Some notes from this morning's season ticket holder exclusive scrimmage, rendered in bullet-point form:
- Attendance wasn't great, and as we all know attendance at a 9am scrimmage is a major indicator of fan support. The sports blogs are gonna have a field day with this one:
There were roughly 23 people in attendance, going by UGA math.
- Justin Thomas only played the first series and Zach Laskey didn't play. According to Paul Johnson, both were for precautionary reasons, so don't be concerned about this.
- The defense forced forced three turnovers, with an interception from DB Lynn Griffin and fumble recoveries from DB Corey Griffin and DE Tyler Stargel.
- The good news for the DL is Adam Gotsis is still Adam Gotsis. The other good news is Patrick Gamble, who registered two sacks on the day.
- The defense held the offense to three-and-outs on the second, third, and fourth drive of the day and made some big hits to end other drives. Corey Griffin, Gotsis, and Gamble all made big plays at or behind the line of scrimmage to end drives.
- Byerly looked good running the option and throwing the ball. He had the longest play of the day - a 50 yard touchdown run - and had little trouble connecting with Days, Smelter, Zenon, and other receivers/backs for some big plays. He should be a solid backup.
- Matthew Jordan also got a lot of snaps and seems in line to be the #3 QB right now but there's some good distance between 2 and 3. On one play he made a rather late pitch he probably would have gotten yelled at for but the A-back caught it for a big gain. On another drive he hooked up with Darren Waller for 40 yards and followed that up with a 13 yard run.
- DE Chaz Cheeks should be on the all-name first team watch list.
- Synjyn looks huge compared to last year. He took a lot of snaps at B-back this morning as opposed to his usual A-back slot.
- Some good A-back action from guys who don't seem to have gotten a lot of mentions. Isiah Willis had a great play where he turned around and reached back to grab a late pass from (I believe) Chase Martenson. He also broke a big run for 35 yards and an 8-yarder for a touchdown. Willis is a walk-on who's pretty far down the depth chart, but so was Robert Godhigh once upon a time.
- Some guy wearing 89 lined up at receiver near the end and caught a couple passes. I have no idea who he is. He's not on the printed roster. Seriously. (Edit: it's Bennett Barton, who was listed as 13 in the media guide.)
- Near the end the coaches put in some true freshman QBs who are very far down the depth chart. Brady Swilling fumbled his very first (and maybe only) snap. Labeling him a "work in progress". Chase Martenson ended the day with a touchdown drive, hitting Willis and freshman WR Bennett Barton for huge gains and taking the ball into the endzone from the 2.
