Georgia, South Carolina attract large crowds to annual spring games

By David Moorman  |   Monday, April 13, 2009  |  Comments( 1 )

College Football
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If hope springs eternal in the spring, it is flourishing more than ever at Georgia and South Carolina, which gave exuberant fans plenty to cheer about at their respective spring games.

Georgia drew a crowd of 42,458 to watch the Red team defeat the Black team, 13-3, in the annual G-Day game, while 25,127 were on hand to see the Garnet team stomp the Black squad, 30-14, in South Carolina’s annual Garnet & Black spring game.

A host of other Southeastern Conference schools will conduct their spring games this Saturday, with Kentucky having scheduled its spring-closing game for April 25.

Not only did Georgia attract a large crowd, but a national ESPN television audience also viewed the proceedings from Sanford Stadium. What they saw was place-kicker Andrew Jensen nailing a 48-yard field goal to snap a 3-3 tie with 2:13 left. Tailback Carlton Thomas added a 20-yard touchdown run with nine seconds to go.

South Carolina provided its crowd with much more offensive fireworks, as quarterback Stephen Garcia played for the Garnet in the first half and the Black in the second half. Garcia finished 13-of-20 for 144 yards and two touchdowns.

<b>LOOKING FOR PERFECTION:<b> In adhering to the adage that practice makes perfect, several teams conducted scrimmages to see just how far they have come, and how far they must go, in order to reach that elusive state of perfection.

Kentucky held its first major scrimmage with the No. 1 offense paired against the top defense, the No. 2s going against each other and the No. 3s doing likewise.

The first-team defense stopped the No. 1 offense on its first eight possessions. The defense forced three turnovers with All-America cornerback Trevard Lindley returning an interception for a 36-yard touchdown.

Alabama’s second scrimmage lasted approximately 150 plays. The defense excelled there, too, with junior linebacker Rolando McClain registering a team-high eight tackles, including 2.5 sacks. Sophomores Marcel Dareus and Robby Green each added five tackles.

Auburn’s second scrimmage covered 70 plays. In a scoring system that awarded points for positive plays created on either side of the line of scrimmage, the defense defeated the offense.

Ole Miss’ second scrimmage drew 400 fans to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. All three scholarship quarterbacks threw touchdowns. Nathan Stanley hit Dexter McCluster with a 13-yard scoring toss, Billy Tapp threw a 10-yarder to Richie Contartesi and highly acclaimed Jevan Snead found Andy Hartmann for a 7-yard TD.
Mississippi State’s second scrimmage featured Anthony Dixon’s 13-yard touchdown run and Patrick Hanrahan’s 4-yard plunge that opened the scoring.

Tennessee’s defense dominated its second scrimmage. Although it forced only one turnover, the defense boasted of seven sacks and seven other tackles for losses.

Junior defensive back Derrick Furlow enjoyed a team-high eight tackles with senior linebacker Rico McCoy next at seven.
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About David Moorman

Dave Moormann is an award-winning journalist, who has covered LSU athletics since 1980. He began his coverage with the Baton Rouge Advocate, where he was a writer and editor from 1980-98. In 1996, he authored a book on the history of LSU football entitled, "Fighting Tigers Handbook: Stories, Stats ...
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