Pete Golding reveals how Alabama can defend against Georgia TE Brock Bowers

The last time Alabama defensive coordinator Pete Golding drew up a game plan for Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, things went poorly.

Sure, Alabama still won the game, and it was the SEC Championship against the then-undefeated Georgia Bulldogs, a game in which the Crimson Tide entered as underdogs. But all night, Bowers seemed to have his way with Alabama, and the Crimson Tide were unable to stop the freshman that Nick Saban labeled “one of the premier players in college football.” Bowers finished with 10 catches for 139 receiving yards and a touchdown in a losing effort, as Alabama won the SEC title with a 41-24 victory.

This time around, as Alabama prepares for a rematch against Georgia in the national championship, Golding understands how versatile Bowers can be. Schematically, Alabama will take a different approach to stop him.

“I think the best thing they do, obviously the way they move him around, they’re going to still use them in the run game in the C area, on or off the ball. He’s going to be open and split out,” Golding said, explaining how the Bulldogs make use of Bowers in several areas of the offense. “By putting a certain player on a certain guy all the time then you’re getting back to what y’all said. You’re telling him exactly what you’re doing and they know.”

Bowers, a 20-year-old tight end out of Napa, California, has had an immense impact on the Bulldogs offense both in pass protection and pass catching. Despite being just a freshman, Bowers has tacked on 52 receptions for 846 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns, averaging a heaping 16.3 yards per reception. He was named an All-SEC first-team tight end, while finishing as a semifinalist for the John Mackey Award, given annually to the nation’s top tight end. His stellar play has extended well into the postseason.

“You’ve got to be able to mix it up and double them sometimes and bang him, play some zone, get some bigger guys on him sometimes if the push-off is an issue. If the speed becomes a problem, obviously you’ve got coverages to try to put a DB on them,” Golding said just days before the Georgia-Alabama matchup. “Because of the run game and they’re so successful in the run game as well, you can’t design everything to take 19 (Bowers) away because they’re going to hurt you somewhere else. They’ve got a lot of good players. It’s being multiple, having a plan for wherever he’s at to have things, to be able to help you. But a lot of guys got them covered, and a lot of guys are doubling, he still goes up and makes the play. It’s about contesting it, making them execute and doing a good job.”

Against Golding and the Alabama defense, Bowers’ 139 yards and a touchdown merely tells half the story. His 10 receptions, which is his highest total of the season (and most in a single game since he had six against Clemson in Week One), showed that Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs are not afraid to rely heavily on their star freshman against the nation’s best.

In order for Alabama to make it back-to-back national championships, Golding’s game plan will have to mitigate Bowers to a much smaller role in Georgia’s offense.

Saban sings high praise for Bowers ahead of Alabama-Georgia rematch

Nick Saban witnessed firsthand the impact Bowers can have on an opposing defense, after he carved apart the Alabama defense for his best performance of his young college career in the SEC Championship game.

While Alabama still won, Saban wasn’t shy in pointing out how critical it will be for the Crimson Tide to do better defensively this time around — especially against a player he labeled as one of the nation’s best.

“I think this guy is one of the premier players in college football,” Saban said. “I know he’s just a freshman. But this guy’s got great size. He’s a good blocker. Physical. He’s tough. And he’s got wide receiver skills in every way, shape or form, which makes it difficult being a bigger guy for bigger guys to cover him and it makes it also difficult for smaller guys to cover him.

“So this guy is just a phenomenal football player all the way around. They do a really good job of featuring his talents as well. And he’s been extremely productive in a lot of ways.”