Brock Bowers has big day against South Carolina after quiet start to sophomore season
Georgia tight end Brock Bowers had been quiet in the Bulldogs’ first two games of the season — at least as quiet as a Preseason All-American can be coming off of winning Freshman of the Year the season before. Coming into the SEC opener, the Napa, Calif. native had five catches for 95 yards and no scores. Against South Carolina, Bowers at least matched his season-totals coming into the day in every category.
“I don’t even know his numbers. I knew he looked fast running down the field,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said when asked how Bowers looked on Saturday. “The thing about Brock that is so hard that you don’t get to measure is the amount of attention he draws. You know, 121, whatever that is, yards. But, you know, three or four of those plays that Brock made, there were people blocking down the field — elite blocking down the field.”
Since Smart didn’t know the numbers, we might as well fill you in. Five catches, 121 yards, two receiving touchdowns and another rushing score gave Bowers the hat trick per sé in Georgia’s 48-7 win over the Gamecocks.
“You never really know. I just came out playing the game like I did the last two games too,” Bowers said when asked if he knew a day like today could happen. “Sometimes it just works out that way I guess.”
“The first one felt good because it my first one of the year. They all felt good. The long one and the fade, they both felt good.”
Going hand-in-hand with Bowers’ big day was one for Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett. After the game, Bennett admitted that he had a feeling if he got the ball to Bowers, good things were going to happen. And that they did.
“I told Carson (Beck) last night, for some reason, I feel like if I get the ball in 19’s hands, he’s going to have a good little run. He did,” Bennett said. “You get the ball in his hands and for some reason, people just bounce off of him.”
As for if there was an emphasis put on that today, Bennett was a little less bullish about that.
“We’ve got playmakers, we we’re going to get the ball in their hands. It’s about who’s open on that play. That’s how our offense works,” Bennett said on whether it was in the game plan to get Bowers the ball more often. “If that frees everybody up to get the ball, whoever’s day it’s going to be, it’s going to be.”
“I always want to prepare that way. I wasn’t really sure,” Bowers added. “I knew we had a couple of plays schemed in there to get me the ball, so I was excited about that … It’s always exciting to go out there and catch the ball,” Bowers added. “I guess everything just worked out for me today. Next time it might be another guy.”
The Bulldogs, ranked No. 1 in the country last week by the Associated Press, are 3-0 on the season now with wins over Oregon, Samford (FCS) and South Carolina. Georgia returns home for next week’s game against Kent State. Kickoff time is set for 12:00 p.m. ET, streaming on SEC Network+.
