During halftime of Saturday’s G-Day football scrimmage in Athens, Brock Bowers, who pulled off countless highlight-reel plays the past few years for the Bulldogs’ offense, was formally presented with his second Mackey Award.
On the same day the award was given to one of the best tight ends in program history, a strong glimpse of what would replace him in the immediate future was put on full display as the Red and Black teams battled to a 20-20 tie. It ended spring practice for Georgia, which officially opens its season on Aug. 31 in the Aflac Kickoff Game against Clemson at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
“Our players handled it the right way. I wanted to handle it like a game – very game-like situations,” head coach Kirby Smart said. “The next time we put on those uniforms, it will be for real, and we’ll be playing in Atlanta against a really good opponent. So, we want to find out where we are as a team and get a lot of guys reps.”
Leading the way offensively on Saturday for Georgia was Dominic Lovett, a key cog from last year. He had 54 catches for 613 yards in 2023 and if there was any doubt the one-time standout for Missouri could be primed to lead the Bulldogs’ pass-catching corps, his showing on Saturday squashed that thought.
Lovett made seven catches for 104 yards to lead all receivers on G-Day, but the biggest attention grabber came in the fourth quarter when he hauled in a touchdown pass from Carson Beck, reaching behind the back of a defender to make the play from 11 yards away.
“That was just the by the grace of God that I held on,” Lovett said. “I just reached around and held on.”
The late score by Lovett came at the end of a spirited afternoon. There was no sprint draw or fullback dive to end the scrimmage and bleed time off of the clock. Rather, both teams played hard to the end, intent on trying to get on the board.
“Coach Smart always puts in two-minute situations, so we’ll be prepared and won’t be rattled,” Lovett said.
The big moments through the air were not limited to Lovett, though. Anthony Evans III had three catches for 75 yards, and speaking of players formerly at other schools, two more gave fans plenty to muse on going into the summer.
Miami transfer Colbie Young won a jump-ball in the first half, catching a two-yarder from Beck to cap a 10-play, 72-yard drive. Trevor Etienne, in Athens via the transfer portal from Florida, also showed his potential impact with catches for 33 yards and four rushes for 26 yards on a day when six running backs got serviceable use, having no more than 30 yards a piece.
“Both of them are going to persevere,” Lovett said.