Georgia star TE Brock Bowers leaves game vs. Vanderbilt with apparent leg injury

Georgia tight end Brock Bowers left Saturday’s game vs. Vanderbilt with what Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart characterized as an ankle sprain.

Bowers, one of the best players in college football, went down after a second-quarter run. As Bowers fought for extra yardage near the sideline, his left leg appeared to twist somewhat awkwardly as he was tackled by Vanderbilt’s Savion Riley.

Bowers tried to limp off the field, but eventually went down to a knee and was visibly frustrated as the Georgia training staff came onto the field. The trainers examined Bowers’ lower left leg before he limped off the field and into the trainers’ tent.

After being examined, Bowers limped off the field and into the locker room for further testing. Smart said Bowers was "in good spirits."

"He's got a little bit of an ankle sprain on the bottom part of his foot," Smart said of Bowers during a halftime interview on CBS. "He thinks he'll be fine. They're going to go x-ray it and check it out."

Before the injury, Bowers caught four passes for 22 yards. He also had two rushing attempts for 11 yards.

Later on the drive when Bowers was injured, Georgia tacked on a field goal to take a 17-7 lead with 3:40 remaining in the first half.

Entering Saturday’s action, Bowers had 37 catches for 545 yards and four touchdowns for the top-ranked Bulldogs. Bowers, a junior, was an All-American last fall and also won the Mackey Award, given to the nation’s top tight end.

Earlier this week, Bowers had +3000 odds to win the Heisman Trophy. Only two tight ends have ever won the Heisman — Larry Kelley of Yale in 1936 and Notre Dame’s Leon Hart in 1949.