Top-ranked Georgia (7-0, 4-0 SEC) enters its bye week at a great time in the season, with hopes of improving as a team and getting some injured players back before facing rival Florida on Oct. 27 The Bulldogs recently defeated Vanderbilt in a sloppy game, and head coach Kirby Smart didn’t make any excuses for his team’s poor performance.
Smart is just happy the bye came at a good time.
“I’ve never had a bye week come at the wrong time,” Smart said. “I feel great about the bye week. I’m glad it’s here.”
Georgia added three players to its long injury list last Saturday, with the most important being tight end Brock Bowers.
Running back Kendall Milton and offensive lineman Xavier Truss also got hurt.
Bowers has been a big part of the Bulldogs’ offensive success this season. The Napa, CA., native has hauled in 41 receptions for a team-high 567 yards and four touchdowns during his junior year.
“It’s an ankle sprain. Don’t know how severe,” Smart said of Bowers’ injury on Saturday.
“X-rayed it, and the X-rays were negative. Looked like it was lower, but we don’t know. Until we get an MRI, we won’t know [about] him or Truss. Same thing because both of them are ankle sprains.”
On Monday, the University of Georgia Athletics Department released a statement saying that Bowers “sustained a high ankle sprain during the Vanderbilt game in Nashville over the weekend. Surgery will be performed today (Oct. 16) to stabilize the ankle and a full recovery is anticipated.”
Either way, Georgia is looking to clean up some things before facing the Gators (5-2, 3-1 SEC) next Saturday. The Bulldogs haven’t played to their full potential yet and are improving each week.
Georgia’s offense needs to figure out how to eliminate near-costly turnovers while the defensive unit needs to try and create takeaways. The Bulldogs also need to work on playing a complete game.
“We’ll try to limit turnovers, because when you do that, you give [opponents] the opportunity to score, especially when it’s on the minus side of the field,” Georgia quarterback Carson Beck said after the Bulldogs defeated Vanderbilt. “Just try to go back, watch the film, and see where we can improve.”
Georgia will use its bye week to work out those problems as a team and prepare for future opponents such as Tennessee, Missouri, Georgia Tech, and Ole Miss, while also focusing on the Gators.
The Bulldogs will also use the bye week to let their injured players rest and get rehab. They will need players such as Milton, Truss and a few others for the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
“It’s an opportunity- for-growth week for me; it’s not a bye week,” Smart said. “I don’t look at it as time off. We’ve got some players that need it and we’re a banged-up football team. We’ve still got guys that are missing practice and time and then try to go out there and play. We’ll try to get them healthy.”