Film Review: How Georgia Used Tight End Brock Bowers Against Alabama
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If Alabama’s season was an action movie, Brock Bowers would be the type of diabolical weapon unveiled by the villain as a means to cause chaos upon the protagonist. Georgia did just that with the freshman tight end during the SEC Championship Game last month as Bowers recorded a season-high 10 catches for 139 yards, including a touchdown against the Crimson Tide.
Alabama rolled to a 41-24 victory over Georgia in Atlanta. However, the Tide’s inability to contain Bowers leaves a dark cloud hanging over next week’s rematch against the SEC Freshman of the Year.
Through 13 games, Bowers has recorded 52 receptions for 846 yards and 12 touchdowns. Six of those touchdowns have come over his last four games, including one in last week’s Orange Bowl, where he recorded five receptions for 55 yards and a score during Georgia’s 34-11 victory over Michigan.
"I think this guy is one of the premier players in college football," Alabama head coach Nick Saban said Monday. "I know he's just a freshman. But this guy's got great size. He's a good blocker. He's physical. He's tough. And he's got wide receiver skills in every way, shape or form, which makes it difficult being a bigger guy for bigger guys to cover him and it makes it also difficult for smaller guys to cover him.
"So this guy is just a phenomenal football player all the way around. They do a really good job of featuring his talents as well. And he's been extremely productive in a lot of ways."
Receiving tight ends have been troublesome for Alabama’s defense in recent years. Through 13 games this season, the Crimson Tide has already allowed five opposing tight ends to record 50 or more yards through the air — Arkansas’ Blake Kern (three receptions for 47 yards and a touchdown) nearly made it six as the Tide narrowly avoided an upset to the Razorbacks on Nov. 20. Although to Alabama’s credit, it is coming off a solid performance against Cincinnati where it held Bearcats tight ends Josh Whyle and Leonard Taylor to a combined two receptions for 6 yards.
If Alabama is able to achieve similar success against Bowers during next week’s rematch against Georgia, there’s a good chance the Tide will be leaving Indianapolis with its 19th national title. However, stopping the 6-foot-4, 230-pounder is easier said than done.
To provide a better look at what Alabama is up against, here’s a breakdown at each one of Bowers’ receptions during the SEC Championship Game and what went wrong for the Tide.
Second-and-7 from the Alabama 36 | 8:53, Q1
What happened: Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett play-faked to running back James Cook out of the shotgun before finding Bowers on an out route for an 18-yard gain.
What went wrong for Alabama: This was a great play call from Georgia which had Bowers run a shallow out route while receiver Jermain Burton ran a deeper out route on the same side of the field. Burton was able to draw out Alabama cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry, leaving Bowers wide open. From there, the tight end made an athletic jumping grab to haul in the pass from Bennett.
Second-and-10 from the Alabama 43 | 9:53, Q3
What happened: Bennet took a snap out of the shotgun before firing a quick slant to Bowers for a 12-yard gain.
What went wrong for Alabama: This was another nice grab by Bowers, who was able to reel in a low throw from Bennett over the middle. Bowers essentially served as a wide receiver on the play as he lined against Alabama defensive back Brian Branch in the slot. Bowers made a nice cut, giving Branch little opportunity to make a play.
Third-and-4 from the Georgia 33 | 4:29, Q3
What happened: After taking a snap out of the shotgun, Bennett hit Bowers on a curl route for an 11-yard gain.
What went wrong for Alabama: Alabama nearly blew up this play as outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr. crashed into Bennett shortly before he was able to get the pass off. Bowers was lined up in a bunch formation to the right and ran a curl route just beyond the first-down marker. Josh Jobe was in coverage for Alabama, but there was little the cornerback could do to stop the play.
First-and-10 from the Alabama 34 | 1:58, Q3
What happened: Bennet took a snap out of the shotgun before hitting Bowers across the middle for a 7-yard gain.
What went wrong for Alabama: Bowers continued to bail out his quarterback as Bennett’s pass was low and behind. Bowers was once again lined up in the slot against Branch. There’s not too much Alabama could have done better on this play as it wrapped up the Georgia tight end immediately for a short gain.
Second-and-10 from the Georgia 39 | 11:00, Q4
What happened: Bennet took a snap out of the shotgun before delivering a pass down the middle of the field to a tightly-covered Bowers for a 31-yard gain.
What went wrong for Alabama: This really isn’t fair. Bennet threaded the needle as Alabama linebacker Christian Harris shadowed Bowers in tight coverage. DeMarcco Hellams was also close in the vicinity while fellow safety Jordan Battle was back deep on the play. None of that mattered as Bowers leaped up to bring in the contested ball for his biggest gain of the night. While Harris remained in close coverage of Bowers on the play, Alabama will likely need to keep a defensive back on the tight end at all times next week.
