UPDATED: Georgia’s Marlon Brown, Todd Gurley star in pass-happy scrimmage
Freshman tailback Todd Gurley is generating some buzz in the Bulldogs' preseason camp. He led the backs with 58 yards and a touchdown during Wednesday's scrimmage. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
ATHENS – Georgia held its first full-scale, controlled scrimmage of the preseason at Sanford Stadium on Wednesday. Head coach Mark Richt called it a “good scrimmage” with “some bumps and bruises, but I don’t think anything came from it.”
Following are the “unofficial official stats,” as Richt likes to call them. Below that are some comments from coaches and players and general observations.
RUSHING
- Todd Gurley 6 carries — 58 yards — 1 touchdown
- Ken Malcome 5-32-0
- Brandon Harton 7-25-0
- Kyle Karempelis 4-15
- Keith Marshall 7-11
PASSING
- Aaron Murray 12 completions — 17 attempts — 170 yards — 1 touchdown — 0 interceptions
- Hutson Mason 9-13-86-1-0
- Christian LeMay 3-6-44-0-1
- Parker Welch 4-7-18-0-0
- Faton Bauta 0-3-0-0
RECEIVING
- Marlon Brown 6 receptions — 103 yards — 2 touchdowns
- Tavarres King 4-66-0
- Rantavious Wooten 2-45-1
- Justin Scott-Wesley 3-43
- Michael Bennett 2-26
- Arthur Lynch 2-21
- Merritt Hall 1-16
- Taylor Bradberry 2-13
DEFENSE
- Connor Norman 6 tackles
- Cornelius Washington 6 tackles/3 sacks
- Devin Bowman 4 tackles
- Shawn Williams 4 tackles
- James DeLoach 4 tackles
- Amarlo Herrera 3 tackles/1 fumble recovery
- Ramik Wilson 3 tackles
- Corey Moore 3 tackles
- Bacarri Rambo 3 tackles/1 sack
- Sheldon Dawson 3 tackles
- Jordan Jenkins 1 sack
- John Jenkins 1 sack
- Josh Dawson 1 tackle for loss
- Sanders Commings 1 interception
- Branden Smith 1 TFL
- Jarvis Jones 1 PBU
KICKING
- Marshall Morgan 0-1 on FGs
GEORGIA COACH MARK RICHT
- On overall play . . .
“Overall the No. 1 units played well. The No. 1 offense actually scored touchdowns on their first three drives. The No. 1 defense didn’t allow but one first down on the first three drives. So I thought both No. 1 units were dominant, which I like this time of year.”
- On Gurley’s perfomance . . .
“Todd, he ran the ball well, but he had some good space provided for him at times where some other guys didn’t. I mean, Marshall had a great three-yard run one time but that doensn’t impress anybody unless you see it in person. I thought all the backs ran well really. There were a cpouple of times I didn’t think they hit it like they should have or could have. But it wasn’t bad.”
- On Brown’s performance . . .
“He has started hot. He’s been hot this whole camp. He’s been outstanding. We’re all just praying that he stays healthy and he does well. He really has had a great camp. We were saying this a year ago.”
- On pass protection . . .
“Offensively I thought the pass protection improved, even with the No. 2 unit. There were still some sacks but, as many times as we threw it, there were some times [the quarterbacks] could stand up in there and make their reads and make a throw. I don’t know if the No. 1 offensive line gave up a sack.”
- On all the sacks . . .
“I like it when my No. 1 defense is getting sacks. It doesn’t really bother me. You’ve got guys like [Bacarri] Rambo and [Alec] Ogletree, John Jenkins, Jarvis Jone and Cornelius Washington; you hope and expect to get sacks from those guys. If it’s you’re first unit getting beat real bad, then you get concerned. But I’m not too concerned because they’re going against some pretty good guys.”
WR MARLON BROWN
“It was from Hutson Mason. I was just kind of running down the middle of the field and he put it on me. I was wide open.
“At the beginning of the scrimmage I had a ball across the middle I should have caught. But I realaxed a little bit. It was an easy touchdown and I kind of dropped my hands a little bit and it went through my hands. After that I was like, Man, I’m not missing anymore passes today.”
