Georgia Sports Communications
April 18, 2026
FB: Red Squad Prevails In G-Day Game
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia’s Red and Black football teams piled up exactly 700 yards of offense combined in a busy and entertaining G-Day spring football game on Saturday afternoon at Sanford Stadium. The Red team jumped out to a 17-0 lead and went on to win 27-17.
The Red team featured the first-team offense, along with featured backups, while the Black squad included the first-team defense and primary backups. Some players, such as backup quarterback Ryan Puglisi and running back Dante Dowdell, floated between the teams. The Red offense had 385 yards, while the Black generated 315. The Red team’s rushing attack generated 129 on the ground, while the Black was held to 64.
Red starting quarterback Gunner Stockton saw limited action in the exhibition, completing 7 of 12 passes for 76 yards and a touchdown. Puglisi was much busier, completing a combined 8 of 19 for 86. Seven different quarterbacks threw at least one pass.
Running back Nate Frazier got the carry on the first play from scrimmage in the game, picking up five yards before being swarmed. He limped off after the play and was replaced by Chauncey Bowens, who is now wearing No. 5 instead of the No. 33 jersey he wore his first two seasons.
Frazier didn’t return to the game, and Bowens had a light day with nine carries for 42 yards, with a long of 18. Among non-quarterbacks, nine Bulldogs had rushes in the game, with the Red squad rushing 27 times for 129 yards and two touchdowns (by Dowdell and Dwight Phillips, Jr.). The Black team had 20 carries for 64 yards and a touchdown.
The Red squad was the first to get on the scoreboard, taking a 3-0 lead with 5:04 left in the first quarter on a Peyton Woodring 26-yard field goal. A couple of good plays got the Red team deep into Black territory, including a 15-yard rush up the left side by Phillips and a completion from Stockton to receiver Craig Dandridge for a 33-yard gain up the left side, down to the 16.
On the Red side’s next drive, Bowens took a handoff and initially went right before cutting back to the left for an 18-yard gain. Two plays later, Stockton hit Phillips on the right side for a 19-yard gain to the Black 30. In the first play of the second quarter, Jaden Reddell ran the ball 23 yards down to the Black 9-yard line. Two plays later, Reddell, a 6-foot-4 and 240-pound redshirt sophomore tight end, scored on a 7-yard rush for a 10-0 lead with 13:37 left in the half.
The Black team’s first big offensive play came on a 27-yard run up the left side by Dowdell, a recent transfer from Kentucky. The Red defense forced a turnover on downs later in the drive, when freshman defensive lineman AJ Lonon stopped running back Bo Walker for no gain on third-and-2, and then freshman safety Blake Stewart broke up a pass on fourth down.
Backup quarterback Ryan Puglisi led the Red offense on the ensuing drive and hit wideout Talyn Taylor for a 32-yard gain to the Black 33. A few plays later, Bowens ran for 10 yards to the 20. Soon after, Puglisi hit Reddell for a 16-yard gain to the 2. Phillips later scored from the 1 for a 17-0 lead with 1:31 to go in the half.
The Red offense was soon back on the field, following an interception by Todd Robinson on a deep pass from Black QB Ryan Montgomery. Stockton returned as the red quarterback on the ensuing drive, but the Black defense forced a quick three-and-out.
Redshirt freshman Hezekiah Millender took over as the Black team quarterback on the final drive of the half, completing a short pass to Walker and then a 20-yarder to tight end Ethan Barbour, to the Red 41. The drive ended on a 58-yard field-goal attempt by Harran Zurreikat that came up short.
The Black team got the ball to start the second half, and Millender was back in at QB. His second pass of the drive went for 10 yards to Jeremy Bell. A few plays later, he hit Brayden Fogle for a 32-yard gain. Millender later ran the ball in from the 1 to cut the Red lead to 17-7 with 9:32 left in the third quarter.
Montgomery played QB for the Red team on the next drive and hit wideout CJ Riley for a 26-yard gain. Two plays after that, Dowdell, now also running for the Red, broke free for 28 yards. A Woodring 38-yard field goal made it a 20-7 lead for the Red with 5:38 on the clock.
On the final play of the third quarter, Bryson Beaver entered the game at quarterback for the Black squad and hit wideout Will Taylor for a 43-yard gain to the Black 27. The Black team made it a 20-10 game with a Zurreikat 28-yard field goal with 11:20 remaining.
Montgomery took the field for the Red on the ensuing drive and hit tight end Colton Heinrich for a 48-yard gain on first down. On the next play, he found receiver Landon Roldan for 23 yards. Dowdell capped the drive with a 1-yard rush for a 27-10 Red lead. with 6:17 to play.
With 3:18 to go, Beaver, who ran for 23 yards on the preceding play, tossed a soft pass to the right side for a 6-yard touchdown to tight end Kaiden Prothro, cutting the Red lead to 27-17. Red safety Tyriq Greene intercepted a deep Beaver pass in the final minute.
Millender finished 9 of 15 for 103 yards, Montgomery was 10 of 18 for 132 combined in his stints with the Red and Black, and Beaver, a freshman, was 9 of 13 for 101 yards and a touchdown.
The two-time defending SEC champion Bulldogs open their season on Sept. 5 against Tennessee State on Dooley Field.
