Georgia football shows tremendous growth at 2022 G-Day game

The Red and Black teams that Georgia football put on the field Saturday showed the Dawgs aren’t perfect yet, but there has been a lot of growth at every position.

There were explosive plays, the defense impressed more than expected, and the offensive playmakers were the highlight. The Black Team defeated the Red Team 26-23 with a last-second field goal, but they had to earn it.

Saturday didn’t need to be perfect on Saturday to impress. The Dawgs needed to get on the field, hit each other, and see what happened. They got to do that, and it resulted in a strong G-Day.

Georgia football showed growth all over the team during the annual G-Day scrimmage.

From the quarterbacks to the punters, there are a lot of positives to takeaway. While losing 14 starters is never good, the Dawgs showed what reloading looks like when recruiting and development are correctly done.

With so much good to take away from the G-Day game, let’s get the negative done first. It would have been great to see the offensive lines do a better job protecting the quarterback, but it was against one of the best defenses in college football. There were too many times the play blew dead because Georgia’s defense got to Stetson Bennett.

The second negative takeaway was seeing Jack Podlesney miss that kicks wide. This statement may seem a bit nitpicky, but he has the leg to make those. He is fine and will handle the kicking duties well, but it would have been great to see him perfect at G-Day. No one is perfect, so again we’re nitpicking here, but we wanted to point it out.

Bennett’s two picks were the final negative thing from G-Day. He will shake it off, and those picks aren’t going to hurt him from being the starter, but smart decisions are essential as the veteran. The passing game was the focal point for the Dawgs, but come on, Bennett, you got to make better passes than the ones we saw on those two interceptions.

Now to the positive takeaways from G-Day because there is plenty to talk about that went well than badly.

Arik Gilbert is going to be an issue for teams. He is a playmaker, and once he gets a few quirks figured out, he will be another massive mismatch for opponents. Gilbert is just one of many playmakers that emerged on Saturday. Gilbert has more growing to do, but what he put on the field was impressive.

Arian Smith had a no-contact jersey, but his playmaking skills were prominent. On Saturday, he was unstoppable, making some big plays for the Red Team.

Georgia has so many guys they can use on offense, so teams will have to over-prepare.  All four quarterbacks got great playing time on Saturday. Bennett connected twice with Gilbert for touchdowns. Bennett’s patience on the second score and waiting on Gilbert to get a lane was a great decision.

Carson Beck stole the show, but he played against Georgia’s second-team defense, which included a lot of guys who don’t have a ton of experience, are walk-ons or true freshmen. He should have stolen the show because the talent he had to throw to should make plays on that defense.

Brock Vandagriff and Gunner Stockton played a bit timid, but they are growing. Vandagriff got some stuff going later in the game, but he was going against the first-string defense, so those plays he made were earned against a top unit.

Daijun Edwards emerged today as someone who wants more playing time and is willing to make it happen at whatever cost it takes. Kendall Milton and Kenny McIntosh had big moments, and both had success catching the ball.

Milton is a Cadillac Bruiser who will run over opponents in the smoothest way possible. McIntosh is great out of the backfield receiving-wise, and those two are off to a great start in the newest RBU chapter.

Defensively, Georgia was strong up front. Mykell Williams has a few great moments, Jalen Carter was a force of nature, and no one could do much against him. Warren Brinson and Nazir Stackhouse showed a lot of growth and progress. Bill Norton had two batted passes, so it’s great to see him step up some. Zion Logue looked better too.

That group has a lot of potential, and seeing more than one guy step up on Saturday was good.

Georgia’s secondary impressed and made some strong plays. Javon Bullard caught Bennett’s first interception, and Kelee Ringo made some great plays to avoid big plays.

Jared Zirkel, the kicker out of Texas, made the game-winning field goal to give the Black team the 23-23 win over the Red team.

There was just a lot of growth at every position. If a mistake happened, the Dawgs worked on it, and those guys knew when they needed to do better. This G-Day gave the coaching staff a lot to work with to improve throughout the summer and fall camp, but the biggest takeaway of it all is that Georgia has the potential to be a contender in 2022.