SS SHAWN WILLIAMS
“[Alec] Ogletree got a good hit on short yardage on Todd Gurley. He hit him and I was like, ‘wow!’ I liked hjow it sounded. I got pretty hyped.”
Also, on freshman RBs . . .
“They’re doing real well. Both of them, Keith and Todd, they’re going to go I there and get the job done. They’re running the ball hard and not shying away from hits or blows. They’re trying to take it to you. I feel like we’re making them better an d they’re making us better.”
NG JOHN JENKINS
“It’s like a big tease, man. I’m just looking forward to the games. Just to be back in the stadium between the hedges gets you excited.”
INJURY REPORT
- S Marc Deas, hamstring strain, out
- DE Ray Drew, concussion, out
- OLB Dexter Morant, shoulder sprain, out
- CB Damian Swann, cervical sprain, no contact
- TE Hugh Williams, left hand surgery, out
TIDBITS
While special teams was not the focus of Wednesday’s scrimmage, freshman place-kicker Marshall Morgan missed on his only attempt of the day. Richt could not say how far it was but did say the line of scrimmage was inside the 20-yard line, so it was “relatively short range.” Morgan did make all his extra points, however. . . . “You can tell they’re nervous,” Richt said of the kickers. “They’re human. Everybody’s talking about them. I’m sure they’re feeling it a little bit.” . . . Walkon punter Adam Erickson, a redshirt sophomore from Athens, has established himself as the holder from placement kicks. . . .
Freshman John Theus worked with No. 1 offense at right tackle on the No. 1 offense’s first possession. He’s competing with sophomore Watts Dantzler for the starting job. . . . Starting RG Chris Burnette was back in action on Wednesday. He split time with Dantzler. . . . Richt said he would ask the coaches to begin formulating the travel list for their respective positions so they might begin to assimilate a 70-man SEC roster.
Richt said the plan is still for Mason, the junior quarterback from Marietta, to redshirt this season. But Wednesday’s play distribution once again underscored that he remains Plan B should Murray be injured. LeMay (3-for-6, 44 yards, interception) got less work and that was limited mainly to the second and third units. “We’re going to work all three of those guys a lot,” Richt said. “Like I’ve said before, if something happens today, Hutson’s No. 2. Things could change throughout camp, but Hutson simply has a tremendous feel for what he’s doing. He’s got another year under his belt compared to LeMay. LeMay is getting there as far as progress. But as of right now, if something happened to Murray it would be Hutson.”
MORE GEORGIA FOOTBALL
- Focus intensifies on Georgia’s kickers
- Jarvis Jones wants to ’seize the moment’
- UGA changes policy on injury info
- Rodney Garner talks roster management, Penn State and recruiting character
- Malcolm Mitchell all-defense for now, but double-duty starts soon
- Georgia clears Branden Smith to play in opening game
- Aaron Murray spends summer honing craft with football’s finest
- The Kolton Houston case
- The top five priorities of preseason camp
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253 comments Add your comment
North Georgia Dawg
August 8th, 2012
3:23 pm
Harton and Norman probably got a lot of snaps with second and third string and that’s why they played so much. Don’t think they’re fooling our coaching staff that they are better than the starters.
AltamahaDawg
August 8th, 2012
3:23 pm
My goodness, you guys can find a way in a preseason drill stat to spin an insult against Bobo, no matter what happens.
Maybe he was in when we had the rest of the little guys in, and that’s all they called?
AltamahaDawg
August 8th, 2012
3:26 pm
It is also possible that maybe they didn’t do everything they plan on doing the entire season in the very first live scrimmage of the camp?
GaDawg4Life
August 8th, 2012
3:27 pm
If you get on these posts just to talk bad about another team please leave. Georgia is going to be the dark horse this year in the BCS hold me to that. As for Aaron murray and Hutson mason. I do believe Hutson is better but we need him next year and the coaches dont need to take off his redshirt. There needs to be a years difference between him and Aaron. Aaron is going pro this year and that leaves next year to Hutson. Lets hope Marlon lives up to all the hype that he came into Athens will. ALso give the rock to Gurley. He’s our new work horse. Lets saddle him up and ride him all the way to BCSNCG!!!
