ATHENS — Traditionally, the winner of Georgia’s spring game is treated to a dinner of steak and lobster. The loser receives beans and weenies.
Seeing as how the game ended in a 20-20 tie, some on the Georgia team hoped Smart would reward everyone with steak dinners.
Instead, the coach ruled that there would be no winner and thus no lobster.
“I told them it was beans and weenies for a tie. It’s kissing your sister,” Smart said. “The guys that played both sides of the ball, we had a couple of guys change over teams. I was going to let them eat steak for changing teams and being selfless. they didn’t approve.”
While there was no team winner on Saturday between the first-team offense and first-team defense, there were plenty of standout moments from the spring scrimmage.
Quarterback Carson Beck threw for 301 yards and 2 touchdowns while also throwing 2 interceptions. On the offensive side of the ball, wide receivers Dominic Lovett and Colbie Young both had strong performances, as they each caught touchdown passes.
Defensively, Mykel Williams made his presence known. The big highlight for Williams was an interception, which came after he tipped a Beck pass in the red zone.
For a defense that was missing stars Malaki Starks and Smael Mondon, Williams’ performance provided a huge boost to a unit that had an up-and-down spring.
“I explained to him, if you want to have a really good year, you want to have a really good camp,” Smart said. “He’s kind of bought into that. Practicing good makes you better. It’s not his fault, he’s been injured. But you can’t play good if you don’t practice. I thought that he had a really good spring from a standpoint of leadership, toughness.”
Williams was far from the only player to flash, as CJ Allen also came down with an interception. Linebacker Jalon Walker and defensive linemen Jordan Hall and Xzavier McLeod made plays on Saturday.
In the secondary, KJ Bolden had some impressive moments, while Daylen Everette had a strong day as well for the Bulldogs.
“I thought the defense played much better today than they did in previous scrimmages in terms of energy, enthusiasm, running to the ball,” Smart said. “We rushed the passer better today. The offense probably didn’t have as good a day as maybe they’ve had in two scrimmages, but some of that was dictated by the terms of which we scrimmaged with which was passing and loose plays.”
Social media had plenty to say on the afternoon, with many weighing in on how the Bulldogs looked. Georgia is expected to be one of the top teams in the country this coming season.
The bevy of plays and playmakers on display Saturday shows why expectations for Georgia are so high.
As for what comes next for Georgia, the Bulldogs open the 2024 season against the Clemson Tigers.
Coming out of the spring game, Smart knows his team has a lot to work on between now and the Aug. 31 opener.
“We’re going to target some guys’ weights, get some weights done, lift,” Smart said. “We’ve got to get our bottom half of our roster to the top half. You’re not gonna get there watching spring game tape. You gotta go and get to work. We’re gonna work really hard on those guys. We’re gonna keep meeting and talking to our players. Tell them the job’s not done. We’re not where we need to be. We just don’t get to practice anymore. You get to do other things. We’ll get back to work on Monday.”
Saturday was the last of Georgia’s 15th spring practices. And while some will have wished for a steak dinner ending, the Bulldogs instead have more work to focus on.
