G-Day notebook: NG Kwame Geathers continues dominating play (UPDATED)
G-DAY NOTEBOOK:
Probably the biggest surprise of the spring has been the play of nose guard Kwame Geathers. The 6-foot-6, 341-pound sophomore had been largely written off after an unspectacular freshman campaign. But he went out and was named defensive MVP by the coaching staff for spring practice, then backed that up with four tackles — including two for minus-8 yards — in the spring game.
So what happened?
“He probably heard Big John Jenkins was coming into town to take his job,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said after the game. “That probably lit a fire under him.”
Jenkins is the 350-plus-pound JUCO All-American nose guard the Bulldogs signed to much fanfare out of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. It has been generally assumed Jenkins will win the starting role. Except, that is, by Geathers.
“It was motivating,” Geathers said. “I’m ready for him to come in. He’s going to help this team out. Even though he’s coming in to compete with me for a job, he’s going to help us as a team. But it did motivate me a good bit.”
Said Grantham: “I think he’s gotten better every practice.
Joe T provides real incentive for G-Day
As has been the tradition of the G-Day Game, members of the winning team gets a steak dinner while the losing team has to have beanie-weanies. But that meal actually wasn’t taking place Saturday night.
“I’m not sure when that meal is going to take place,” Richt said. “The real incentive is the winning team is probably going to be excused from one of Joe T’s workouts.”
Joe T is Joe Tereshinski, Georgia’s new strength and conditioning coordinator.
Christian LeMay delivers game-winning drive
Freshman Christian LeMay was impressive in leading the Black Team on the 75-yard, game-winning drive. But anyone who thinks that was a sign of an impending quarterback controversy for the backup role behind Aaron Murray might want to think again.
“I think Christian LeMay right now is only competing with the playbook,” Richt said. “Really you can’t play that position unless you know what you’re doing. I wouldn’t even say it’s a competition right now. In the fall, I’m sure it will become more of one.”
In that vein, Murray’s current backup Hutson Mason also had a good day and talked about how much more comfortable he felt Saturday than at any other time.
“Actually I’m really surprised I’ve caught on this fast,” said Mason, a sophomore from Marietta. “It seems like it just clicked for me. In the fall I was kind of rushed into things and didn’t really have much of a window to learn it. Now I feel like I know everyone’s position instead of just mine, which you have to know as the quarterback.”
Mason (6-3, 200) was 9-of-16 passing for 109 yards and threw an interception. LeMay (6-2, 200), a midyear enrollee from Matthews, N.C., finished with 38 yards on 3-of-6 passing and displayed a surprisingly strong arm.
Murray had a typically solid day: 12-of-17 for 122 yards and a touchdown.
Richt was disappointed with quarterback play
Richt said afterward he was disappointed with quarterback play. Not the ones in the game, mind you, but the four former UGA quarterbacks who competed in a skills contest at halftime.
David Greene, D.J. Shockley, Matthew Stafford and Eric Zeier got five tries to throw a football into a 50-gallon trashcan 35 yards away, through a tire from 12 yards away and to fans picked out of the stands who ran pass patterns. Stafford — the No. 1 pickin the 2009 draft — won the competition. But Richt wasn’t impressed.
“I would’ve liked to have seen those guys throw at least one in the bucket,” Richt quipped. “That was kind of embarrassing. But the wind was blowing I guess. I wish those guys would have thrown it a little better. That was the only disappointment I had.”
Lettermen were very involved in the 2011 G-Day. There was a flag football game featuring former players before the game and dozens hung out on the sidelines and in the stands.
“Seriously, I can’t tell you how fun it was to have all those former players here,” Richt said. “It’s good to see those guys and great that they want to come back.”
So what about running backs?
Richt: “You saw Kenny Malcome make some nice runs. He had some space and he took advantage of it. He has always finished runs well, which has been what we always liked the most about Kenny. When he makes contact he’s normally knocking somebody back and running through a tackle. I saw some of that.
Malcome led the Black Team with 39 yards and scored the game-winning TD on a 12-yard run. The Red Team’s Carlton Thomas led all rushers with 48 yards on 13 carries. Richt also said he was pleased with Caleb King, who had 30 yards on five carries.
There were ball security issues again. The Red Team had four fumbles and lost three, including one by Thomas inside the Black Team’s 5 on the game’s opening drive.
Who is Connor Norman?
The real star of Saturday’s game was walk-on defensive back Connor Norman. Wearing No. 11 for the Black Team, the rising sophomore from Duluth had five tackles, three pass deflections and a highlight-reel interception.
