ATHENS — For all practical purposes, it was just a regular practice for the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday. But it was an open practice and it was in full pads and it was at Sanford Stadium and a couple of thousand UGA fans attended.

So in that respect it wasn’t a regular practice at all. Speaking beforehand — he wasn’t available afterward — Georgia coach Kirby Smart said he expected the mere fact that they were at Sanford Stadium and fans were in attendance to turn up the intensity on the proceedings. And that appeared to be the case as the two-hour plus exercise was indeed spirited and competitive.

And the fans who endured the 90-degree heat, got rewarded with a few early glimpses of some new talent.

The player that probably attracted the most attention in that regard was D’Andre Swift. The true freshman tailback from Philadelphia wowed the crowd on back-to-back plays with moves that got him deep into the secondary in early 11-on-11 work. Swift looked just that — fast — wearing his No. 7 jersey and running with the third-team offense. However, it was still Nick Chubb and Sony Michel getting the majority of work with the No. 1 offense.

Also standing out in drill work was late acquisition Ahkil Crumpton. Similar in stature and physical attributes, the junior college transfer plays remarkably similar to former receiver Isaiah McKenzie, whether it’s out of the slotback position or catching and returning punts. Based on the hints provided earlier in the day by offensive coordinator Jim Chaney, it’s in the latter role we’re likely to see Crumpton most.

Mecole Hardman, another receiver who gets a lot of work in the slot, also had some stand-out moments. Twice he got loose for touchdowns working with the N0. 1 offense in scrimmage situations against the No. 1 defense. Once was due to a missed tackle and the other time by getting behind the defense with speed.

Defensively, linebacker Roquan Smith was very active and difficult for the offense to block. Overall, it appeared the defense won the battle against the offense in the run game and red zone.

Afterward, the thousand or so fans — many of whom had been at the stadium for hours to get their picture taken with the mascot Uga X — were rewarded by forming long lines in the four corner aisles of the stadium to get autugraphs from the players. Like last year, no pictures were allowed and fans could only use handed-out posters for autographs. But overall the operation seemed to go much smoother than last year, when hundreds waited only to miss out the chance to get an autograph. And coach Kirby Smart added 15 minutes to what was originally scheduled to be a 45-minute session when it was apparent not every fan was going to get served.

Following are some other observations from Saturday’s practice: