Georgia Football: Outstanding Second Scrimmage

Photo By Danny Bishop

Georgia’s football team scrimmaged for about an hour and a half at Sanford Stadium on Saturday morning in perfect conditions.

The Bulldogs, who take the field for the annual G-Day spring game on April 6 at 1 p.m., had their fourth practice of the week on Saturday. Georgia has three more practices scheduled before next weekend’s spring game and another pair of practice sessions slated for the week after G-Day.

“I thought this was an outstanding scrimmage,” said Bulldog head coach Mark Richt. “The guys were really having fun and competing well the whole day. We are still being undisciplined with some extracurricular stuff after the play ends. But I’d rather our guys have a heartbeat than have to get them going. We are still turning the ball over too much, but I was pretty pleased about today.”

After missing Tuesday’s scrimmage while accepting the Peach of an Athlete Award in Atlanta, senior quarterback Aaron Murray returned to lead the Bulldogs going 13-of-21 for 159 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Junior Hutson Mason finished 8-for-14 for 154 yards, two touchdowns and one pick.

Junior flanker Chris Conley snagged six of those passes for 99 yards and a touchdown to be one of four Bulldogs with a touchdown catch on Saturday.

“(Conley) has been very productive and I think a lot of the reason why is because he works so hard,” said Richt. “His conditioning is better than about anyone late in the game. When people are getting fatigued, he still has stamina which gives him an edge.”

Junior Malcolm Mitchell (2 receptions-52 yards), sophomore Todd Gurley (2-13) and redshirt freshman Blake Tibbs (3-31) also all had scoring catches. On the ground, sophomore Keith Marshall finished with four carries for 25 yards.

Although sophomore fullback Quayvon Hicks did not finish at the top of the stat line, Richt said he has also been impressed with his development.

“Quayvon picked up a blitz on Friday with enthusiasm and had a hard short run today,” said Richt. “He is playing faster than last year and is blocking extremely well. He is someone with good ball skills and he is looking like he will become a heckuva fullback.”

Defensively, senior safety Connor Norman topped his teammates with seven tackles and junior linebacker Kosta Vavlas had six stops. Freshmen Reggie Carter, who also had five tackles and a fumble recovery, and Reggie Wilkerson each grabbed their second interception in as many scrimmages while sophomore defensive back Sheldon Dawson recorded his third pick during Georgia’s two scrimmages this spring.

Richt noted that Dawson suffered a hamstring injury at the conclusion of the scrimmage. Senior flanker Rantavious Wooten return to practice after missing Friday with an illness.