonathon Rumph had four for 28 and sophomore Reggie Davis three for 59.
"I think everybody had their moment," Conley told reporters. "There were highs and lows on both sides. I can't pick a winner or loser of the day."
Junior tailback Todd Gurley participated in the scrimmage, gaining 28 yards on two receptions and 14 yards on three rushes.
A.J. Turman, who redshirted last season as a freshman, had a team-high 10 carries for 20 yards, while sophomore Brendan Douglas had eight carries for a team-high 36 yards. Richt believed Turman's numbers were misleading.
"He ran the ball very hard and didn't have as much space," Richt said. "He did some good things."
Richt said the scrimmage overall was "about like the weather," producing good and bad. He added that there were protection issues at times, with the responsibility shared among the offensive line, running backs not picking up the blitz and quarterbacks hanging on to the ball too long.
"The No. 1 offense looked like they were ready to play out of the gate," Richt said, "and then they got bogged down with a couple of errors. When it started pouring rain, it was hard to do anything offensively, and the defense played well during that time.
"The offense then turned it back around after the halfway point, but there were a lot of outstanding plays on both sides of the ball. Both sides probably needed to handle the adversity better."
Sophomore inside linebacker Reggie Carter made seven tackles, one for lost yardage, while sophomore tailback-turned-cornerback J.J. Green had seven tackles as well. Sophomore cornerback Brendan Langley collected five tackles, while junior defensive end James DeLoach, sophomore outside linebacker Leonard Floyd and senior inside linebacker Ramik Wilson each had four.
Wilson, who led the SEC in tackles last season, had two tackles for loss, and DeLoach had two sacks. Sophomore cornerback Shaq Wiggins made the interception.
Saturday's scrimmage was Georgia's seventh spring workout. The Bulldogs will practice again Tuesday and will have five more workouts before their annual G-Day game on April 12, which will be followed by two more practices.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.