G-Day Game

This Saturday in Athens, the Dawgs will put on a glorified scrimmage to signify the end of spring practice. This annual event is called the G-Day game. The game kicks off at 2pm and will be televised live on Comcast or you can listen to the live play by play on WSB 750 or on XM Satellite Radio. You can even see the first ever live stream of the game on georgiadogs.com. These spring games are starting to become as big as regular season games. They are only expecting about 40,000 to 50,000 fans in Athens on Saturday (depending on the weather) and the proceeds of the ticket sales will go to charity. Coach Richt is hoping for a big turnout so it feels more like a real game. But at other schools they are expecting much bigger crowds. Last year for the Alabama spring game, 92,000 plus showed up. That is crazy! It is just a glorified scrimmage! They are expecting about the same number again this year in Tuscaloosa and somewhere around 60,000 plus at Florida. As for some of the attendees in Athens, I expect there will be some national guys on hand. This is the start of the National Title push for the Dawgs and the big sports outlets will make sure to give it some coverage. Some publications are predicting Georgia to start the year ranked No 1. Coach Richt won’t address those predictions right now; he just says the new mantra for the team, “Focus on the moment.”

Coach Richt has set his expectations for the game and said “A good G-day game is crisp game without a lot of penalties and fumbles, probably without a lot of scoring and for everyone to come out healthy”. I wouldn’t expect to see the big names get to much playing time. I would think that Stafford and Moreno might only get a series or two. But I am looking to see some offensive line progression and some good play out of the defensive ends and linebackers. I will also be looking for the play of the corner backs against the new young receivers. Not to mention, I am looking forward to seeing what Caleb King can do with the ball. But most of all, I hope there are no injuries, especially any serious ones!

As with most years, there will be some guest coaches for the Red and Black teams. This year those guests are former players; Greg Blue, D.J. Shockley, Frank Ros and Kevin Butler. I won’t be there in Athens to see it live, but I will be following the game on TV and/or radio. If the Dawgs are going to be included in any National Championship discussions, this is where it all starts.

Go Dawgs!