Can Georgia keep winning without Brock Bowers?
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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
During Georgia‘s current 24-game winning streak, in which it became the first team in the College Football Playoff era to capture back-to-back national championships, it has won at various times with a menacing defense, explosive offense and opportunistic special teams.
But since the start of the 2021 season, the Bulldogs have never had to try to win without star tight end Brock Bowers.
That’s the challenge No. 1 Georgia faces in trying to become the first team in The Associated Press poll era to win three consecutive national championships. Minnesota was the last team to accomplish the feat (1934 to 1936).
Bowers, the Bulldogs’ leading receiver and the 2022 Mackey Award winner as the top tight end in the FBS, underwent TightRope surgery on Oct. 16 to repair a high left ankle sprain. He is expected to miss at least four to six weeks, starting with Saturday’s game against Florida at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida.
“Obviously, this is not only one of the best players in America this year, last year,” Gators coach Billy Napier said. “I mean, this is one of the best players of all time, if that makes sense.”
Bowers’ importance in Georgia’s offense can’t be overstated. He leads the team with 41 receptions for 567 yards, ranking second among FBS tight ends in both statistics, with four touchdown receptions (and one more rushing). He has only two drops in 52 targets. On top of that, he’s one of the best blockers in the game.
Bowers isn’t a typical tight end in the open field, either. He is No. 1 among tight ends and No. 4 among all FBS players with 415 yards after contact. Bowers has 16 catches in which he’s made defenders miss tackles, which is fourth among all FBS players and twice as many as any other tight end.
It’s no wonder ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. ranks Bowers as the fourth-best prospect eligible for next year’s NFL draft.
“This guy is a really, really unique matchup relative to his ability to run routes and get open, his ability to run after the catch,” Napier said. “They’re handing the guy sweeps. They were handing the guy the ball. He’s a terrific blocker. He’s tough. He’s got a really good set of fundamentals. Made him really hard to defend.”
The Gators are fortunate they won’t have to defend him Saturday. In Georgia’s 42-20 victory over Florida last season, Bowers had five catches for 154 yards and one touchdown, the most receiving yards a Georgia player has ever had against Florida. On Bowers’ 73-yard touchdown in the second quarter, he ran a wheel route down the left sideline. Gators linebacker Amari Burney tipped the ball in the air. It bounced off Burney’s helmet, and Bowers tipped the ball to himself before hauling it in. Napier could only shake his head in disbelief.
So how do the Bulldogs try to replace Bowers’ production? The good news for Georgia is it had an extra week to prepare after he was injured in the first half of a 37-20 victory at Vanderbilt on Oct. 14.
Georgia’s offense has mostly been built around 12 personnel (two tight ends, two receivers and one running back) the past three seasons. Sophomore Oscar Delp (13 catches for 160 yards with two scores) and freshmen Pearce Spurlin III (two catches for 29 yards) and Lawson Luckie are next in line at tight end. Each ranked in the top eight among tight end prospects nationally and were ESPN 300 prospects.
“If they think one guy is going to replace Brock Bowers, they’re wrong,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “If anybody thinks they have to be Superman, they don’t need to be on our team because they’ll be disappointed. Superman is not real. He’s dead. He’s not alive. He’s not real. You can’t try to be that guy.”
Bowers might as well have been wearing a cape the past two seasons. Without him, Georgia’s offense figures to employ more wide receivers. Junior Ladd McConkey has returned after missing the first four games with a back injury. He was second on the team in receiving last season, behind Bowers, with 58 catches for 762 yards with seven scores.
Receivers Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, Missouri transfer Dominic Lovett and Mississippi State transfer Rara Thomas also could play bigger roles.
“Our offense is not built around, like, one person doing one thing,” Smart said. “It’s built around plug-in and you can do it in 10 personnel, you can do it in 11 personnel, you can do it in 13 personnel. I think every offense that’s a good offense is that way.”
One head coach who played Georgia during the past three seasons said the Bulldogs have enough playmakers to compensate for Bowers’ absence. Georgia might have schemed 12 to 15 plays a game in which the ball was supposed to go to Bowers. He was a human cheat code for dictating coverages and often attracted more than one defender.
“I’ll be honest, sometimes when you lose a great player like that, you end up becoming a little better on offense because you’re just not always trying to get him the ball,” the coach said. “Now you’ve got to spread it out and you become a little more dynamic.”
With Bowers sidelined, Georgia quarterback Carson Beck is going to have to get the ball to others.
“I’ve got one really good receiver and that’s the only guy my quarterback ever looks at,” the coach said. “That’s the only guy he tries to get the ball to. I have to hold [the receiver] out of practice because we play him every snap and he’s beat up. In practice, the quarterback has to give it to everyone else, and we end up looking better when he does that.”
A longtime SEC assistant whose team faced the Bulldogs this season said there’s no question they’re going to miss having Bowers on the field. Another SEC assistant added, “Losing Bowers is going to hurt them.”
