Brock Bowers Injured in UGA’s Win over Vanderbilt

BROCK BOWERS INJURED IN UGA’S WIN OVER VANDERBILT – What stage of grief are you in? I’m still bargaining with God.

Just know know that if you’re mad that UGA seemingly cannot go a season without their best playmaker getting seriously hurt, or if you think Kirby’s bloody Tuesday practices are causing too many injuries, or perhaps you’ve questioned Georgia’s strength and conditioning program given that 10% of our roster has suffered a foot or ankle injury this year, you’re still in the anger stage.

You’ll join me in bargaining soon enough. 

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Brock Bowers

Yes, of all the storylines from the Vandy game, this is all that matters: Brock Bowers is hurt. He’ll miss 4-6 weeks due to a high ankle sprain he suffered in the second quarter.

Bowers is as tough as nails, so seeing him limp before dropping to his knees and pounding his fist into the turf was a clear indication that all was not well during the game. Georgia will have to navigate the most difficult portion of their schedule without their star player. It’s likely Brock Bowers will never play again in Sanford Stadium. 

The game itself was a strange experience. On one hand, Georgia once again underperformed and continued to struggle with all of their same issues: turnovers, slow starts, red zone woes, and defensive lapses.

On the other hand, statistically, Georgia dominated in just about every single facet of the game. They more than doubled Vandy’s yards gained, outgaining them 552-219. UGA held Vandy to 219 yards! And, the Dawgs gave up 20 points to Vandy when they hadn’t scored on them in 2 years? Just a weird game. 

Rather than a drive-by-drive recap, let’s highlight the positive and the negatives. 

The Good

Georgia seems to have found a running game.

After weeks of struggles running the ball, UGA seems to have found a rhythm running the ball after last week’s performance against UK and this week’s 291 rushing yards against Vandy.

RB Daijun Edwards had a career performance this week, with 20 carries for 146 yards and a touchdown. Edwards had some remarkable dead legs, and starts and stops that made multiple guys miss. While he rarely will get an explosive run, nearly every time he is touching the ball he makes the first man miss.

Edwards, who was a late take after Georgia missed on their top RB target,  has developed into an NFL back. You have to love his game. RB Kendal Milton looked as explosive as ever.

He had one 25 yard carry on the edge where his jump cut made a Vandy defender whiff entirely before he bowled over the next defender to break a tackle. He averaged over 10 yards/carry in this game, and the Dawgs averaged 7.5 YPC as a team.

If Milton can execute those kinds of runs, mixed in with Edwards’ shifty maneuvers, the Dawgs running game can be a major factor moving forward. The offensive line opted up some major holes for the backs.

Just like last year, after weeks of struggling to run, the Dawgs seemed to have figured something out. Milton aggravated an MCL injury in the game, but he should be fine, especially after the bye week to heal. In Bower’s absence, an explosive running game will do wonders for the offense. 

Freshman Lineman Flashes

Speaking of the offensive line, true freshman Monroe Freeling came into the game when RT Xavier Truss went down with an ankle injury.

Freeling is the 3rd string OT after Amarius Mims and Truss. Yet, he performed well when called upon. Yes, it was only against Vandy. But Truss was getting whipped on some plays before he got hurt and he’s a 5th year player.

Freeling was not a drop off as a true freshman, and Georgia fans should be excited about his future. LT Earnest Greene continues to develop, Freeling looks promising, and Micah Morris and Dylan Fairchild are getting plenty of reps at guard.

At the beginning of the year, I would have told you next year’s offensive line would be an absolute liability due to their lack of experience, injuries have propelled them into action this year and has actually set up the Dawgs for a much better scenario next season. 

Defensive Shake Up

Two players saw significantly more playing time in this game, which is an indication of what I think we can expect moving forward.

DL Christen Miller got a career high in snaps this week. He tweeted after the game “Free52” seemingly begging for more and more playing time. Miller is one of the best defensive linemen on the team in terms of bringing the balance of run stopping and pass rushing. 

At linebacker we also saw a shift in playing time.

OLB Chaz Chambliss saw his snaps split evenly with Marvin Jones Jr. Jones has missed some time lately with a minor injury, but this week he saw a significant jump in his playing time.

Chambliss is a tough player who strikes violently in the run game. His speed and pass rushing abilities are lacking at times. Like Miller, Jones provides a better balance between stopping the run and rushing the passer and he got more time this week. 

