Georgia’s 2021 G-Day spring football game was an instant classic, the Red Team defeating the Black Team by a score of 28 – 23. Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs played excellent on both sides of the ball, leaving him a lot to be happy about on Saturday’s performance.
Smart had a lot to download after what was one of the best G-Days we have had in a while.
One of the biggest concerns for Georgia coming into this season is the wide receiver and defensive back depth. The Dawgs lost five key defensive backs to the NFL Draft this offseason along with losing star wide receiver George Pickens to an ACL tear and Jermaine Burton to a hyperextended knee.
“All spring Adonai competed really well, he’s a competitor, he makes plays down the field. For a guy that just enrolled and just got here I thought he did a good job.” coach Smart said about his freshman wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, who hooked up with JT Daniels on a touchdown to end the first half.
“We’ve got good players, we have to coach them up and get them ready to play at a high level. They’ll get challenged, obviously in our opener and in our conference play.” Smart said in his Zoom press conference after the G-Day Game.
“The teams we have to play next year, there’s some teams that can sling the ball.”
Georgia’s quarterbacks took 87 pass attempts in comparison to just 42 rushing plays. Smart made it clear that G-Day is always pass heavy, so it’s typical to see defensive backs burned a little more than often.
“I know we have a lot of wideouts, it will be a really good competition come fall when we’re at 100 percent health at the wide receiver position,”
Smart also touched on his offensive line, saying it is the key to their success in the run game as well as the passing game.
“If we’re gonna be a good team, we have to protect the quarterback, and we have to be able to run the football,” Smart said, referring to his offensive line.
“That’s one of the areas we have to make our largest leaps to get to where we want to go next season.”
Overall Smart was not completely satisfied with how his big men played, saying there is still loads of work to be done until they’re at championship caliber.
“There were times today that four-man rush got pressure and guys got pushed back into (Daniels),” Smart said. “We’re not where we need to be in the offensive line.
“It’s all up for grabs. We’ll review the tape and see how they did.”
It’s back to the drawing board and practice field for the Dawgs who kickoff the 2021 CFB season against the Clemson Tigers in Charlotte on September 4th.