G-Day Live Blog

Greetings from Sanford Stadium on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The weather couldn't be better, Kelin Johnson just ran 60 yards for a TD in the flag football game, and I'm about to get some free press box food. What's not to like? Well, other than the guy doing the PA for the flag football game. He has a certain "Wootendaballcarriah" approach that's not mixing well with the Crown and Cokes from last night.

In any case, the live blog is back... and hopefully I won't be too rusty. Now... free food awaits...

UPDATED, 12:45 PM

Answering a couple reader questions:

Opsomath writes: Mr. Hale, will you be personally covering G-Day? Where will you be? I feel that, given your consistent feeding of my Georgia football habit, I owe you a beer or something.

David: I'll be in the press box, but thanks to Mr. Fletcher Page, I think I'm giving up drinking forever.

Anonymous writes: Any idea if ESPN3.com archives the games so you can watch later?

David: They usually archive games for a few days, but not forever. If you check the "replay" section, you should be able to find it for the next few days to a week.

Kathleen writes: What happened to Samuel? Did I miss that somewhere?

David: As they say in the business, I'm still efforting that information. I can tell you, however, that Samuel is DEFINITELY out for the game.

Mpstrick writes: We'll do it Live! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tJjNVVwRCY

David: Exactly!

Schlagdawg writes: They better have a good dessert spread...

David: Jason's Deli for lunch, which is good. Unfortunately, the soda machine is broken and someone has spelling problems. Here's the sign...

OK, be back shortly...

UPDATED 1 PM

-- A handful of players will be playing for both teams today, in addition to the QBs. They are: Chris Burnette, Jordan Love, Rantavious Wooten, Darryl Gamble and Bruce Figgins. I'm hoping they have those Gaylord Perry-type jerseys that work for both teams.

UPDATED, 1:15 PM

-- Mark Weiszer has the depth charts for the game on his blog. Here's the first teams:

First-team offense (Red team): QB Logan Gray or Aaron Murray or Zach Mettenberger, TB Washaun Ealey, WR A.J. Green, Tavarres King (Kris Durham, Rantavious Wotten backups), LT Clint Boling, LG Cordy Glenn, C Ben Jones, RG Chris Davis, RT Josh Davis, TE Orson Charles (Aron White backup), FB Shaun Chapas.

First-team defense (Black team): LE Abry Jones, N DeAngelo Tyson, RE Demarcus Dobbs, SLB Cornelius Washington, WLB Justin Houston, MLB Darryl Gamble, MLB Akeem Dent, FS Jakar Hamilton, SS Baccari Rambo, SC Brandon Boykin (Branden Smith), WC Vance Cuff (Sanders Commings).

-- Just ran outside to give our pal Brandon Spoon his credential for the game, and I ran into Rennie Curran. I'm assuming he was barred from participating in the letterman's game so no one would get hurt.

UPDATED 1:25 PM

-- The letterman's game just ended with the black team defeating the red team 34-27. Fletcher Page had the under in the game, so he's pretty bummed. I'm heading down to the field in a few minutes. The players are about to head out to stretch.

UPDATED, 2 PM

-- We're just a couple minutes from kickoff, although a few players are still stretching and we may be a tad behind schedule.

-- Some useless info from the sidelines...

- Still don't know what Richard Samuel's injury was, but he was wearing giant sunglasses and looked a bit like Bono on the sideline.

-- Friends of the blog Mike Moore & Drew Williams were on the field as well.

-- Current leader for quote of the day from Fletcher Page, upon hearing "In the Air" by Phil Collins: "Man this song gets me jacked. If I heard this at a baby shower, I'd tackle someone." True dat.

-- Watched Todd Grantham working with a handful of the OLBs (actually, there are only a handful period, I guess) in the corner of the end zone during warm-ups. He is intense all the time, I think.

-- Rough guess on attendance: About 35k. About half of the lower bowl is full.

-- The press box soda machine has been fixed. I assume temporally.

-- The black team has won the toss, and we're about to get started.

UPDATED: 2:05 PM

Note from Dustin: "The spring game has been blacked out in savannah on espn3.com. Now you are my only hope!!"

