Georgia stayed undefeated and has the traditional SEC reward waiting this week: another ranked opponent, this time in the form of Ole Miss.
The Bulldogs outlasted Missouri, 30-21, remaining undefeated and getting another step closer to having All-American tight end Brock Bowers back in the fold.
“He’s been great,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “He’s done everything we’ve asked. He ran on Friday, did a good workout. Had Saturday off, obviously, and continues to work. He’s going to do all he can to try to get back as fast as he can.”
Georgia (9-0) would love to have Bowers available this week, but he’s not expected to be cleared medically from ankle surgery. The operation, known as tight-rope surgery, was performed Oct. 16 with an expected recovery window of 4-6 weeks.
Bowers’ impact remains evident in that he’s still among the leaders in the FBS at his position with 41 receptions for 570 yards.
The Bulldogs are working through other injuries to other critical players, including linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson. He fractured his forearm in the win over Missouri.
“Still not sure how long it’ll be, how long his absence will be,” Smart said Monday. “He’s going to try to find some innovative ways to get back and be able to play, but won’t know the extent of that until a couple more days.”
Smart said four players have logged snaps at Dumas-Johnson’s linebacker position in every game this season, which takes some of the heat off.
The game will be the first matchup between Smart and Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss’ coach who served as offensive coordinator at Alabama when Smart ran the defense in 2014 and 2015. The Rebels were ranked No. 10 in the latest AP Top 25 poll.
“He does a great job,” Smart said of Kiffin. “He’s extremely intelligent. He doesn’t overthink things. He keeps it simple and doesn’t think that you, you don’t have to overthink things sometimes as a coach. Probably doesn’t get enough credit for that because he wants to beat you with fundamentals. He wants to beat you with his players doing things within their system. It’s just, he does a great job. He looks for matchups, he looks for explosive opportunities.”
–Field Level Media