With Brock Bowers sidelined for an undetermined amount of time after undergoing tightrope surgery to repair his ankle, most assumed the role of top backup Oscar Delp would change.

Head coach Kirby Smart says that will not be the case.

“He’s not in a bigger role. He’s in the same role he was in, which is to help our team,” Smart said. “I don’t believe for one second that he’s in a bigger role.”

Although Bowers will obviously be missed, Smart said the team is always prepared for such a situation.

Other players can help fill Bowers’ role, too.

“The plays that you design, guys, I think y’all think of them as 'Brock plays.' There are a lot of positions that can be in those spots,” Smart said. “Delp can be in those spots, Dom (Lovett) can be in those spots, Dylan Bell can be in those spots, Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint) can be in those spots. Our offense is not built around one person doing one thing,” Smart said. “It’s built around plug-in, and you can do it in 10 personnel. You can do it in 11 personnel. You can do it in 13 personnel.”

In an interview earlier this year, Delp spoke of the biggest changes he had to handle while becoming acclimated to big-time college football.

The fact he’s some 20 pounds heavier and now plays at approximately 245 hasn’t hurt, either.

"That's just the biggest thing: getting your hands on those big guys and realizing just how much the fundamentals and the little things that Coach (Todd) Hartley teaches us, how much you need those to be successful in the run game," Delp said. "Really just focusing on every play. You can't let the fatigue kind of take away your technique and everything. That's the biggest thing I've been working on, and you have to work on when you're coming to that next level."

Left guard Dylan Fairchild said Delp will not be fazed by what’s ahead while Bowers recovers.

"He'll jump in the air, I mean y'all have seen him do front flips, so he's a really gutsy player,” Smart said. “He does a great job at coming to work every day and trying to get better every single day. That's something he does really well."

But during his Tuesday press conference, Smart continued to stress that Delp will not be asked to do any more than he already has.

Notions that he needs to try to be Bowers in order for Georgia to succeed are balderdash, said Smart.

“I think every offense that is a good offense is that way because if you limit yourself to just one player, we’ve had scenarios and catastrophe plans that are like, ‘What if this happens in a game? What is our answer?’” Smart said. “We went immediately to that answer and said, ‘These are the things we have to do.’ So I’m not going that route on the Oscar Delp thing because Oscar Delp’s got to do what he’s always done, which is to play as hard as he can and play winning football.”