“We weren’t sure at all what we had with Connor,” Richt said. “We knew he was able to play safety and the nickel position. You could tell he was never afraid to come up and make a play as far as tackling. That was a very athletic interception and you saw good instincts. Sometimes a play like that will catch the eye of a special teams coach.”
‘Dream Team in the house’
Many of the members of Georgia’s “Dream Team” 2011 recruiting class were in attendance, including 5-star prospects Isaiah Crowell and Ray Drew. Richt credits their presence for some of the strong performances of returning lettermen this spring.
“They realize there’s a pack of Dogs coming in to try to get playing time and win jobs and things of that nature,” Richt said. “I think that’s going to ignite and excite this program.”
Defense dominates in Boise State’s spring game
Boise State, the Bulldogs’ opponent in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in September, also held its spring game on Saturday. Attendance was 14,445.
Utilizing a defense vs. offense points-earning format, the defense won 21-13. The defense scored its points on six three-and-outs, five sacks, one interception and two red-zone stops, according to Chadd Cripe of the Idaho Statesman. One of the Broncos’ issues in 2011 is finding new play-makers at the receiver position. Sophomore wideout Geraldo Hiwat took the early lead in fulfilling that role with five catches for 97 yards. And the play of star quarterback Kellen Moore was described as “unimpressive.” The 6-foot, 190-pound senior was 5-of-14 for 50 yards, often missing completions by inches.
You can read Cripe’s full report in the Idaho Statesman by CLICKING HERE.
This & That . . .
Saturday’s attendance of 43,117 set a G-Day Game record. The previous record of 42,458 was set in 2009. . . . Chase Vasser and Alec Ogletree led all tacklers with 7 apiece. . . . Defensive end Reuben Faloughi had three sacks. Grantham also lauded DE Derek Lott, who had two sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss. . . . Boise State, Georgia’s opponent in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game Sept. 3 at the Georgia Dome, was conducting its spring game Saturday night. Kickoff was set for 7 p.m. EST.
For the first time since, well, nobody really knows, the UGA Redcoat Band played from its new perch in the west-end bleachers at Sanford Stadium. The move was recommended by first-year AD Greg McGarity, who thought it would provide better acoustics. Previously the bad sat on the North side next to the student section. “I went to that side during the game just to listen and I think they could actually hear the band over there for the first time,” McGarity said.
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166 comments Add your comment
Bubbatavious
April 16th, 2011
9:29 pm
Midget needs to grow. still had passes batted down which is disturbing.
Bubbatavious
April 16th, 2011
9:30 pm
Lemay is the man. But Richt is blind.!
Ed
April 16th, 2011
9:40 pm
I liked the way the defensive line looked namely Geathers and Ken Malcome was also pretty impressive at running back. As for Aaron Murray I thought he played well at times but still looked flustered at other times. Hopefully the offense will develop more chemistry between now and the Boise St game. I can’t wait to see what Malcolm Mitchell and Isaiah Crowell bring to the table come fall practice.
51WTGW50
April 16th, 2011
9:41 pm
LeMay is not SEC ready. Hell, Murray isn’t SEC ready. Mason deserves plenty of playing early and often.
D A DoubleU G
April 16th, 2011
9:44 pm
I had an absolute blast in Athens today. Weather was phenomenal, and the atmosphere was really, really fun.
Thought I would have preferred the 1st team vs 1st team matchup to get an idea of how we stand, The teams was TRULY having a blast out there today.
Also, the Butts Mehre expansion open house was a true treat for the fans from the Athletic Association. Thank you! Those who walked around the new facilities know I speak the truth when I say our facilities are second to NOBODY. Absolutely beautiful.
This brings to rest an fun time of year, from NSD through end of Spring Practice. Now it is time for us all to break for summer, and check back around mid-July for Media Days.
GO DAWGS!!!!
140 days til kickoff!!!!!!
dawgster
April 16th, 2011
9:46 pm
@Bubbatavious…calling a young man that is busting his rear end off for UGA and trying to help this team a quote, your quote “a midget”..is about as classless as it comes…Its easy for someone to sit behind a computer and spew out classless comments…Lemay eventually may be “the man” as you say, but he needs the time to learn the system…As unbelievable as this sounds, I actuallly have played with and coached on teams with QB’s the height of Murray’s or shorter and also with many that were taller…and guess what they had many balls knocked down in real games…hard to believe isn’t it!…and by the way his name is Murray, not your quote “Midget”…
D A DoubleU G
April 16th, 2011
9:46 pm
*the team was TRULY having a blast
D A DoubleU G
April 16th, 2011
9:47 pm
Aaron Murray is the exact same height as Drew Brees.
