UGA Football: Smart, Bowers Earn SEC Football Awards
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has been voted the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year while Brock Bowers has earned the title of SEC Freshman of the Year, according to a recent announcement following the votes of the league coaches.
In his sixth season as head coach, Smart has guided the No. 3 Bulldogs to a 12-1 record and the program’s fourth SEC Eastern Division title since 2017. Later this month, Georgia will play No. 2 Michigan in its second College Football Playoff Semifinal since Smart’s arrival. Smart was also the 2017 SEC Coach of the Year when the Bulldogs advanced to the CFP National Championship Game.
This marks the 13th SEC Coach of the Year for a Georgia football head coach voted on by the coaches. Smart is the fifth Bulldog coach to garner this honor.
Bowers, a native of Napa, Calif., posted the fourth 100-yard receiving game of his first season after hauling in a career-high 10 balls for a career-high 139 yards and a score during the SEC Championship Game showdown with Alabama last weekend. He owns the UGA single season touchdown record for a tight end with 11. His 11 scoring catches also ties the school record for touchdown receptions in a season (WR Terrence Edwards, 2002).
Bowers also owns the single season receiving yards for a tight end (791) on 47 catches, which is now just two catches short of tying the school’s single season record for tight end catches. He is one of only two freshmen nationally to be ranked in the top 11 in total receiving touchdowns with 11 and he is the top tight end on that national list.
This marks the seventh SEC Freshman of the Year for the Bulldogs voted on by the coaches. Current New York Giant Jake Fromm (2017) was the last Georgia player to earn this accolade.
In addition, the Bulldogs had a total of 10 players named to the All-SEC First Team and Second Team, including five First Team selections. Bowers, senior DL Jordan Davis, senior DL Devonte Wyatt, junior ILB Nakobe Dean and senior P Jake Camarda were all named to the First Team.
Senior OT Jamaree Salyer, senior OG Justin Shaffer, sophomore DL Jalen Carter, senior DB Derion Kendrick and junior S Lewis Cine were included on the Second Team.
On Thursday, the Freshman All-SEC Team is expected to be announced.
The No. 3 Bulldogs will face No. 2 Michigan in a CFP Semifinal in the Capital One Orange Bowl on Dec. 31. Kickoff at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., will be at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.