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Know Your Foe: Can the Gators stop Georgia's tight ends?

Untitled designby:Nick de la Torre•10/28/22•

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Brock Bowers
(Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — In just a few days’ time, the banks of the St. Johns River will be flooded with orange and blue, red and black clad fans. It’s Florida-Georgia week, one unlike any in more than 30 years.

The No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs and Florida Gators will meet at TIAA Bank Field on Saturday and for the first time since 1981, Georgia will come into the game as the defending National Champions.

This will be the 100th meeting between the two schools, or 101st if you ask Georgia. Both teams had open weeks to prepare for the rivalry game but they come into this weekend on different paths. Florida is 4-3 and just 1-3 in the conference.

Florida had a tough time covering Utah’s Brant Kuithe. The senior caught nine passes for 105 yards and a touchdown. Kuithe is a future NFL player. Bowers is better. He’s bigger, stronger, and faster.

Last year, as a freshman, Bowers hauled in just one pass for 38 yards against the Gators. He finished the season with 56 catches for 882 yards and 13 touchdowns, including four catches for 36 yards and a score in the National Championship Game.

Can The Gators stop Georgia’s tight ends?

Palmer Thombs: To me, Georgia’s offense should always operate through the tight ends. They open things up for everyone else. And they have different skill sets too so they can open things up for each other. Brock Bowers is more of a receiver than Darnell Washington, but that doesn’t mean that Washington isn’t skilled in that area too.

It’s more the threat of what they are going to do with the ball in their hand that’s different. Bowers will run by you whereas Washington will run over you, making both hard to take down in their own individual ways. So, when Georgia is utilizing the skill sets of those guys at their best, it draws the attention of the defense there and opens things up for Kenny McIntosh, AD Mitchell, Ladd McConkey and the other receiving threats. Same goes for the run game. They are reliable options that can help get Stetson Bennett in a rhythm while also helping Georgia put points on the board. For that reason, I believe that Bowers and Washington are Georgia’s two biggest threats in the offense.

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