The week after G-Day usually finds a mix of excitement and concern in Bulldog Nation.
This year is no different, and so the latest Junkyard Mail finds discussion of Stetson Bennett vs. Carson Beck, just how many tight ends Georgia might be able to get on the field at one time this fall, the change in football jerseys, and other topics.
Let’s start with a trio of notes from fans about the quarterback situation. …
Hey Bill, I noticed after the G-Day game that a lot of fans, and even some sportswriters, thought Carson Beck “clearly” outshone Stetson Bennett at quarterback and ought to be the starter. I thought, considering who they each went up against, it was more of a tie, and, just as a tie goes to the runner in baseball, I figure a tie goes to the incumbent starter in football. What do you think?
— Stu Walters
My concern is our future at quarterback. I hear Stetson say that he’ll be even better this year, and he should say that, but I saw NO signs of progress during the spring game. … I have been big on Carson Beck from the time that he signed his letter of intent. I was OK with sitting him out his first year, he needed to mature, and maybe even last year, although, with our defense not many decent QBs could have messed it up. But I think it’s time! Stetson is not our future. … It was very clear in the spring game that Beck has IT! Your thoughts?
— Keith Frost
I think enough of Carson Beck has been seen and evaluated to warrant seeing more of him in real-time game situations during the regular season. There will be plenty of opportunities to get backup QBs into games, not just mop-up roles. … Kirby has said there’s no substitute for experience. Let’s hope he adheres to that mantra and gets our back up QBs in shape to spell Bennett should the need arise.
— Tony Tyson
Like Tony, I hope that Beck will get some meaningful playing time this coming season, but I also agree with Stu. I saw nothing in the G-Day game to back up the idea that Beck is ready to supplant Bennett as the starting QB. That’s not to say that I was wowed by Bennett; I wasn’t. He looked about like he did in his typical, nonplayoff games last season, and that was disappointing, since I was hoping to see him looking more like a six-year senior QB.
However, overall, there was nothing in that game to shake up the current pecking order: Bennett, then Beck, then Brock Vandagriff.
Beck had very good day with some great long throws, but his best showing came on the Red team, going up against the second-string defense. When playing for the Black team some in the second half, going up against the first-string defense, he was less impressive, completing only 1 of 5 passes for 28 yards. And, like Bennett, he missed some throws he should have made. Likewise, Vandagriff looked better when playing for the Reds than he did when going up against the starting D on the Black team. Still, Beck showed he’s clearly ahead of Vandagriff.
As for Bennett, he did have two picks (though, really, only one of them mattered) and had four passes batted down, which is more concerning. But, he also made some great throws, and did seem more in command than Beck did when running the 2-minute offense.
Obviously, the tight ends’ success was the talk of the day. Made me wonder if Coach [Todd] Monken could possibly put in a couple special formations that have Bowers, Washington, Gilbert and Delp all in a single play. Five OL, our QB, a single RB, and those four TE’s stretched outside and on or near the line. Maybe a quick pass outside, an overmatch in the middle, or even trying a deep pass with their speed and size. The capability of yards after catch with this group is amazing.
— Jim Parry
You’re not alone, Jim. A lot of fans are salivating over Georgia’s stacked tight end room, what with Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington returning, and delayed LSU transfer Arik Gilbert and freshman Oscar Delp both looking impressive. As Seth Emerson of The Athletic pointed out, of the 11 tight ends ranked among the top 150 overall recruits in their respective classes, three of them now play for Georgia. (And that doesn’t include Washington, who was listed as an “athlete” in the 2020 class.)
Monken made frequent use of tight ends last season, Emerson said, having at least two of them on the field 51.7% of the time, which was the highest percentage in the SEC and eighth-highest in the country. And, of those 492 plays, 85 had three tight ends on the field — the most in the SEC and fifth-most nationally.
Would Monken really consider a formation with four tight ends, meaning four potential coverage mismatches against smaller defensive backs? Considering tight ends often are flexed out as wide receivers these days, and also line up as H-backs, I certainly could see that happening, especially in the red zone. In fact, I hope we do see that!
I’m only lived in Georgia a couple of months, but have decided to adopt the Dawgs as “my” team, since the school I attended doesn’t play Division 1 football. Having watched UGA in the playoffs this past season, I was surprised by the emphasis on passing in the recent G-Day game. Georgia didn’t throw it downfield nearly as much last season. Does this portend a change in offensive style?
— Julia Reynolds
Not really. The “pass-happy” G-Day offense, as Kirby Smart termed it, is typical of what he wants in his annual intrasquad spring game, not what he wants of his regular-season offense. The Dawgs still are likely to show a more balanced offense in the regular season. As Smart explained after last year’s also pass-heavy spring game, “G-Days are built around a lot of two-minute drives. You want to hurry up, throw and catch the ball. That reduces the risk of injury.”