Chip Towers
August 8th, 2012
3:28 pm
North Georgia Dawg: Samuel played both fullback and tailback, Richt said.
DawginLex
August 8th, 2012
3:32 pm
alt
I got up this morning and we had no milk for my cereal
I blamed Mike Bobo
too soon??
CHDawg
August 8th, 2012
3:33 pm
GT, it only takes a couple of nuts changing their IDs and posting irritating nonsense to make GT (or UF/USC/UA) look bad. Most of the real Dawg fans have real GT friends and family who are normal, so we realize that some of the irritating ones posting here are not. Good luck this year.
VINCE
August 8th, 2012
3:36 pm
Whats the deal with Bozo and midget running backs.
BankerDawg
August 8th, 2012
3:43 pm
These are practice stats guys. Come on. Let’s not blow our wads just yet. As far as the Murray and Mason argument, this is getting old. We are all aware of Murray’s record against top ranked teams and we all know about the problems with int’s. As far as Mason is concerned, he looks good in practice but we dont know what he would do in the big game. Joe Cox had great stats in practice. Look what he did on game day. Murray is our best chance of winning this year, like it or not. That said, he better grow up quick and learn to throw the ball away. I’d like to see what Mason can actually do. Hopefully we’re up enough on Buffalo and Florida Atlantic (or whoever) enough to see both Mason and Lemay get some action. We need to start preparing another QB.
tide roll
August 8th, 2012
3:46 pm
What if you guys had BRANDON GREENE OT, CHANCE WARMACK OG, CHRIS BURNETTE C, KANARIOUS GATES OG, JUJUAN JAMES OT. YOU”D FINALLY WIN A NATIONAL TITLE! IT MUST BE SOOO DAMN FRUSTATING..THESE ARE ALL IN-STATE KIDS. 32 years. A damn eternity. WAKE THE HELL UP RICHT>
dawgfan
August 8th, 2012
3:47 pm
Aaron Murray had almost as many passing attempts (17) as the entire team had rushing attempts (29). None of the running backs that participated in this scrimmage have any experience whatsoever but not a single one of them got more than 7 carries. How in the good holy hell are we going to develop a running game if they aren’t doing any damn running in practice? Meanwhile they let our proven QB who everyone knows can run this offense take 17 passing attempts?
More head scratchers from the Richt/Bobo braintrust. Outback Bowl here we come baby.
Good grief.
Dawg Haus
August 8th, 2012
3:51 pm
Agreed, CHDawg and GT. A good buddy of mine is a Tech alumnus. He got me and a fellow UGA grad tickets to the game last season. Pretty much all of the Tech folks in our section were very civil and we had interesting and respectful conversations about football throughout the game. I wish these blogs could be the same way. I’ve always enjoyed talking football with legitimate fans of other teams. Good luck to your Jackets, too, GT!
AltamahaDawg
August 8th, 2012
3:51 pm
I don’t think they are going to play Mason this year if they can help it. RS.
Gary
August 8th, 2012
3:54 pm
I am not sure not having a kicking game isn’t going to help. I would rather see Bobo go for it on Forth down than try and pick up 3 unless it is crucial. Keep the offense on the field as long a possible. Forth and 6 on the 34, to hell with three. GO for the First down. Demoralizes the other team if you get it. If you don’t our D is supposed to be good. Let them prove it.
AltamahaDawg
August 8th, 2012
3:58 pm
Oh, if I only I could pay to sit and watch you explain your vast knowledge of how best to run a football scrimmage to that braintrust.
Dawg Haus
August 8th, 2012
3:58 pm
Has anyone heard anything more about using Bauta at QB this season in wildcat-type situations from time to time?
AltamahaDawg
August 8th, 2012
3:59 pm
(cue the fake name responce)
drbasic1
August 8th, 2012
4:01 pm
@ tide roll
no what is frustrating is reading your dribble day in and day out.
you are obsessed with lineman, is it a man crush or something?
AltamahaDawg
August 8th, 2012
4:01 pm
Actually 3 of the 5 RB that played today have playing experience. 2 of them have been starters before.