“Man, he was a huge piece,” one of the assistants said.
When the Bulldogs needed a first down or a big gain, Bowers was the player Beck looked for more times than not. He was a safety net for the first-year starting quarterback, who has completed 73.6% of his passes for 2,147 yards with 12 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.
When Georgia struggled at Auburn on Sept. 30, Bowers had six catches on the last three scoring drives, including the winning 40-yard touchdown with 2:52 to play in a 27-20 victory. Bowers had eight receptions for 157 yards with one score for the game.
Smart won’t say when Bowers might be back. The Bulldogs are about to begin the most difficult stretch of their season. After playing the Gators, they face three straight ranked opponents: No. 16 Missouri and No. 12 Ole Miss at home and No. 21 Tennessee on the road.
It’s unclear if they’ll have Bowers back for any of them.
“There is no player that we’re asking to step up and do more than you can,” Smart said. “As a collective effort, every player is going to do more. That includes defense getting turnovers, special teams getting better field position. Other guys get the opportunity to touch the ball and make the most of it.”
MIAMI — Philadelphia Phillies star shortstop Trea Turner left the team’s game against the Miami Marlins in the seventh inning Sunday because of a right hamstring strain.
Turner hit a solo homer in the sixth to narrow Philadelphia’s deficit to 4-2. When his turn came again in the seventh, Turner legged out a grounder and reached on a throwing error by Miami Otto Lopez.
Edmundo Sosa replaced Turner as the baserunner and at shortstop.
The 32-year-old Turner leads the NL in batting average at .305 and also has a league-leading 179 hits this season.
NEW YORK — Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette was not in the lineup for Sunday’s series finale against the Yankees a day after colliding with Austin Wells on a play at the plate.
Bichette was thrown out in the sixth inning of Saturday’s 3-1 loss by Cody Bellinger‘s 95.3 mph one-hop throw from right field when he attempted to score on a single by Nathan Lukes.
He hobbled off the field with the assistance of a trainer after colliding with Wells’ shin guard. The game was delayed by rain for nearly two hours, and during the delay, X-rays came back negative. Bichette struck out in his final at-bat Saturday.
“It didn’t look great, but we’re at the point where if you can play, you can play,” manager John Schneider said Saturday. “Bo understands that, and everyone understands that. I don’t think it needed stitches or anything, but there was a lot going on.”
Bichette is third in the major leagues with a .311 average. He has 18 homers and leads Toronto with 93 RBIs in 139 games this season.
He also leads the majors with 181 hits and 44 doubles and is hitting .418 (33-for-79) during a 20-game on-base streak.
Ernie Clement started at shortstop for the Blue Jays, who began Sunday with a three-game lead over the Yankees in the American League East.
The latest AP poll is out. After a dramatic first week of action, not much changed at the top of the rankings with most teams pulling out wins, but there was still quite a bit of movement throughout.
And we did see some upsets and impressive wins with four ranked teams (the Arizona State Sun Devils, Florida Gators, Michigan Wolverines and SMU Mustangs) all losing — Florida, SMU and ASU are no longer ranked as a result.
The top seven schools in the rankings, on the other hand, outscored their opponents by a combined 307-26. In all, four AP-ranked teams scored 70 or more points, the second time that has happened in the AP poll era (since 1936).
Stats courtesy of ESPN Research.
All times Eastern
Previous ranking: 1
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Grambling 70-0
Stat to know: Julian Sayin completed his first 16 passes to start the game. It’s the longest streak to begin a game in school history.
What’s next: Saturday vs. Ohio, 7 p.m., Peacock
Previous ranking: 2
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated FIU 34-0
Stat to know: This was Penn State’s 13th shutout since 2014, the second most in that span behind Alabama’s 15.
What’s next: Saturday vs. Villanova, 3:30 p.m., FS1
Previous ranking: 3
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Louisiana Tech 23-7
Stat to know: LSU has not lost a home game to an in-state opponent since 1982.
What’s next: Saturday vs. Florida, 7:30 p.m., ABC
Previous ranking: 6
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Oklahoma State 69-3
Stat to know: The 66-point win is Oregon’s largest win against an FBS opponent since 2019 against Nevada (won by 71 points).
What’s next: Saturday at Northwestern, noon, Fox
Previous ranking: 5
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Bethune-Cookman 45-3
Stat to know: Carson Beck completed his first 15 passes in Week 2. He passed Vinny Testaverde (1986, against Oklahoma) for the most consecutive completions within a game in Miami history.
What’s next: Saturday vs. South Florida, 4:30 p.m., CW Network
Previous ranking: 4
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Austin Peay 28-6
Stat to know: The 22-point win is the narrowest margin of victory by a top-five SEC team against a non-FBS opponent since 2012.
