G-Day 2018 is in the books, so it’s time to share a few thoughts on my biggest take-aways from the game. The Black team prevailed over the Red team 21-13 in a turnover-riddled game that was both exciting and sloppy. Having only watched the scrimmage once, this recap won’t be exhaustive, but I’ll try to add additional thoughts once I'm able to study the game in more detail. Let's begin with the thing everyone is talking about...
Fromm vs Fields
Let me start by saying this -- there is no quarterback controversy at UGA. Jake From (#11) is the clear, definitive starting QB, and even a 400 yard performance by Justin Fields (#1) yesterday probably wouldn’t have changed that. That said, it’s still worthwhile to talk about what we saw out of each of them yesterday.
Justin Fields: 18 of 33 (55%) for 207 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT; 6.2 YPA
Jake Fromm: 19 of 38 (50%) for 200 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT; 5.2 YPA
The Good
Fromm played a little better than his stats show and threw several absolutely gorgeous deep balls. His arm strength was underrated last year when compared to the other-worldly arm talent of Jacob Eason, and nearly all of yesterday’s long balls were on-target dimes dropped virtually onto the fingertips of his receivers. Sadly, receivers couldn’t hold on to his two best throws of the day -- and early post route to Riley Ridley (#8) and a go route to Jayson Stanley (#2).
Fields showed a surprising level of polish throwing the ball yesterday. He had good touch on his check down throws and displayed some of his trademark mobility under pressure (even though a few of his most promising would-be scrambles were ruled non-contact “sacks”). He wasn’t able to connect on any homerun balls, but he threw some nice intermediate routes to the sidelines. The cover two “Hole” route he threaded to Jeremiah Holloway (#9) was one of the most impressive throws of the day by either quarterback.
As big as Fields is (6-3, 221), the way he moves resembles Johnny Manziel more than it does Cam Newton. He is nimble and sudden when he changes directions, and the athleticism he displayed on his first down scramble late in the 4th quarter was the drool-inducing.
The Not-so-Good
Fields constantly stared down receivers and it finally got him on the quick out K.J. Smith (#28) picked off late in the game. Some of the other stare downs (at least two of the deep outs) were offset by his impressive arm strength. Fields also seems to read the field better on the run than he does from the pocket, and that’s something that will have to progress as his quarterbacking matures. For what it’s worth, you’ll see the EXACT same thing if you rewatch Eason or Fromm in the 2016 & 2017 G-Day games. Staring down receivers is just what young quarterbacks do.
As for Fromm, he had WAY too many of this throws touched by black shirts. He threw two picks, had a bomb to Ridley yanked free by Tyrique McGhee (#26), another early throw hit Richard Lecounte III (#2) right in the chest, and a 3rd quarter bomb was swatted away by Deandre Baker (#18). In his defense, the throwing windows against our first defense were microscopic as our first unit DBs SUFFOCATED the starting receivers for most of the game. A lot of Fromm’s success came from working the backs in the flats and the tight ends over the middle of the field. It was great seeing our tight ends getting some targets early on.
Speaking of our secondary...
What Stood Out (Good)
Our secondary is going to be a problem...for opposing offenses. Richard Lecounte III was all over the field. He showed excellent range, was constantly around the ball, and even picked off a jet sweep pass in the third quarter. Tyrique McGhee was probably the biggest surprise with how physical he was against the larger first-team receivers. McGhee was repeatedly challenged and held up well, and Deandre Baker looked like a legit lock-down corner as he pretty much blanketed anything thrown on his side of the field and had pick-six to open the scoring. There were only a handful of wide-open throws for the first-team “O” the entire game, and our secondary definitely appears to be ahead of schedule.
Let’s hit the rest of the “good” stuff in bullet point format:
Our first team defense tackled very well. I honestly can't remember any significant yards-after-catch for the receivers, and very limited yards-after-contact for the backs.
Brian Herrien was outstanding catching the ball out of the backfield (four catches for 44 yards). He was sure-handed and did a great job getting quality yardage off of check downs. I had no idea his pass-catching ability was so developed.
The front seven was money. Our defense line applied consistent pressure all-day long. A lot of the “sacks” probably wouldn’t be sacks in a real game, but there was constant pressure that bothered Fromm on both of his interceptions, and Fields was constantly being forced to move and reset to avoid the rush of the second unit. It’s hard to nail down the standouts without a more detailed re-watch of the game, but Keyon Brown (#11), David Marshall (#51), and Brenton Cox (#1) were three players that flashed for me. Also, inside linebacker Monty Rice (#32) had 14 tackles and Deandre Walker (#15) had two sacks, two pass breakups, and two tackles for loss.. Overall, the front seven as a unit was fantastic.
The second team receivers Holloway, Tyler Simmons (#87), Kearis Jackson (#10), and Akhil Crumpton (#25) made some nice plays and all showed great run-after-catch ability.
Rodrigo Blankenship (#98) looks like the same Groza Award semi-finalist that was money for Georgia in huge moments last year. He nailed both of his field goals and all three of his kickoffs went for touchbacks.
What Stood Out (Not-So-Good)
Our vaunted offensive line didn’t create a lot of space to run. Holyfield and Herrien had a lot of “three yards and a cloud of dust” types runs, and there just weren’t a lot of holes. They combined to total 10 carries for 57 yards, but 14 of those came on one Herrien run late in the game. That’s a testament to the stoutness of our defensive front -- so that could be either exciting or concerning depending on how you look it.
The punting competition wasn’t stellar. Marshall Long (#95) led the way with a 49-yard kick, but all three punters averaged less than 40 yards per kick and only one of eight punts was downed inside the 20 (though at least two others should’ve been).
The receiving corps is still a work in progress. I’ve already talked about the promising day by the second team, but on the first team Hardman & Godwin had quiet days and Stanley and Ridley were unable to hold on to two absolutely beautiful deep balls from Fromm that should have been touchdowns. As noted earlier, the first group struggled to get open consistently against the #1 secondary.
Brooks Buce (#97) missed both of his field goals pretty badly. He’s the heir apparent to ‘ol “Hot Rod,” so here’s hoping nothing bad happens to Rodrigo during the season. For what it’s worth, he did manage to put all three of kickoffs in the end zone.
Other Random Observations
I LOVE the black jerseys for G-Day. For years the black team played in white jerseys and it never made sense to me once Coach Richt brought back the black unis in 2007. It was a great change last year, and I hope they remain as a fixture of the Spring game under Coach Smart.
Elijah Holyfield (#13) has gotten JACKED. I mean, like Thomas Brown in 2008 jacked. He definitely looks the part of Nick Chubb’s replacement as a bulldozing chain mover.
Georgia gave five different kids a chance to return kicks. Hardman seems like a no-brainer to continue punt return duties, but Kearis Jackson was a standout punt returner in high school and looked good on his one chance Saturday. It will also be interesting to see who ends up returning kick-offs. Freshmen running backs Zamir White and James Cook both have unreal straight-line speed and seem like good candidates once they’re ready to go in the fall.
Where was Kirby’s suit? If Smart is going to truly surpass Nick Saban, he’s got to step up his game for the Spring scrimmage. Saban wore this to Alabama’s spring game:
That's it until September 1st. Go Dawgs!
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