Mark (another one)
August 8th, 2012
4:01 pm
I have a friend with a degree from GT and we have a friendly rivalry. I don’t understand the fans that get so personal with all this crap. These are both great universities with major college football programs. Enjoy the competition on the field and some friendly ribbing. Don’t take it too far.
I disagree with the comment above complaining about Murray having almost as many pass attempts (17) as all back had running attempts (29). That is actually about half as many passes as runs, and we need to work the receivers as well as the backs. We also don’t know the focus from the coaches perspective. They won’t run each practice with the same focus. Trust that the coaches are doing the best to get ready for the season, and hit Taco Mac for your two a days.
Joey
August 8th, 2012
4:03 pm
Brown and Gurley are gonna carry this team this season. Just my opinion . . .
Dawg Haus
August 8th, 2012
4:06 pm
I hope so, Joey! I know it’s just his first scrimmage, but Gurley’s stats are not too shabby.
AltamahaDawg
August 8th, 2012
4:09 pm
My take is that they know who can “run” the ball. Having them do it over and over and over in drills is how will develop those instints. But they wanted to see what they could do in live action, when they sent the LB blitzing, which could be harder to simulate in drills, and that why they had less rushing attempts, and more passing situations set up in the scrimmage today. I would think this was not intended to be a game plan for any particular opponent, but rather working on some specific things. Reasonable guess?
DawginLex
August 8th, 2012
4:10 pm
For the Bobo/Richt bashers:
Who developed Hutson Mason, a 2 star QB coming out of high school into a QB that you want to start for The University of Georgia?
Be careful how you answer……………..
DawginLex
August 8th, 2012
4:12 pm
Scrimmage stat evaluation rules:
Pay attention to how many carries a running back got, not so much the yardage gained. That tells you who is getting the most reps.
DawginLex
August 8th, 2012
4:14 pm
Next rule
Sacks in scrimmages are way overrated since a sack is registered by just touching the QB, no tackle required
dawgfan
August 8th, 2012
4:15 pm
“Oh, if I only I could pay to sit and watch you explain your vast knowledge of how best to run a football scrimmage to that braintrust.”
I will use the same analogy that I alway use in response to this typical argument. Just because I don’t know how to fly a plane doesn’t mean I can’t say something to the pilot when the damn thing is nosediving to the ground at 600 mph.
“Actually 3 of the 5 RB that played today have playing experience. 2 of them have been starters before.”
Oh give me a break. You should be a politician. Harton started against New Mexico freaking State. That doesn’t count. Malcome’s only start came against Tech and the bowl game as far as I can remember. We didn’t even run the damn ball against Tech hardly. This is a green group. They need reps, reps and more reps. Aaron Murray does not need reps. We know what he can do.
“I disagree with the comment above complaining about Murray having almost as many pass attempts (17) as all back had running attempts (29). That is actually about half as many passes as runs”
There were 46 passing attempts in the scrimmage and 29 runs. Try again.
Dawg Haus
August 8th, 2012
4:19 pm
Good point on RB stats, Lex. YPC is the most important number on multiple carries. Gurley and Malcome both did very well.
kingdaddy
August 8th, 2012
4:20 pm
Dawg in Montgy
Come gametime, only the top 2-3 backs plus a fullback will get carries. This was just getting them warmed up. I don’t think they got very fancy and the first game will be vannilla. We’ll show alittle more to missouri and practice but save some supprises for S.C. By then, we will be rolling with a lot of options. Can’t show lil stevie what’s in store for him till gametime…
kral
August 8th, 2012
4:25 pm
you need to tell the coaches before a scrimmage…to late after..same with that pilot
AltamahaDawg
August 8th, 2012
4:34 pm
True. If the plane was in a 600 mph nosedive, I would say it doesnt take a pilot to figure that out. If that was in any way an good analogy to the state of the program, that might be a good point.
But if you were trying to tell an actual real pilot what the exact degree of right aileron to use given a certain airspeed and cross wind, and you don’t know what the hell you are talking about, you might want to go take a seat and let the professional do his job.
AltamahaDawg
August 8th, 2012
4:38 pm
I see and only starting 2 games, and we didn’t run it very much doesnt counts. Ok. See when I read your post and it says “None of the running backs that participated in this scrimmage have any experience whatsoever”, I tought that is what you meant.