Lovett Shines

Dominic Lovett caught a handful of screens this week and was unstoppable for the first 6-8 yards. He finished the game with 9 catches for 72 yards and a touchdown.

His touchdown catch was a crafty route that was well drawn up from Bobo. It led to a score where Lovett wasn’t touched. If he can add a threat further down the field, Lovett will fully develop into the form he showed at Mizzou. I think Vandy’s defense begged for the screens this week, and Bobo and Beck were happy to deliver.

Did You See That?

Monken, I mean Bobo, dialed up an insane play for Ladd McConkey that resulted in a big gain.

He ran Bowers down the seam while Ladd appeared to stop for a spot route. Instead, he simply hesitated and then broke loose. The linebacker was put in a no-win situation, and McConkey was wide open over the middle of the field.

The design and route running were beautiful. UGA will definitely bring back that play again. I know Bobo still isn’t everyone’s favorite, but even when UGA isn’t scoring 40+ points, it’s rarely because of him.

It’s due to turnovers and poor execution. His concepts have been good to excellent this year. Georgia did not punt in this game. The offense scored or turned it over on each of their possessions.

If you exclude when UGA has run out the clock at the end of a game, UGA has scored on 19 of their last 23 possessions dating back to the last 3 possessions of the Auburn game. The possessions break down like this:

• 12 touchdowns
• 7 field goals
• 2 interceptions
• 1 fumble
• 1 punt

One punt in 23 possessions?! More TDs and less field goals and UGA is rolling. Gotta improve the red zone, but they are moving the ball as well as anyone could possibly imagine. 

Commodore receiver Will Sheppard is an NFL player. He has elite size and ability, but was held to only one catch for 24 yards. It was a circus catch in itself and Malaki Starks had him covered. It was great to see UGA shut down a top receiver. DB Kamari Lassiter is quietly having a great season. It’s quite because teams almost never throw at him. 

The Bad

Injuries. Brock. Truss. Milton. Yikes. Thankfully Truss and Milton should be okay. 

Turnovers. Once again, UGA lost the turnover battle after a Carson Beck fumble on a sack and a tipped ball that was intercepted. 

Beck did not have great second half as he continued to miss receivers down field and didn’t make some of the best choices. His first half was nearly flawless. He did miss two throws, and one of his throws was dropped.

Unfortunately, those misses cost UGA touchdowns. In the second half, he held onto the ball too long  and cost Georgia field position a couple of times. Just throw it away! He took a step backwards this week. A small step backwards, but still. 

Communicate, Please

Defensive miscommunications. The first drive of the game, Vandy scored on a 49 yard pass to London Humphreys after Tykee Smith and Kamari Lassiter had a miscommunication.

The blame is squarely on Smith, who had a very up and down game. He had multiple costly mistakes and miscommunications. He also had a key interception and made some big tackles. If there was one thing that UGA defenders said had to be clean up after the game, it was these miscommunications.

Thankfully, those things can be fixed pretty easily. 

The Receivers

WR/KR Mekhi Mews fumbled another punt. While he recovered it, I still reiterate that I’ve lost confidence in him. That makes 3 fumbles on punts or kickoffs in 7 games. That has to stop, immediately. 

WR Arian Smith has been a major disappointment this year. He played 1 snap in this game and he dropped an easy catch for an explosive gain. The ball went right through his hands. His performance overall has been poor this year. Dropped balls, poor adjustments in the air, and bad blocking.

Grades

Offense: B

The offense found a running game which was excellent to see. UGA has lacked explosive runs all year, but had 3 in this game to 3 different backs.

The red zone offense needs to improve and the turnovers have to get cleaned up, which brought this 550 yard, clock-controlling performance down to a B. 

Defense: B+

Again, hard to grade. On one hand, the defense was outstanding, holding Vandy to 219 total yards and only 18 yards rushing. They shut down Vandy’s main offensive player.

UGA played a lot more zone this week, but it allowed easy passes and first downs. The defense did give up 20, but two touchdowns came on short fields because the offense turned the ball over.

Georgia’s defense has been excellent except in the red zone, where they are among the worst in the nation at preventing touchdowns. Georgia likely will stop you from scoring, but if they don’t you’re likely getting 6 on them. 

Special Teams: A

Peyton Woodring was excellent, nailing 3 field goals. Georgia didn’t punt. Mews’ fumble was the only negative in this category.