The Georgia football team held its first scrimmage in full pads Monday night in Sanford Stadium.

For the majority of spring practice, the defense had been recognized as holding a slight edge on the offensive team, in energy and making plays.

On Monday the offense countered, answering with success of its own.

“I think the offense kind of balanced it today,” said sophomore cornerback Brandon Boykin. “They had a couple of big plays, and with the numbers we have, we were going out there drive after drive. The offense took advantage of that.”

The play that sparked the offense came on the second drive of the scrimmage, a 71-yard touchdown strike from freshman quarterback Aaron Murray to flanker Vernon Spellman.

“The defense started out really strong and then the ball Aaron threw to Spellman kind of broke the dam a little bit,” said Georgia coach Mark Richt.

On defense, redshirt freshmen Sanders Commings and Bacarri Rambo each had an interception. The defensive line recorded five sacks, led by senior Geno Atkins, who had two. Despite the defensive accomplishments, players conceded the offense won the scrimmage.

“I would say that [the offense] got the best of us,” Atkins said.

Quarterback Joe Cox said he would claim victory if the defense acknowledged defeat.

“The only way I would say it is if they admitted it,” Cox said. “We had a decent day. We scored off some good drives and I think we controlled the ball well.”

Enthusiasm desired:
Monday night’s scrimmage featured big plays on both sides of the ball, but Richt saw room for improvement concerning the team’s demeanor.

“There were some times I just think when things were going well for one side of the ball or the other they had enthusiasm,” Richt said. “But when things looked rough they had their head down a little bit.”

Both the offense and defense had notable moments in the scrimmage, with each leaving the other with a lack of conviction.

“Early on the offense looked down, and then the big play hit and all of a sudden they got happy,” Richt said. “I just think that we’ve got to understand that things aren’t always gong to go our way, and we’ve got be able to recover quickly and get back and play ball.”

Injuries hit receivers:
Senior wide receiver Kris Durham didn’t practice Monday, but is expected to return Tuesday. Richt estimated junior Tony Wilson is only 60 percent healthy, despite participating in full contact Monday.