Your not really having a good day with that whole sticking to what you originally said, are you buddy?
dawgfan
August 8th, 2012
4:38 pm
“you need to tell the coaches before a scrimmage…to late after..same with that pilot”
I’ve been saying the same exact thing since 2008: No serious commitment to a running game. No O-line. No physicality on offense. In the meantime, we’ve lost basically every big game that we’ve played in, had a losing season and have been completely irrelevant. Yet, I’m a bafoon for questioning this obviously brilliant coaching staff. I just need to let them do their jobs and continue to lead us to Independence and Outback Bowls.
Unreal.
Book 'em, Danno!
August 8th, 2012
4:39 pm
Has Coach Richt intoduced the incoming freshmen to the jailkeeper and let them pick out their favorite cell yet? If they fill out the paperwork now, it will save a lot of time later when they’re booked.
dawgfan
August 8th, 2012
4:43 pm
“True. If the plane was in a 600 mph nosedive, I would say it doesnt take a pilot to figure that out. If that was in any way an good analogy to the state of the program, that might be a good point.”
It doesn’t take a head football coach to know that getting blown out by 32 points in the SECCG is not a good thing. You see, how it works is, the point of the game is to win. When that isn’t happening something is wrong.
Let me know if you need me to slow down for you….
TB Dawg
August 8th, 2012
4:46 pm
Those of you who like to bash CMR and CMB for scoring only 32 points per game on average, need to look at the points allowed by Alabama’s and LSU’s defense and realize that UGA would have lost only one game last year if our points per game given up was the same as either Alabama or LSU.
Eisendawg
August 8th, 2012
4:50 pm
dawgfan is a oximoron.
Bippitty Bopitty Boo Boo
August 8th, 2012
4:54 pm
Well so much for the “Marshall Plan” 7 carrries for a meager 11 yards.
Big Dawg
August 8th, 2012
4:54 pm
Are they actually hitting hard or are they brother-in-lawing the sacks?
AltamahaDawg
August 8th, 2012
4:57 pm
The only thing you need to slow down, is how fast you keep changing your point each time you get called on the last one.
kral
August 8th, 2012
4:57 pm
Questioning yeah no problem..thinking you know more than them… might put you in the baffoon category …what did you think the years before 2008
Cool Stuff » Georgia Football: Marlon Brown’s Performance in Scrimmage Is Encouraging
August 8th, 2012
5:01 pm
[...] to Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Brown was the star of the scrimmage, hauling in six passes for 103 yards and two [...]
kral
August 8th, 2012
5:04 pm
yeah boy bibbity blooper..one scrimmage..run him a save the scholarship
kral
August 8th, 2012
5:05 pm
left out off after run
AirForce1
August 8th, 2012
5:12 pm
Lets go Dawgs! Time to stop barking and show the football world how much potential this team has!
AirForce1
August 8th, 2012
5:15 pm
TB Dawg has a good point about points allowed.
AirForce1
August 8th, 2012
5:18 pm
dawgfan….I feel your frustration and you are hitting all points accurately. Look back at games from 2002-2007….where is the swagger, the BITE with the BARK? There were some head busters on those teams…offense and defense.
dawgfan
August 8th, 2012
5:19 pm
“The only thing you need to slow down, is how fast you keep changing your point each time you get called on the last one.”
At least I respond to your points. You ignore any that don’t help your argument, such as how getting blown out by 32 points might be an indication that this coaching staff doesn’t know what its doing.
“Questioning yeah no problem..thinking you know more than them… might put you in the baffoon category …what did you think the years before 2008″
I thought the offense was better when Richt was running it. QB stats have gone up under Bobo but big time wins have gone down.
Dynomite
August 8th, 2012
5:21 pm
Mason= The next Joe Cox
SacManFan
August 8th, 2012
5:21 pm
Mikey Davis (themikeydavisshow.com) is reporting that Cornelius Washington’s three sacks came while playing DE with his hand in the dirt. Can anyone confirm or deny?
I didn’t hear much about the MLBs (other than Tree’s big hit). Does anyone know how they played? Was Gurley’s 40 yd run vs. #1 Defense? Go Dawgs!