David: This is not surprising. Every time I go to Savannah, I end up blacking out, too.

Also of note, Richard Samuel is out with a concussion. So there ya go.

And lastly, Logan Gray is getting the first reps at QB.

UPDATED, Start of 1st Quarter

-- 23-yard completion from Gray to TK on first play. I guess he'll be the starter now.

-- Third-and-8 after two short runs by Ealey. D is in the nickel with four down linemen. Gray hits a wide open Tavarres King, who bobbles the ball and can't come up with it. We'll have our first punt of the game.

-- Butler shanks a punt. Man, that guy stinks.

-- Murray in at QB for the black team. He hits Wootendaballcarriah (and we get our first "Woooooot!" of the year) for a 4-yard gain.

-- Dontavius Jackson picks up the first down. Second-team D isn't quite as good against the run.

-- Brandon Wood sacks Murray on first down for a loss of 8.

-- Another big run for D-Jax. He picks up 13. Quintin Banks makes the tackle.

-- Murray airs it out on third-and-5 but overthrows his receiver. Joe Cox never would have done that.

UPDATED, 7 Minutes Remaining in 1st Quarter

-- To answer to recent questions:

1.) Charter may be the most evil corporation in the world.

2.) As far as I know there are no rules about how often I update per quarter, but it'll still probably only be three or four times, as I don't want to miss too much of the action going through and updating the blog. So be patient.

-- Logan Gray still in at QB for the Red Team, which is the No. 1 offense BTW. He misses AJ Green on first down.

-- Carlton Thomas gets his first carry, and once again it goes for just a few yards. If nothing else, the first team D looks stout against the run.

-- Gray on a keeper on third-and-7 runs for 10 yards and a first down. Brandon Boykin should have had the sack, but since there's no tackling of the QBs, the whistle never blew. Boykin was hot afterward, too. I assume Penn Wagers is reffing the game.

-- Lot of four down linemen schemes so far. Looks to me like they are really working to not show too much of this D.

-- Big run by Carlton Thomas for 30 yards down to the 20. Here's a prediction: I'm betting Thomas graduates as Georgia's all-time leading rusher on G-Days.

-- Third-and-2 from the 12... and we have our first timeout of the day.

UPDATED, 2:25 Remaining in 1st Quarter

-- Washaun Ealey picks up the first down inside the 10. Akeem Dent makes the tackle.

-- Gray hits Kris Durham wide open in the end zone for the TD. Get those "Fire Todd Grantham" chants ready. Walsh's PAT is good, RED 7, BLACK 0 (1:33 to play in the first)

-- Fletcher Page points out that the hedges on the East side look like crap. Ironically, Fletcher isn't looking too hot either.

-- Murray still in at QB for the 2s, but it's a quick three-and-out. Time for one more play in the quarter.

-- Huge crowd getting Israel Troupe's autograph right now. They're totally missing a fullback run by a walk-on right up the middle! And these people call themselves football fans!

UPDATED, Start of 2nd Quarter

-- Saw my live blog described on one of the message boards as "better than nothing." I'm adding that to my resume.

-- Still haven't gotten our first look at Zach Mettenberger today. Cornelius Washington sacks Logan Gray on a third-and-7 to force yet another punt. Drew Butler gets the largest applause of the day so far for a soaring punt to the 15-yard line.

-- Well, there's our first look at Zach and he throws a bomb, perfectly placed and connects with Wooten on the sideline. Play of the day so far... by a longshot. That was pretty.

-- First-and-10 at the RED 39. Wooten takes an end around and moves it down ot the 25 for another first down.

-- The 3-4 scheme is pretty interesting. Kwame Geathers has worked the nose for most of the game so far. The OLBs are about a yard off the line of scrimmage. Hasn't seemed particularly confusing thus far, but then again I doubt they're trying to do anything too technical either.

UPDATED, 9:15 Remaining in 2nd Quarter

-- Third-and-7 for Mett & the Black team. Mettenberger floats a jump ball into the end zone that walk-on receiver Rhett McGowan comes down with. Bogotay boots the PAT and we're tied. RED 7, BLACK 7 (8:21 left in 2nd Quarter).

-- Mark Richt is up in the TV booth, so I'm guessing he's not calling the plays for either team right now.

-- Gray is back in with the 1s and goes nowhere. Cornelius Washington picks up his second sack of the game. So far, Logan is the only QB to get snaps with the No. 1 offense.

-- Gray hits Kris Durham on a short pass, and Durham cuts across the field and picks up a huge gain to the 43.

-- Gray lofts a long one toward TK, but throws it just out of reach.

-- Third straight incompletion by Gray, and the Red team will line up for a field goal. This would be a 61-yarder. Fans are pumped, but it gets tipped at the line and falls well short.

UPDATE, 4:49 Remaining in 2nd quarter

-- Mett hits tight end Derek Rich for a first down into Red territory. Also, I can't type the name "Rich" anymore without accidentally typing "Richt."

-- Darryl Gamble swats away a Mettenberger pass at the line of scrimmage. That brings up a third-and-11.

-- Mett hits Derek Richt again, but Rich fumbles at the 7-yard line, recovered by the Red team. Our first turnover of the game. Guess we won't see much of Derek Rich this year.

-- Gray back in yet again for the Red team. He hits Shaun Chapas on first down for a 12-yard gain. Gray has looked pretty sharp thus far.

-- Justin Houston with the sack. Again, hardly an accurate representation of the real defense, but Washington and Houston have three sacks between them already.

-- Gray hits Ealey just across the line of scrimmage and Ealey darts upfield to the 31 for a first down -- 1:25 to play in the half.

-- I'd say at least half the plays so far -- and potentially more than that -- have been run with four down linemen. Fans definitely aren't getting much of a look at the new D.

-- AJ gets his first catch of the afternoon, but Branden Smith stands him up immediately. It does pick up a first down though at the 44.

-- Carlton Thomas takes the handoff and runs up the middle, fumbling. DeAngelo Tyson recovers the fumble for the Black team, which will have about 23 seconds to try and make something happen. Mettenberger back in at QB.

-- Mett throws a rope to Arthur Lynch, who rumbles over a handful of defenders and into the end zone for the score. That was a pretty pass. Mett has looked far and away the best of the three QBs so far. BLACK 14, RED 7, 12 seconds left in the 2nd.

HALFTIME

A few quick halftime updates...

-- Mike Bobo praised Mett's work and his ability to step up in the pocket amid pressure and deliver some strong throws.

-- That Carlton Thomas fumble comes just two days after Mike Bobo praised Thomas for doing a much better job of holding onto the football this spring.

-- Damon Evans was being interviewed by CSS and refused to make a guess on the attendance. Lame, Damon! I hope he at least has the cojones to pick which Hairy Dawg the McDonalds' fries are hiding behind on the Jumbotron later.

-- Blair Walsh and Drew Butler each were honored at halftime for being finalists for national awards (and in Butler's case, winning the Ray Guy trophy).

-- QB info... Gray has played the entire game with the No. 1 offense. Murray played first quarter with the No. 2s, and Mett played the second quarter with the 2s.

-- QB stats: Gray 7-of-13 for 102 yards and 1 TD; Murray 2-of-3 for 0 yards; Mettenberger 5-of-7 for 147 yards and 2 TDs. No INTs for any of the QBs.

-- The question of the hour: Will Mettenberger be allowed to talk to media after the game? Usually, players facing a suspension are barred from media contact, and Mett has been off limits all spring.

UPDATE, Start of third quarter

-- First penalty of the day is an offsides on the D. Mettenberger back in with the No. 2 unit. Odd that they haven't switched them up, since Richt did say the QBs would all switch teams. Not sure if we should read something into this or not.

-- Dustin says you can listen to the game here: http://streaming.1340wgau.com/_players/coxradio/index.php?callsign=WGAUAM

-- The GameDay Chef says: "I am watching ESPN's spring practice update (on mute). Syracuse looks really good from what they are showing. Thought that would make you happy."

See how little spring games really mean?

-- Mett hits Wooten (Wooooooooot!) for a short gain, bringing up third-and-5.