Drew Brees does pretty well.
D A DoubleU G
April 16th, 2011
9:48 pm
And not a single Murray pass was batted down.
“Bubbatavious” = Techie trying to stir pot.
Chip Towers
April 16th, 2011
9:50 pm
william cranman: No injuries, according to CMR. We’ll see.
dawgster
April 16th, 2011
9:51 pm
Unbelievable posts by some supposedly dawg fans about Murray not being SEC ready…it was a spring game…what is so freaking hard to understand about that….Murray had a great RS freshman season last year, did he make mistakes…of course…will he make mistakes this year…I’d bet on it…but with a little help at RB this year and I suspect a tuned up offense, Murray should do fine…If not then we can turn it over to the backup QB…they are always popular with the fans that know very little about coaching or playing football…
dawgster
April 16th, 2011
9:54 pm
@D A DoubleU G..thanks for the follow-up regarding Murray…amazing how many people come out with the disguise of being a dawg fan….and your right today was about fun for the players, coaches and fans…Many people on this blog have no clue at all…..go dawgs
51WTGW50
April 16th, 2011
10:00 pm
Joe Cox never got much playing time and look what that did for the Dawgs. Mason needs to play so the same crap doesn’t happen again. A back-up needs to play in real games that matter and are on the line a little so to speak. Mop up work against the 3rd string doesn’t help get the Back-up ready to play.
51WTGW50
April 16th, 2011
10:05 pm
Did the coaches Teach the players how to use LOCKS on their lockers today? You know you can’t trust dawg fans, students, players, teachers, or even administrators not to break the law.
confusadog
April 16th, 2011
10:08 pm
Blogs give all morons a stage. Hey Joe, your parents are siblings.
dawgster
April 16th, 2011
10:09 pm
Heck…you cant even trust “51WTGW50″ not to break the law…I mean what is this world coming too…
D A DoubleU G
April 16th, 2011
10:11 pm
dawgster,
the VAST majority of people on this blog are FAR from Dawg fans. I actually suspect at least half of the negative comments are Techies in disguise. They obsess over us that much.
Some idiots expect military style discipline on a day that is a real treat for the fans and players who have busted a– through a grueling spring practice. Those of us who know the program are well aware that today was a day for the two teams to smack talk each other and enjoy a healthy level of competition amongst themselves for a steak dinner reward.
I am more than pleased what I am reading and seeing from this current pack of Dawgs. Boise State cannot come to town fast enough. And if we come up short against Boise, you bet your a– I will be in Sanford Stadium the following week ready to cheer against South Carolina as if it were a National Championship game.
I support MY Dawgs,
I support Mark Richt,
I. AM. GEORGIA.
GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!
dawgster
April 16th, 2011
10:27 pm
Amen Double G…go dawgs
old time dog
April 16th, 2011
10:28 pm
D A Double U G…..You didn’t show boy!!! So stop posting your silly dribble because no one but you cares what you think. BOY. Stupidity is really evident with you son. What a punk!!!!
51WTGW50
April 16th, 2011
10:39 pm
D A doubleU G
It seems you have a fan. HAHAAHAH. I guess he is tired of your crap too. Glad you had fun.
AltamahaDawg
April 16th, 2011
10:43 pm
I care what he thinks.
savannadawg
April 16th, 2011
10:44 pm
I can’t believe some people on this blog are analyzing anything about next season based on a scrimmage. That just goes to show how “unsmart” you are about this game. Do me and other good dawgs a favor, and go blog on your own teams site. Paaaaaaaaaalease!!!!!!!!!!
Frank Lane
April 16th, 2011
11:06 pm
I want to see Connor Norman on the field next fall. I watched his movement and anticipation before each play. You are talking about a kid with smarts About time.
William
April 16th, 2011
11:08 pm
Lets not talk about football but the real problem. Moving the band? How can we mess with tradition? The band is more important than the football team anyway. What is going on? We need a new AD and a new football coach. Everything is bad, the sky is falling, boo hoo. See how silly this all sounds. Get a life, the football team will be fine, I hope.
GAViking35
April 16th, 2011
11:13 pm
I bet a steak dinner Lemay transfers before next season (2012). It’s hard for players that were the BMOC in high school to realize there are others better than they are. He won’t wait 3 years for Murray to graduate.
NORRIS
April 16th, 2011
11:19 pm
Really? Lemay looked Bad. not impressed at all. The kid from Jesup, Paker Welsh looked pretty good and mason did too. We have some good depth at QB. Lemay is 4th at best on that list.