What’s next: Saturday at Tennessee, 3:30 p.m., ABC
Previous ranking: 7
2025 record: 1-1
Week 2 result: Defeated San Jose State 38-7
Stat to know: Arch Manning joined Vince Young, Colt McCoy and David Ash by throwing multiple touchdown passes of more than 20 yards and having a TD run over 20 yards in multiple games.
What’s next: Saturday vs. UTEP, 4:15 p.m., SEC Network
Previous ranking: 9
2025 record: 0-1
Week 2 result: Idle
What’s next: Saturday vs. Texas A&M, 7:30 p.m., NBC
Previous ranking: 11
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Duke 45-19
Stat to know: After scoring 52 points against Western Illinois last week, the Illini have scored 45 points in consecutive games for the first time in the past 20 seasons.
What’s next: Saturday vs. Western Michigan, 7 p.m., FS1
Previous ranking: 14
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated East Texas A&M 77-3
Stat to know: FSU had 729 total yards, the most by the Seminoles since Nov. 4, 2000.
What’s next: Sept. 20 vs. Kent State
Previous ranking: 10
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated South Carolina State 38-10
Stat to know: Vicari Swain recorded two punt returns for touchdowns against South Carolina State, making that three for the season (and he has done it in just six quarters).
What’s next: Saturday vs. Vanderbilt, 7:45 p.m., SEC Network
Previous ranking: 8
2025 record: 1-1
Week 2 result: Defeated Troy 27-16
Stat to know: Clemson trailed 16-0 before scoring the final 27 points of the game. That is the largest comeback win for Clemson since 2020 against Boston College.
What’s next: Saturday at Georgia Tech, noon, ESPN
Previous ranking: 18
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Michigan 24-13
Stat to know: OU has not allowed a point in the first half of consecutive games for the first time since 2009.
What’s next: Saturday at Temple, noon, ESPN2
Previous ranking: 16
2025 record: 3-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Iowa 16-13
Stat to know: Iowa State won at home in this series for the first time since 2011.
What’s next: Saturday at Arkansas State, 4 p.m., ESPN2
Previous ranking: 22
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated East Tennessee State 72-17
Stat to know: The 72 points are the Volunteers’ most points scored in a game in the AP poll era (1936).
What’s next: Saturday vs. Georgia, 3:30 p.m., ABC
Previous ranking: 19
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Utah State 44-22
Stat to know: Marcel Reed has thrown three touchdown passes in three consecutive games. It’s the second-longest streak at A&M since 2004.
What’s next: Saturday at Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m., NBC
Previous ranking: 20
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Kentucky 30-23
Stat to know: This was Ole Miss’ fourth win when trailing by 10 or more points in the Lane Kiffin era.
What’s next: Saturday vs. Arkansas, 7 p.m., ESPN
Previous ranking: NR
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Florida 18-16
Stat to know: USF is the fourth team in the AP poll era (since 1936) to win its first two games of a season against AP-ranked opponents while being unranked in each win, joining 2012 Oregon State, 2008 East Carolina and 1976 North Carolina.
What’s next: Saturday at Miami, 4:30 p.m., CW
Previous ranking: 21
2025 record: 1-1
Week 2 result: Defeated UL Monroe 73-0
Stat to know: Ty Simpson finished 17-of-17, the most completions without an incompletion in a game in SEC history. It is also the most consecutive completions within a game in Alabama history.
What’s next: Saturday vs. Wisconsin, noon, ABC
Previous ranking: 25
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Cal Poly 63-9
Stat to know: After Jackson Bennee returned an interception 46 yards for a score, it extended Utah’s streak of returning at least one interception for a touchdown to 22 straight seasons.
What’s next: Saturday at Wyoming, 8 p.m., CBSSN
Previous ranking: 24
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Kent State 62-14
Stat to know: Texas Tech has outscored its opponents by 108 points this season, its second most through the first two games of a season in the AP poll era (since 1936).
What’s next: Saturday vs. Oregon State, 3:30 p.m., Fox
Previous ranking: 23
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Kennesaw State 56-9
Stat to know: Indiana improves to 11-0 against Conference USA teams all-time, the fourth-most wins without a loss against the conference.
What’s next: Friday vs. Indiana State, 6:30 p.m., BTN
Previous ranking: 15
2025 record: 1-1
Week 2 result: Lost to Oklahoma 24-13
Stat to know: Justice Haynes‘ four rushing scores this season are the most by a Michigan player in his first two games with the school in the past 30 seasons.
What’s next: Saturday vs. Central Michigan, noon, BTN
Previous ranking: NR
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Ball State 42-3
Stat to know: Auburn’s six sacks are its most in a game since sacking Alabama (all Bryce Young) seven times in November 2021.
What’s next: Saturday vs. South Alabama, 12:45 p.m., SEC Network
Previous ranking: NR
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Kansas 42-31
Stat to know: Missouri trailed by 15 points. This is its largest comeback win since 2016 vs. Arkansas.
What’s next: Saturday vs. Louisiana, 4 p.m. on SECN+
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