No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs represented well in awards season

ATHENS — It’s awards season in college football – or about to be – and with the Georgia Bulldogs currently sitting at No. 1 in the land, it’s no surprise that they’re well represented on the many lists of finalists and semifinalists that have come out of the woodwork this week.

Nine individuals, one position group and one assistant coach from Georgia are among the finalists or semifinalists for 18 national awards heading into the final two weeks of the regular season. Most of those trophies will be handed out in December.

Topping the charts are quarterback Stetson Bennett, tight end Brock Bowers and defensive tackle Jalen Carter. Each is a semifinalist or finalist for three of the more prestigious awards.

Of those Georgia players, Bennett might be the most likely to come away with an actual trophy. Georgia’s sixth-year senior signal-caller from Blackshear is for the second consecutive year a finalist for the Burlsworth Trophy. Named for former Arkansas offensive lineman Brandon Burlsworth, the award goes annually to the nation’s most outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on.

It would be shocking if that distinction didn’t belong to Bennett. Then, again, Bennett was passed over for the award when he was a finalist last year. It went instead to Arkansas linebacker Grant Morgan.

It would be hard to discount Bennett’s accomplishments this time. The Bulldogs improved to 24-3 with Bennett as their starting quarterback with Saturday’s 45-19 road win over Mississippi State. Over the past four seasons, Bennett has passed for 7,196 yards and 53 touchdowns. He has run for 469 yards and 11 more scores.

This season, Bennett is in position to break Georgia’s school record for passing yards in a season. He currently has 2,895 yards, which is 998 yards behind the 3,893-yard mark established by Aaron Murray in 2012. With the Bulldogs assured of at least four more games at this point, that means Bennett would need to average 250 yards passing the rest of the way to eclipse Murray’s mark. He currently averages 289.5 yards passing per game.

Bennett’s competition for the Burlsworth is Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell and Troy linebacker Carlton Martial. Like Bennett, Martial also was a finalist last year.

Meanwhile, Bennett moved up to fifth this week in ESPN’s Heisman Trophy rankings. The top four are C.J. Stroud (Ohio State), Hendon Hooker (Tennessee), Drake Maye (North Carolina) and Caleb Williams (USC).

Bowers is a semifinalist for the Mackey, Maxwell and Lombardi awards – presented to the nation’s best tight end, best offensive player and best lineman, respectively. Inexplicably, Bowers was not among the finalists for the Mackey Award last year when he led the Bulldogs in receiving (56 for 882 yards) and touchdowns (14). Bowers is behind that pace this season, with 39 catches for 615 yards and seven scores. But he certainly has been no less impactful.

Bowers also has been sharing more targets this year with position mate Darnell Washington. Washington also was named a Mackey semifinalist. He has 24 catches for 392 yards and one TD, which was scored Saturday against Mississippi State. Washington also is the Bulldogs’ most dominant perimeter blocker.

Carter being a semifinalist for the Outland Trophy, as well as the Lombardi and Bednarik awards, is an accomplishment in itself considering his lack of playing time so far. He has started only four games this season and played in only eight because of knee and ankle injuries. In three of those games, he played only a handful of plays, including a single offensive snap in one.

But Carter’s impact when he is healthy is unquestionable, as he has demonstrated in Georgia’s past three games. He has 17 tackles and 3.5 sacks, and his 17 quarterback pressures are second on the team. He was a preseason All-American selection.

Christopher Smith’s mention for several national awards is a major accomplishment considering he did not become an every-game starter for the Bulldogs until last season. A fifth-year senior, Smith made the semifinalist cut for the Nagurski, Bednarik and Jim Thorpe awards.

No. 1-ranked Georgia (10-0, 7-0 SEC) is trying complete its second consecutive undefeated regular season. The Bulldogs play Kentucky (6-4, 3-4) in Lexington at 3:30 p.m. Saturday (CBS).

Following is Georgia’s list of award nominees:

Dogs in the running

  • Stetson Bennett – Davey O’Brien Award semifinalist
  • Stetson Bennett – Burlsworth Trophy finalist
  • Stetson Bennett – Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award finalist
  • Stetson Bennett – Walter Camp Player of Year semifinalist
  • Brock Bowers – Maxwell Award semifinalist
  • Brock Bowers – John Mackey Award semifinalist
  • Brock Bowers – Rotary Lombardi Award finalist
  • Brock Bowers – Walter Camp Player of Year semifinalist
  • Jalen Carter – Lombardi Award finalist
  • Jalen Carter – Bednarik Award semifinalist
  • Jalen Carter – Lott IMPACT Trophy semifinalist
  • Jamon Dumas-Johnson – Butkus Award semifinalist
  • Kearis Jackson – Wuerffel Trophy semifinalist
  • Jack Podlesny – Lou Groza Award semifinalist
  • Christopher Smith – Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist
  • Christopher Smith – Bednarik Award semifinalist
  • Christopher Smith – Bronko Nagurski semifinalist
  • Darnell Washington – John Mackey Award semifinalist
  • Georgia offensive line – Joe Moore Award semifinalist
  • Todd Monken (offensive coordinator) – Broyles Award nominee