'He's an animal': Brock Bowers puts special talent on display vs. UAB

ATHENS, Ga. — There’s only so many ways to say how special Brock Bowers has been in a Georgia Bulldog uniform. Saturday night, Bowers topped the 2,000 yard mark on his career, joining just nine others in program history to do so.

Putting up 120 yards on nine catches in Georgia’s 49-21 win over UAB, the Napa, Calif. native now has 2,080 receiving yards to his name. That’s good for No. 9 in program history, just ahead of Reggie Brown (2000-2004). He’s just behind the likes of Lindsay Scott (1978-1981), Mohamed Massaquoi (2005-2008) and Malcom Mitchell (2011-2015). Bowers needs just under 300 yards – 294 to be exact – to pass Brice Hunter (1992-1995) and enter the top five in program history. With 540 more yards (an average of a little over 50 per game), he’d pass A.J. Green (2008-2010) for third-most and most in a three-year career.

Yes, the three-year career part of this is key, and is important to remember – and puts into perspective how special Bowers’ accomplishments are. It’s not likely that he’ll catch Terrence Edwards (3,093 yards, 1999-2002) for first in program history and up in the if he can get the 804 yards to match Fred Gibson (2,884 yards, 2001-2004) second. They each took four seasons to put up those kind of numbers. Meanwhile, Bowers hit the 2,000-yard mark in less than three – just 34 career contests. And if Saturday night served as any indication, he’ll likely have plenty more chances to keep rising up the list the rest of this season as UGA’s offense is at its best when the ball in his hands.

“Usually, the equation is if 19 touches the ball, good things happen,” Kirby Smart said after the game.

“He’s an animal,” quarterback Carson Beck added. “We try to the ball in his hands, did a good job tonight of getting him open and getting the ball in his hands. He makes plays after he does that.”

Indeed Bowers did make plays once the ball was in his hands. He found the end zone twice on his nine catches. It was his first two receiving touchdowns of the season after having a rushing score in the season-opener and ninth multi-touchdown game of his career.

Asked whether or not he knew the kind of impact Bowers could have, Kirby Smart said there were early signs that he could be special upon arrival in Athens. A product of COVID recruiting, when Bowers got to campus in spring of 2021, Smart said that the talent was undeniable.

“Not ’til I saw him run and catch, then I could. That spring when he got here, he probably could acknowledge that might happen because he’s that kind of talent,” Smart said on Bowers hitting the 2,000-yard mark on his career. “I thought he had a really good night and deservedly so. He got the crowd into the game, got a lot of juice. He’s hard to tackle.”

As for Bowers himself, he wasn’t sure. However, his mentality is to “go for every ball and make a play,” and that’s helped him put together the kind of career he has and Georgia have success as a whole.

“It’s pretty crazy, the yards and stuff. Coming here I didn’t really know what to expect, but it’s pretty amazing looking back on everything,” Bowers said. “I think it’s like trust thing. I try to go for every ball I can and just try to make a play whenever.”

For Bowers, the big night against the Blazers was a bit of a full circle moment. He had his first 100-yard game versus UAB in 2021, scoring a pair of touchdowns that day. That put his name on the radar. Now, a known commodity, he did it again.

“When the ball comes to me, I just try and do whatever I can with it,” Bowers put it simply with a smile on his face.

Bowers and the Bulldogs hit the road for the first time this season next Saturday. After four straight home games, three against non-conference competition and one SEC game against South Carolina, Georgia travels to Auburn to start a stretch of seven straight SEC games. Kickoff time at Jordan-Hare Stadium is set for 3:30 p.m. ET, 2:30 p.m. local, on CBS.