ATHENS – It would’ve been borderline criminal if Georgia’s Brock Bowers had not been named SEC offensive player of the week. Alas, there will be no need for grousing as the Bulldogs’ sensational sophomore tight end did, indeed, receiver that honor Monday for his performance against South Carolina this past Saturday.
Bowers, a native of Napa, Calif., was twice named the SEC freshman of the week in 2021 – but never the overall offensive star of the league -- on the way to compiling a record-breaking receiving season for the Bulldogs last year. So, this marked his first weekly offensive honor for Bowers.
Bowers posted the fifth 100-yard receiving game and scored three touchdowns in a game for the second time in his career during the Bulldogs’ 48-7 rout of South Carolina. He finished a team-high five receptions for 121 yards and two receiving, including a 78-yard touchdown catch that put Georgia up 31-0 in the third quarter. Bowers also had a 5-yard rushing score for the game’s first points in the opening period.
“He’s the real deal,” sophomore wideout Ladd McConkey said of Bowers. “We see him make plays like that all the time. He deserves everything he’s getting. I’m happy he’s on our team.”
This marked the second time in his career that he has tallied two receiving touchdowns and one rushing touchdown in the same game (2021, at Vanderbilt). While that was Bowers’ first carry of the season, Bowers scored a touchdown on 4 rushes for 56 yards last season, a 14 yards-per-carry average. Bowers also gets the ball in the backfield on tight end reverses in the backfield that count as passes because quarterback Stetson Bennett forward-laterals the ball to him.
“We’ve got a few of those guys that you got to get touches to and he’s certainly one that I think everyone tries to find ways to get creative with,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said of Bowers. “You have to move him around because people know he’s going to be a target.”
Bowers established Georgia records for receiving touchdowns in a season (13), receiving yards for a tight end (882) and receptions by a tight end (56) as a freshman last season. He is the Bulldogs’ second-leading receiver this season with 10 catches and leads the team with 216 yards receiving.
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