-- A few other stats from halftime: Ealey 4 carries, 8 yards, Jackson 4 carries, 24 yards. Durham 2 catches, 41 yards and a TD, Derek Richt 2 catches, 50 yards and a fumble, Artie Lynch 1 catch, 39 yards and a TD.

-- Mett's third-down pass sails incomplete. Red team back on offense, and this time Murray is at QB for them.

UPDATE, 8:59 Remaining in 3rd Quarter

-- Oh wait, correction from GameDay Chef... "Dave, my bad, that was Boise State they are showing practice clips of-sorry for the false alarm." Now that makes more sense.

-- Murray hits AJ for a first down to the 45. It was thrown a bit behind AJ, but he did a Stretch Armstrong impersonation and reeled it in.

-- Murray looks for Orson, and it's nearly picked off by Bacarri Rambo, who made a great break on the ball. Instead, Rambo swats it out of bounds.

-- Cornelius Washington is having a very nice game so far. He's one of my picks to click in 2010 along with Abry Jones.

-- Murray has an arm, and his last pass was one of the prettiest spirals of the day. Unfortunately the throw went nowhere near AJ Green, bouncing in the end zone instead. Brings up a third-and-10.

-- Murray throws a tick behind Orson, who grabs it on his shoulder pad and hauls it in to pick up the first down.

-- Under a ton of pressure, Murray throws a Joe Cox special right into Marcus Dowtin's chest for an interception that is returned to the Black 38 yard line. It is OK that we joke about Cox now, right?

UPDATED, 2:58 Remaining in the 3rd Quarter

-- Mettenberger still in with the 2s. Dontavius Jackson takes the handoff and goes up the middle for 4 yards.

-- The run game has not impressed today. Other than a 30-yarder by Carlton Thomas and a 13-yarder by Jackson, there's been nothing on the ground.

-- Mett throws a bullet over the middle that hits Wooten in the chest, but Woot drops it. It was a pretty play. Mett rolled out to the right, set up and delivered an absolute rocket. The stories about his arm are not exaggerated.

-- Murray sails another pass over A.J. head on a deep ball. Fletcher Page's synopsis: "He's trying too hard." Oddly, that's exactly what I told Fletcher as he tried to talk to girls last night.

-- Nice run by Thomas up the middle for a gain of 9.

-- And that's the end of the 3rd quarter.

UPDATE, Start of 4th Quarter

-- The fans are starting to pour out of the stadium already. Seriously, how do you leave the spring game early?

-- No signs of Logan Gray in the second half thus far.

-- Murray hits Orson Charles with a rope, but Charles drops it. Punt team comes on.

-- I'm officially bored.

-- Our pal Brandon Spoon did some research of the past five G-Day games last week. In games in which one of the offensive teams scores more than 14 points, UGA typically has a good season (05, 07). In the games when they score 14 or fewer (06, 09), they have bad seasons. (And in 2008, a notoriously middle-of-the-road season, they scored 17.) Our score right now... 14-7.

-- Rennie Curran being interviewed on the sideline right now. They're showing that on the Jumbotron. Even the camera guys don't care about the game anymore.

-- Logan Gray is back in the game -- with the Black Team for the first time. He hits one of the walk-on receivers for a first down.

UPDATED, 7 Minutes Remaining in the 4th Quarter

-- Gray hits another walk-on receiver for another first down.

-- By the way, Russ is chilling in his doghouse. Fletcher compares him to Keith Lockhart -- a very solid pinch hitter.

-- Gray hits Artie Lynch for a gain of 11 and another first down. I'll probably finish up this drive from the press box, then head down to the field... FYI.

-- Kevin Lanier runs up the middle for a big gain down to the 22 yard line. D-Jax follows that up by bouncing off the line up the middle, then taking out around the left side down to the 13. Second-and-1.

-- Gray throws a Donovan McNabb special at the feet of Royston. Third-and-1 at the 13.

-- D-Jax goes up the middle and comes up just short of the first down. Bogotay on for the FG, and I'm heading down to the field. I'll have notes up postgame.