Five things about Georgia football heading towards the G-Day spring game

The Saturday before Georgia football's spring game didn’t include a scrimmage as usual.

Coach Kirby Smart adjusted to the forecast of heavy rains that materialized and pushed up the second scrimmage ahead of G-Day to late afternoon Thursday when there was still some rain.

It presented another evaluation for coaches to make depth chart decisions.

“We probably didn’t have enough time to clean up everything from the last scrimmage that I would have liked,” Smart said. “I told our staff, everybody in the Southeastern Conference and southeastern area was probably battling the weather. Who managed it best? We tried to manage it best by beating the weather.”

The Bulldogs now have three practices left in the spring after they went indoors Saturday.

Here are five things to know ahead of the G-Day game next Saturday at 4 p.m. on ESPN2.

‘Trying to figure out’ the starting QB

Georgia’s call at starting quarterback—which seems to be at this point whether Carson Beck or Brock Vandagriff will win the job—clearly isn’t sealed in the mind of the coaches based on Smart’s comments on Saturday.

When talking about the offensive personality under new coordinator Mike Bobo, Smart referenced the position under the microphone the most. That's the guy who will step in for the now departed Stetson Bennett.

“We’re evaluating players, not plays,” Smart said. “We’re trying to figure out which players can help us and then we’ll worry about the plays. …We have to figure out who the quarterback is, who are the guys to get the ball to.”

Beck may have helped himself in the second scrimmage but Vandagriff didn’t seem to hurt himself.

Smart indicated the quarterbacks didn’t make risky decisions in the passing game.

“There were moments of concede the down, live for another down,” he said. “If that happens to be third down, that's okay. You can punt, you can kick a field goal. You can go for it on fourth, but not if you had bone-headedness. They seem to grasp that better.”

Smart said there wasn’t as much from the run game in the second scrimmage and that wasn’t an accident.

“Why?” he said. “Maybe a little intentional because we want to evaluate the quarterbacks and we want to throw the ball more with them.”

Tykee Smith primed for impact in year 3 at UGA

Georgia returns three key pieces in the secondary in Peach Bowl and CFP championship MVP Javon Bullard, freshman All-American safety Malaki Starks and starting cornerback Kamari Lassiter.

A 2021 transfer who has had a relatively quiet first two seasons in Georgia is making some noise again and could secure a starting spot.

Tykee Smith, a third-team All-American at West Virginia in 2020, is repping at the Star nickel back spot, allowing Bullard to work at strong safety.

“That’s my dog,” Smith said. “Me and him are really tight on the back end. We feed off each other’s energy and basically, we get each other going.”

Smart said Smith has shown leadership and shows a penchant for punching balls out.

“There are things he has to continue to work on to be an every-down player for us,” Smart said, “But he's tough, he's physical. He embodies what we want in a football player.

Smith started four games last season—three in October after Bullard served a one-game suspension following a DUI arrest and the other in the SEC championship game--and this spring has shed a knee brace he wore all of last season after sustaining a torn ACL in October 2021.

“Just doing my best to show I’ve got the confidence back in my knee and I’m ready to go,” said Smith, who had 28 tackles, 2 sacks and a pass breakup last season. “I’m trying to play my role, whatever my role is for the team.”

Smith also missed the first five games in 2021 with a foot injury.

“Tykee has been through a tough road,” Smart said. “I think he's put himself in a position to have a really, really good season with the way he's practiced and led."

Surprise. There’s another tight end to watch

Georgia brought in a pair of top 10 rated freshmen tight ends to a room led by All-American Brock Bowers.

Pearce Spurlin, the No. 2 rated at the position by the 247Sports Composite, was lost early in spring practices with a broken collarbone.

Lawson Luckie, the No. 8 ranked tight end, is creating buzz after a big first scrimmage.

“He's grown up a lot,” Smart said of the 6-foot-3, 240-pounder from Norcross. “He's getting mature quickly. He's not where he needs to be. I think he'll be the first to tell you he likes to consider himself a tough guy and he's got a ways to go in order to be tough enough to be a physical blocker. He does have some savvy route running. He's got really good hands. He continues to improve but he can't think he's all the way there."

Lawson Luckie is the son of former Georgia linebacker Mike Luckie and nephew of Dustin and Miles Luckie who also played for the Bulldogs.

Linebackers on learning curve in first semester

More than one in every four of Georgia’s early enrollees in its 2023 signing class are linebackers.

Five of 18 to be exact with three adding juice to the outside linebacker room in five-star Damon Wilson, Sam M’Pemba and Gabe Harris and five-star Raylen Wilson and CJ Allen at inside linebacker.

Damon Wilson, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound product of Nokomis, Fla., is the highest rated Georgia signee and one of five five-stars in the class.

"Ah, Damon’s growing up,” Smart said. “I think all those midyears kind of fit in the same bucket. They sit in a meeting and I don’t know what they’re actually hearing. Sometimes I think they think they’re hearing but they don’t. Then they go out on the field and they’re oblivious to what was said in the meeting. He’s not exempt from that but he’s not the only one."

The newcomers at inside linebacker are working behind starters Jamon Dumas-Johnson and Samel Mondon with Xavian Sorey rotating in with the ones.

Damon Wilson has flashed his pass-rush ability going up against the first-team offense, Smart said.

The defense stepped it up in the second scrimmage at least when it came to Havoc rate which measures tackles for loss, passes defended and forced fumbles.

“The first scrimmage we had like 13 or 14 percent and it was nowhere near what we needed and we kind of didn’t do well in the scrimmage,” Smart said. “The next scrimmage it was 25 or 28 percent which is over our goal and we did well in the scrimmage.”

Windy conditions don’t bother kicker fighting for job

Jared Zirkel has a chance this spring to get a leg up on the kicking job after Jack Podlesny’s college career came to and end.

Podlesny went 26 of 31 on field goals last season and 73 of 74 on extra points last season.

Zirkel, a redshirt junior from Kerrville, Texas, is one of three kickers on the roster this spring along with walk-on Henry Bates from Ware County High in Waycross and Liam Badger,a transfer from Kennesaw State out of West Forsyth.

“Zirk actually had two of the better practices I’ve ever seen any field goal kicker have outside in the wind, against the wind,” Smart said of a player who attempted and made just one field goal of 21 yards in college. “He’s been really consistent in terms of hitting kicks and he’s going to be in competition, obviously, this fall.”

That would be with Peyton Woodring from Lafayette, La., the top-rated kicker nationally in the 2023 class. He will join the program this summer.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: 5 things to know on UGA football with a week to go in spring practice