The Georgia Bulldogs are going to miss tight end Brock Bowers in the offense. Brett McMurphy of The Action Network reported on Monday, after Bowers exited the win over Vanderbilt early with an apparent ankle injury, that the UGA tight end is undergoing surgery. He will likely miss the rest of the season.
Not that anyone in Athens -- or perhaps in the entire country -- needed a reminder, but Bowers has already shown how pivotal he is for the Georgia offense. In a chaotic game against Auburn two weeks ago, first-year starting QB Carson Beck peppered his tight end incessantly, including the 40-yard game-winning touchdown.
So now Kirby Smart and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo must figure out how to proceed forward without their best weapon on offense. That's not going to be easy. In the long run as Georgia eyes a three-peat as national champions, though, it might benefit Beck and the Bulldogs offense having to mover ahead without Bowers.
Georgia offense could become more complete after Brock Bowers injury
That Auburn game, specifically, highlights one of the biggest questions about the No. 1 team in college football.
For much of the season with the offense transitioning coordinators and quarterbacks, the Bulldogs have overall not been able to establish an offensive identity. The closest thing we've seen to that was the Week 6 blowout win over Kentucky with Beck spreading the love in the offense, and the results were obviously quite good. But then things regressed a bit against Vanderbilt in the following matchup.
As a result of the inconsistent or unestablished offensive identity, though, Georgia has far too often reverted to the "F*** it, 19 down there somewhere" offense with Bowers. Now that's no longer an option, which could force Bobo, Beck and the offense as a whole to be a more complete unit.
The good news for the Dawgs possibly doing that and needing to do so is that we've started to see signs of it already. Bobo has started to integrate transfer newcomers Dominic Lovett and RaRa Thomas into the offense more, in addition to deep threat Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint. Let's also not forget the recent return to action for Ladd McConkey, which has also been massively important, and will only be more so after the Bowers injury.
Georgia's rushing attack has not been otherworldly by any means as well, but they've proven the ability to move the ball well enough with Daijun Edwards as the lead back. He'll certainly have a bigger role to play moving forward too.
We also shouldn't forget that, even if there's never a good time to lose Brock Bowers, having it happen before the bye week followed by the Cocktail Party is big. Smart, Bobo and the coaching staff will have two weeks to make these adjustments and, hopefully, establish an offensive identity that's been lacking.
Again, we're talking about losing one of the best players in the sport. That's not going to help Georgia, obviously. But on the quest for the three-peat, perhaps it will force the Dawgs to become a fully realized version of themselves on offense in a new era. That, in fact, could prove hugely important for the hopeful title run.