Second-and-1 from the Alabama 21 | 10:23, Q4
What happened: Needing to pick up a short gain, Bennet zipped a quick screen pass to Bowers who made Anderson miss behind the line of scrimmage before powering past defensive tackle D.J. Dale for a 3-yard gain.
What went wrong for Alabama: Anderson over-pursued on this play, allowing Bowers to cut inside. From there, the 230-pound tight end was able to outmuscle Dale (6-foot-3, 300 pounds) as the defensive lineman wasn’t able to get his feet set under him. Had Anderson been able to control his momentum, he probably would have been able to stop Bowers behind the line of scrimmage.
First-and-10 from the Alabama 18 | 9:50, Q4
What happened: Bennett once again delivered a quick screen to Bowers out of the shotgun. From there, the tight end broke through three Alabama defenders on his way to an 18-yard touchdown.
What went wrong for Alabama: Georgia must have liked what it saw on the previous first-down screen to Bowers as it went to the tight end on another quick screen the next play. Alabama fared far worse this time as the tight end was once again able to overpower a shifting Dale as well as Jobe and linebacker Henry To’o To’o, who were all unable to wrap him up. Georgia tight end John Fitzpatrick did a nice job of sealing off Alabama linebacker Jaylen Moody to open up the space for Bowers initially. Overall, this was a poor display of tackling by Alabama as Bowers should have been brought down at the 12-yard line.
First-and-10 from the Georgia 21 | 8:16, Q4
What happened: Bennett took a snap out of the shotgun before hitting a wide-open Bowers for a 19-yard gain across the middle of the field.
What went wrong for Alabama: Georgia was able to find a hole in Alabama’s zone coverage as running back James Cook drew in To’o To’o, leaving Bowers open for a big gain. The Tide rushed just three defenders, giving Bennett the time he needed to let the play develop. Overall, this was just a well-executed play by the Bulldogs.
First-and-10 from the Georgia 40 | 7:43, Q4
What happened: Bennett went to Bowers on a second straight play, hitting the tight end on a curl route over the middle for an 11-yard gain.
What went wrong for Alabama: Bowers lined up on the line with his hand in the dirt before going out for a 5-yard curl. After catching the ball, he was able to pick up the first down as Battle did not get to him in time to prevent him from turning upfield. Alabama was once again in zone coverage, leaving Bowers wide open. Georgia right tackle Warren McClendon did a nice job holding off Anderson to provide enough time for the play to develop.
Second-and-10 from the Georgia 25| 1:33, Q4
What happened: With the game already out of reach, Bennett hit Bowers on a quick-out route for a 9-yard gain.
What went wrong for Alabama: Up by 17 with less than two minutes remaining, Alabama was just looking to avoid giving up a big play. However, the Tide should still study this play. Bowers lined up slightly behind the left tackle and was uncovered for a nice gain. Georgia could come back to this play in a more meaningful situation next week.
It wasn't all bad for Alabama
Alabama did stop Bowers on a few occasions as his 10 receptions came on 16 targets. Most of the incompletions weren’t the tight end’s fault, but it’s still worth showing a couple of the times the Tide got things right.
Second-and-9 from the Alabama 19| 6:57, Q3
What happened: Rolling to his right out of the shotgun, Bennett forced a pass to Bowers that was jumped by Hellams, who intercepted it at the Alabama 12-yard line to stop a Georgia scoring drive.
Why it worked out for Alabama: Bowers stopped on the play, giving Hellams the ability to jump the route and make the interception. Had the tight end kept running, he likely would have been able to knock the ball out of the defender’s hand for an incompletion. Still, this was an ill-advised throw from Bennett, who seemed to panic with Anderson charging toward him.
Third-and-9 from the Alabama 19| 0:07, Q3
What happened: Dropping back out of the shotgun, Bennett delivered a nice ball to Bowers in the end zone. The tight end out-jumped Alabama safety Daniel Wright for the would-be touchdown but had the ball knocked away by Hellams, who came crashing in at the last minute to force the incompletion.
Why it worked out for Alabama: Once again, Hellams came up big. The pass from Bennett was perfect, and Bowers had Wright beaten on the play. However, Hellams picked up the pass fast enough to race over from the left side of the end zone to prevent the score. The stop proved to be big as Alabama forced an incompletion on Georgia’s ensuing fourth-down attempt, sending the Bulldogs away with nothing on another trip inside the red zone.
