The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Eason wows 93,000 fans at G-Day game,
Freshman QB puts on show before more than 93,000.
ATHENS — Regardless of what happened on the field, Saturday’s G-Day game has to be considered a smashing success simply because more than 93,000 fans came to see it.
In fact, officials were turning them away at the gates before the game, or at least people were choosing not to come into Sanford Stadium because of the crowds. Twice during the first half, Sanford Stadium’s P.A. man Brook Whitmire asked people to please “squeeze in” to make more room for people still trying to find a seat.
That would remedy itself quickly in the second half as a big portion of the fan base appeared to leave at halftime. But, by then, they had seen what they came to see.
Here are five observations from the game:
Eason makes smashing debut. The main attraction between the hedges Saturday was for everybody to get their first look at freshman quarterback Jacob Eason. They had to wait a while, but when he finally entered the game, the early enrollee from Lake Stevens, Wash., did not disappoint.
Eason came in at quarterback for the Red team, which consisted primarily of the second-team offense, with 10:43 remaining in the second quarter. On his first play from scrimmage, Eason hooked up with tailback Brendan Douglas on a well-delivered flare pass right that went for 13 yards.
A couple of plays later, Eason hit fellow freshman Riley Ridley for a 35-yard gain on a pinpoint pass down the left sideline.
Later, he’d team with freshman tight end Isaac Nauta on a 7-yard touchdown pass on third down for the Red’s only score of the half.
When Eason was done in the first half, he’d completed 11 of 14 passes for 134 yards and a touchdown. Let the quarterback controversy commence.
Smart’s a rock star. Over and above Eason, Kirby Smart was the star of the day. The first-year head coach got an ovation every time he was shown on the giant videoboard, notably when he first entered the west end of the stadium at the end of the Dawg Walk.
UGA then presented a video documentary of the coach’s brief tenure on campus and with him wired for sound at practice, all of which brought forth a rousing reaction.
Meanwhile, Smart displayed his hands-on philosophy. He spent the entire game on the field, wearing a headset to the coaches’ box and standing behind the offense so he could watch the action unfold after hearing the call made.
Those other quarterbacks. The way Georgia handled the quarterbacks Saturday was that senior Greyson Lambert was the primary quarterback for the Black team, which essentially consisted of the No. 1 offense. Junior Brice Ramsey was the primary quarterback for the Red team, or the second-team offense. The plan was for Eason to essentially float between the two, though all his snaps through the third quarter came with the Red squad.
Lambert took some heat on social media for a third-quarter interception Aaron Davis returned 98 yards for a touchdown. But it actually was a route mistake by Ridley that caused the problem.
Both upperclassmen quarterbacks played pretty well overall.
Young receivers show promise. Georgia entered the spring looking for a couple of young receivers to step up. Based on Saturday, Michael Chigbu and Jayson Stanley appeared to have answered that call.
Chigbu was targeted early and often with the Black squad, including twice in the end zone in which he was ruled out of bounds on what would have been touchdowns. In fact, Smart vehemently protested the first ruling and feigned a protest call.
Stanley got behind firstteam cornerback Malkom Parrish for a 38-yard catch and caught another pass inside the 5 to set up the Black team’s first touchdown.
Blankenship looks best among kickers. Not that anything was necessarily decided Saturday, but Rodrigo Blankenship, a preferred walk-on, looked the best of Georgia’s kickers. The redshirt freshman was good on field goals of 46 and 18 yards and made all his PATs. He missed a 40-yard attempt on a line drive to end the first half.
His counterpart, William Ham, missed both of his firsthalf attempts. The first from 46 yards wasn’t his fault, as there was a bad snap. But his second mid-range attempt was just a poor kick. Ham did well on kickoffs.