Larry Munson
April 16th, 2011
11:20 pm
All the problems in this country started when we gave women the right to vote. I never should have voted for that amendment…..
Lakedawg
April 16th, 2011
11:25 pm
Have not seen as much speed at linebacker (except Rennie C.) in many, many years as was on field today. Anyone carrying ball was looking for #9 the few plays he was in game, cause he was coming in a hurry and with bad intent. Can’t wait to see him and #22 in blitzing situations this fall. Ogletree will be all SEc this his first year at linebacker. And #46 little brother hit some people today also. Great recruits both.
Tiger Woods
April 16th, 2011
11:26 pm
Larry, how right you are. The divorce rate in this country would be so much lower if women would just shut the f—- up. Inferior beings.
Anyone seen my putting game? Gotta be around here somewhere.
AltamahaDawg
April 16th, 2011
11:27 pm
Except that he wasnt exactly BMOC for the past year. I would also think he and his family had more than the usually discussions with the staff about all this because of the turn of event that lead him to enroll early.
Sean Hannity
April 16th, 2011
11:27 pm
Agreed. There is only one time women should have their mouths open.
AltamahaDawg
April 16th, 2011
11:32 pm
If I had to guess, I would say LeMay RS this year, and he is expecting that.
Eddie
April 16th, 2011
11:59 pm
The 43,117 attendance is pure B.S.
I was there. There were no tickets sold and no turnstyles used.
There were no more than about 15,000 in the stadium and there were boos at the end of the sloppy first half.
This year’s running backs had more fumbles than broken tackles and the offensive line’s pad level was again too high after getting jacked up all day by the 3-man defensive front.
The best runner on the field was a defensive back.
This team is in trouble but at least the fans could hear the band for the first time ever.
RED DOG 77
April 17th, 2011
12:16 am
@DA Double UG……….I too support “my” BULLDOGS, Coach Mark Richt…….and I support you too my friend……..keep up the good work, ain’t it really sort of fun seeing all the imposters trying to get under our skin?…………Other than all the smash-mouth injuries this Spring, the imposters give me the feeling we must be doing a pretty damn good job of getting ready for September………GO DOGS!!!!!…Regards, RED
RON
April 17th, 2011
1:31 am
geathers is awesome so far he needs to be starting at end because he needs to be out there along with jenkins and tyson and the three of them would rival alabama in the front three
Doublasville Dawg
April 17th, 2011
1:47 am
For all of you morons out there, Murray was 12 – 17 today! I believe that is slightly over 70%. Did any of you who are bashing Murray happen to see the stat comparisons between him and Stafford after their freshman years? Murray is a leader, has passion and talent! I’m a bit confused as to why Georgia fans are bashing their own team. For all of you Georgia fans out there who are posting negative comments…do the rest of us a favor and find another team and take your negativity with you! I bet if this were the spring game of 1981, you would have something negative to say about Herschel Walker! Go Dawgs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7576DAWG
April 17th, 2011
3:19 am
All I want to know is did the defense and offensive line look stronger now that we are emphasizing S&C than they looked at the end of 2010? If that was an improvement then spring drills was a huge success. We don’t even get serious for another 3 1/2 months.
It Ain't Rocket Science
April 17th, 2011
6:08 am
I bet if 51 would show as much passion in flipping his burgers at Mikcie D’s as he does, putting down the DAWGS, he would be an all SEC first team flipper. What a true waste of humanity. Just think, team him with buba and you got the NC of fast food flippers in the same town and possibly the same eatery.
Now that I have vented my disapointment at two I believe SNERTS, it sounds like to me that the S and C program just might be giving some results. I think if the O line and the running backs, step up to the plate, UGA will be a solid tough team to beat on the field. I feel pretty good about the defense, although I feel the safety play will have to turn it up a little, but otherwise, it is night and day from last year I think.
I also think, the key to success for the DAWGS is dominating with the defense and ball control for the offense. Control the clock, and the DAWGS can control the game.
I am very proud of this group of young man wearing the black and red. They could have just thrown in the towel after all the negative crap that was written about them after last year, but instead, they have responded positively, and that is a sign of maturity and being coached up. CMR is going to be here after the year is over, and a lot of naysayers that run their mouth off on these blogs, are going to look pretty funny after this season is on the way. Not to say they do not already look hopeless, trying to make themselfs feel important in the first place. I digress however, so I say GO DAWGS and beat the snot out of your opponent this year.