Bulldawgs looked well-coached for the spring game. Like everyone else, I’m very excited about our All American tight ends. Outstanding passing game. Looks like Beck certainly can handle the offense if Bennett is injured. Brock looked good at QB, as well. …The [other] teams have all improved and will be gunning for us, but I believe we will win the East and play Bam’mer for the SEC. Kirby has set things up for us to be very good because he can bring the talent in. It seems to me that the kids are looking for programs like ours to help them to become better players. It seems like they want to be coached and get better by competing against the best. In the words of Kirby Smart “Go Dawgs.”
— Jimmy Camp
Yes, I’d agree that the recruiting tear that Smart has been on the past six years is a major factor in Georgia firmly establishing itself as an elite program. And, as long as he continues to sign that level of talent, fans’ elevated expectations certainly are justified.
I was kind of surprised by the news that the Dawgs are switching up their uniforms, considering they just won a Natty in the old ones. Whassup with that?
— Milledgeville Dawg
Smart tends to hew to tradition, and moving back to the block numbers, in place of the rounded ones brought in by Nike with the 2013 season, is consistent with that. And, frankly, I’m a big fan of this change. I never liked the rounded numbers, and the new/old jerseys unveiled this week look great. Now, if they could just get those britches a little more silver!
Speaking of uniform tweaks, the jersey change reminded fellow Athens boy and longtime Atlanta sportscaster Bill Hartman that he would like to see the power-G on the sides of the helmets be larger, like it was 20 or so years ago.
Said Bill: “I’ve actually talked to equipment manager John Meshad about this, and he says the bigger ‘G’ doesn’t work on the new-style helmets.”
If you look at today’s helmets, there’s a vent right behind the current “G” decal, which probably is why didn’t make the logo bigger. “That’s probably true,” Hartman said, “but I think it could be made to work. A big splashy graphic on the helmet [like the Tampa Bay Bucs’ helmets] would bring it into the 21st century. The kids would love it.”
My questions center around the Spike Squad. It’s amazing to see the energy they bring. The first I noticed any spikes at all were during the 2017 season. The players were using them after a turnover. Is this when the Spike Squad started, or did I just not notice? Are they a school-sponsored group? I’ve even seen them at away games; how is that done? Who heads them up?
— Orrin Cheely
The distinctive fan group known as the UGA Spike Squad was established in 2010. It’s a student club. Typically, the group accepts about 35 to 40 members — that’s about all they can fit across the first two rows of Section 109 in the student seating area — though twice that many generally apply.
The group does not receive financial support from the university or from the UGA Athletic Association, and it raises money on its own. The Spike Squad solicited contributions through a sign held up on TV during the Orange Bowl and raised some $17,000 to pay for their trip to the national championship game in Indianapolis, leaving a slight surplus that they said they’d donate to charity. Squad leaders are chosen each year by the club.
Garrett Cribbs, the current creative director for the Spike Squad, told me this week that the new squad hasn’t yet been chosen. “We hold our recruitment in August, where people wanting to join the squad come to an interest meeting where we explain what is expected,” he said. “After that, we hold interviews to find who we would like to have on the squad based on how they are as a person and how dedicated they are.”
Bill, you have scant reason to remember me, but our paths almost crossed at UGA (The Red & Black) and the AJC. I don’t know if this will be of interest for the Junkyard Blawg, but UGA’s penultimate straight-ahead placekicker, Kim Braswell (1969-72) was an Avondale High classmate of mine. You might recall that he was deaf, but few people knew that he was also an insulin-dependent diabetic who nonetheless became an all-state high school player in football and baseball, and a double-figure scorer for Avondale’s basketball team. For many years, he held the national prep record for consecutive extra points. He was nationally recruited, including by such luminaries as Bear Bryant, Ara Parseghian, Shug Jordan, and Bobby Dodd. At Georgia, he also pitched for Jim Whatley’s baseball team. After graduating from UGA, he went on to coach almost four decades in Georgia high schools, with his first stop being as an assistant under Billy Henderson at Clarke Central. On Kim’s bucket list was writing a book about his experiences. He hopes it will be inspirational to kids and adults who have challenges, and he’s had it self-published. Because of my long history knowing him and following his career, he asked me to edit the manuscript. Coach [Vince] Dooley wrote the foreword.
— Bob Giles
Thanks, Bob. I remember Braswell from my time as an undergrad at UGA. For those younger fans, the left-footed Braswell was from the days before soccer-style placekickers took over college football. Back then, kickers approached the ball straight on.
Braswell’s 134 consecutive extra points in high school stood as the national record until 2015, and, for the Dawgs, his 14 field goals in 1972 set the SEC record at the time. Braswell’s four field goals in a 19-3 win over Kentucky in 1970 tied the SEC single-game record. Braswell was Georgia’s scoring leader in the 1970 season with 22 PATs and 13 field goals, for a total of 61 points.
Probably his most memorable kick came in 1972, when he made a field goal with 37 seconds remaining, to take down the Florida Gators 10-7 in Jacksonville. Braswell was mobbed by his teammates on the field. You can order his book on Amazon.
