The latest on Georgia tight end Brock Bowers’ status ahead of Orange Bowl vs Florida State
All week leading up to Saturday’s 90th annual Capital One Orange Bowl, Georgia coach Kirby Smart was hush hush about the status of Bulldogs All-American tight end Brock Bowers.
But shortly before kickoff it became inevitable that Bowers, a projected first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, will not play for the No. 6 Bulldogs in the Orange Bowl against No. 5 Florida State.
Bowers, who had high ankle surgery in October and missed a month of the season before returning for three of Georgia’s final four games, was with the Bulldogs at practice on Friday. It was the first time he was spotted since Georgia got to South Florida on Tuesday, although exactly how much he participated is unclear as the team only stretched during the portion open to media. Bowers was not on the field during pregame warmups Saturday.
This most likely means Bowers’ college football career has come to an end. Bowers is the consensus top tight end prospect for the 2024 NFL Draft. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. has Bowers as the No. 5 overall prospect on his big board, calling him a “matchup nightmare for defenses.”
“He has great hand-eye coordination and run-after-the-catch ability, and he can stretch the field down the seams,” Kiper wrote. “I also love the way he tracks the ball, high-pointing it above defenders.”
During his three-year career at UGA, Bowers caught 175 passes for 2,538 yards and 26 touchdowns. His 175 catches are third-most in Georgia history, while his 2,538 receiving yards are fifth and his 26 receiving touchdowns second.
In 10 games this season, he had 56 catches for 714 yards and six touchdowns en route to being a unanimous first-team All-American and winning the John Mackey Award given to the nation’s top tight end for a second consecutive year.
“His legacy is he’s a tremendous athlete,” Smart said Friday. “Great toughness. [I’ve] never seen a kid come back from a significant injury like that that fast. Pretty remarkable the numbers he hit and what he was able to do as he came back. He kind of changed the culture of the work ethic around here, especially on our offense. To see him go out there and compete and work like he did for the three years he has is pretty remarkable. I mean, he is a machine when it comes to practice. Doesn’t get tired, works his tail off, and he set a standard that will be there for a long time.”
Added Georgia tight ends coach Todd Hartley: “The hard work mentality and toughness is the edge that he brings to practice every day, that’s great for those young kids to see. Football is a contact sport. It is a violent sport. You’ve got to have toughness to succeed in this game. ... To have a guy like Brock that’s more throwback that just loves the game — he loves the contact, he loves the toughness aspect of playing football — It’s very infectious for his teammates. So he’s a great person to have around because people feed off Brock and how he plays.”
Norvell named coach of year
FSU coach Mike Norvell on Friday won the Dodd Trophy, college football’s national coach of the year award.
The Dodd Trophy “honors the head football coach whose program embodies the award’s three pillars of scholarship, leadership and integrity, while also having success on the playing field throughout the season,” according to its website.
Norvell’s Seminoles went a perfect 13-0 in the regular season and won its first ACC Championship since 2014. They played the final two of those games — a 24-15 win over Florida and 16-6 win over Louisville in the ACC Championship Game — without starting quarterback Jordan Travis, who suffered a season-ending leg injury on Nov. 18 against North Alabama. Third-string quarterback freshman Brock Glenn started the conference title game and will start the Orange Bowl.
“The values of athletic success, academic excellence and character represented by this award align with what we emphasize in our program,” Norvell said in a statement. “Those characteristics have been on display through some truly challenging circumstances this season, but I am so proud of how our team responded each and every time.”
The other finalists for the award were Washington’s Kalen DeBoer, Missouri’s Eliah Drinkwitz, Arizona’s Jedd Fisch and Alabama’s Nick Saban.
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