Ssgt Dawg
April 17th, 2011
6:44 am
I think if you have a young teen that you want to send off to college and know he’s going to be in good hands CMR is the guy. As far as developing him into a great football talent and sharpening his football skills maybe UGA isn’t the place. CMR biggest downfall at times is his loyalty. He holds on to assistants and players sometimes too long. The sense of entitlement to some players has gotten us beat numerous times. Whether it be leaving a guy in who’s getting beat I.e. Bryan Evans, or not playing a guy because he had an attitude like Dowtin last year. I’m not advocating playing guys that are trouble makers but you have to get your best guys on the field. There’s no way Hamilton should of played before Tree last year. He admitted that he didn’t know the playbook so what made him any different from’Tree?
Ssgt Dawg
April 17th, 2011
7:11 am
Don’t mistake my comments for negativity I’m just saying if Kwame is playing this well and Big John is not even on campus yet then how come he’s anointed already by coaches. I have seen his film and he’s a MAN, but I would like to think he’d have to earn his PT. For instance Nick Satan fired about 6 starters this spring after a “disastrous” 10 win season. We went 7-6 and lost to UCF, I’d think that would be grounds to start an open competition at all positions. Then again there’s a reason we play Dec bowl games and the upper echelon SEC teams are racking up crystal footballs.
It Ain't Rocket Science
April 17th, 2011
7:12 am
SSgt DAWG,
I do agree with you as CMR has tended to do that in the past at times. I think though, we are seeing a new CMR as far as thinking goes this year. It looks like he is going to play his best men on the field and I think the players realize it also. For the players, maybe it is all the talk about the recruits coming in and it hurt their pride just a little that the coaches were talking them up so much. But I also feel they see a little sense of urgency from the coaching staff this year and that it may not be “Business As Usual”, and they have to earn the right to be on the field playing. I think we will see some of these players step out from the crowd and earn the right to be there. They want to restore the pride to the program, and I think they know that the coaches attitudes have changed a little more this year.
Moedawg16
April 17th, 2011
8:05 am
How is attendance figured since no tickets were taken?
DawgNation
April 17th, 2011
8:09 am
Bobo, Bobo, a pirate’s life for me
That screen name had me laughing most of this morning. Thanks
DawgNation
April 17th, 2011
8:11 am
Moedawg16,
Attendance was probably taken by turnstile turns at the gates.
test
April 17th, 2011
8:27 am
Enter your comments here
RMikel58
April 17th, 2011
8:45 am
There are alot of positives this year with Georgia. I knew bringing in those 4 and 5 Star Players would motivate the players in the upper classes and it did. Im really excited with the Defense and especially Geathers upping the ante’ on his play.
I think Georgia will have a special group of guy’s on Defense this year, they seem more jelled and more like a family to me. Sure do pray that Richard Samuel finds his place as LB and has an outstanding year at that position. Last year no one stepped up to take the leadership role on Defense and maybe players like Geathers, Samuel or possibly Ray Drew will step up and take the role.
I look to see our Defense mature faster than our Offense and i think you’ll see the Defense start to dominate as spring carries on, so look for that to happen.
Carlton Thomas needs to sleep with the football and quit this fumbling disease. He did this last year and eventhough he has talent this fumbling thing would drop him to the bottom tier of RB’s with me.
I am still looking for great things from Isiah Crowell on a college level because i like his attitude and desire.
rocketfuel
April 17th, 2011
8:59 am
Seems like the Dawgs did more running than passing.For those of you at the game did it look like the new S&C program is paying off.The O-Line is a BIG concern IMO.
51WTGW50
April 17th, 2011
9:32 am
No turnstiles at the game. Attendance is estimated as best guess. It was a free day to see some football. I would bet a good number of the fans there don’t have or can’t afford season tickets. They go for fun and a nice afternoon in Athens.
It sounds like the KOOLAID was free for the kids and parents alike.
Everybody loved the Richt Magic Show so much they are already believing that some how this year will be SEC East Champs.
Wouldn’t it be Great if it is USC and Kentucky fighting for the SEC EAST?
Joey
April 17th, 2011
9:36 am
“NG Kwame Geathers continues dominating play”
********************************
That’s kinda a good news / bad news title for us, isn’t it?
Good news: Kwame is dominating.
Bad news: Kwame is dominating our O-line.
If Kwame dominates Boise and SC, I’ll get excited.
Very excited! Go Dawgs!
ugab
April 17th, 2011
9:39 am
I wasn’t at the game to judge. I am sick of the last 4 poor ass seasons. I have hope for MR, but not to much hope at all.