ATHENS — It certainly wasn’t your grandfather’s, or even father’s, typical G-Day game Saturday at Sanford Stadium.
In fact, it was a G-Day like no other in the history of Georgia football.
Let’s start with the obvious. More than 93,000 fans packed the house. Then Atlanta-native rapper Ludacris rocked the house before the kickoff to work the record crowd into a frenzy.
If that wasn’t enough, a Kirby Smart video finished with two simple words, “I’m home,” to throw the stadium into near pandemonium.
And all of that happened before the opening kickoff of the annual event marking the end of the spring practice session.
The entire sequence helped usher in a new era ‘Between the Hedges’ with Smart now running the show.
“Wow,” was Smart’s brief opening statement when asked about what he thought of a packed Sanford Stadium.
“For the fans to come out the way they did and support us, it just touches my heart. I think it speaks volumes about where Georgia is now and where we could be.
“We challenged the Georgia fans to come out and they responded. They will never know how much it means to all of us."
“That was amazing to see that many people come out for this,” junior tight end Jeb Blazevich added. “The excitement was amazing when we came out and the place was full. Incredible.”
Most of the fans probably came to get a look at freshman quarterback phenom Jacob Eason. They were polite to veterans Grayson Lambert and Brice Ramsey, who took all of the first quarter snaps but were able to generate just one field goal between them. They had seen that before.
With 10:43 left in the second quarter, a low rumble in the stands began as Eason got instruction from the coaches and then a full-blown roar erupted when he jogged out to the huddle.
His first series ended in a punt after a sack but in his second series he displayed some of the skills that made him one of the most coveted recruits coming out of high school last season.
He connected with Reggie Davis for 17-yards, completed two straight to Jackson Harris, found Isaiah McKenzie for 12 yards, and then connected with former Buford standout Isaac Nauta for a pair of catches, including a 7-yard touchdown pass to cap the drive.
Eason finished the scrimmage 19-for-29 for 244 yards and the one touchdown. Lambert was 11-of-22 for 140 yards and one interception and Ramsey was 16-of-25 for 224 yards. Fourth-teamer Nick Robinson was 5-of-7 for 49 yards and one touchdown in just one series of action.
But Smart said everyone should look past the numbers.
“They all had some good plays and some not so good plays. The No. 4 guy was pretty good too,” Smart said. “But all three of the top guys need to improve. I don’t see a clear-cut No. 1 right now. The guy who starts (in the opener) against North Carolina will be the guy who gives us the best chance to win. If it’s Jacob, fine. If it’s someone else, then that’s who it’ll be.”
The defense seemed porous at times and Smart acknowledged that with several injuries on the defensive line and “not wanting North Carolina to see all our coverages,” they have time to adjust. However, two key words seemed a theme when talking about the defense.
“We need to be tougher and more physical, especially on the line,” he said. “And we need to get the ball. I don’t much about lacrosse but they get to hit people with their sticks. We want our guys to lacrosse the guy with the ball and knock it out. We’ve been doing a great job of that in practice but it didn’t look like it today.”
Another area of concern is the kicking game. Gone is placekicker Marshall Morgan and Ramsey has now taken on the No. 1 punting duties. Ramsey had a 50-yard boot on his first attempt but Thomas Pritchard and Will Cowart had three unassuming efforts.
Rodrigo Blankenship booted field goals of 46 and 19-yards but also missed on a 44-yarder. William Ham missed a 39-yard attempt.
“I don’t know if I feel better or worse about the kicking game after today,” Smart said. “Ham has looked good in practice but he had some tough luck today with snaps and holds. We had one good punt and that was it. Still a lot of work to do before September.”
What may not need a lot of work after Saturday is the impression Smart and his staff and the Georgia faithful made to anyone that was at Sanford Stadium or watching at home.
How does Smart think filling Sanford with 93,000 fans will affect his ability to recruit? The same question, he said, was asked of Nick Saban and his staff the first time Alabama filled Bryant-Denny on its annual A-Day game.
“I think it played a factor (at Alabama),” he said. “We’ll see how the crowd coming out here will affect our recruiting. But the ones that were here today, they all got it. They couldn’t believe it. And they were ecstatic. And we had a lot of good players here.”
By the way, the game ended with a 34-14 victory for White, if anyone even noticed.
-- NOTES: Nauta had a solid G-Day effort with six catches for 56 yards and one touchdown. He and Eason were routinely standing together talking during the game. On Nauta, Smart said, “he made some plays and looked good at times. He made a couple of bonehead plays and got the plays wrong. But, he’s got the talent to be a good one. You can’t judge anyone, good or bad, on one scrimmage. We like what we see with him.” ... Stephens County High graduate Ben Cleveland also got on the field as a back-up guard.
