Brock Bowers makes history as he repeats as Mackey Award winner
By Keith Farner
Published:
Brock Bowers did not let a serious ankle injury that required surgery derail his season.
And after another strong campaign for the one-loss Georgia Bulldogs, Bowers on Friday night repeated as the Mackey Award winner for the nation’s top tight end, the first time a player has won it twice.
Bowers won the award over the other finalists, Ohio State’s Cade Stover and Colorado State’s Dallin Holker. Stover had a career year for the Buckeyes with 576 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns, while Holker had the most receiving yards of the group with 767. He also had 6 touchdowns.
Bowers collected at least 50 yards in 5 of Georgia’s first 7 games. But his best game was against Auburn as he nearly single-handedly knocked off the Tigers on the road. Thanks to a big-time 4th quarter, Bowers made 8 receptions for 157 yards and 1 touchdowns, and against Kentucky, when Bowers had 7 receptions for 132 yards and another TD.
But this season may be most remembered for Bowers’ ankle injury in the 2nd quarter of Georgia’s game at Vanderbilt in Week 7. He soon underwent tightrope surgery and returned faster than many expected to contribute in a win over Ole Miss.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
