What's Going on with UGA Football's Carson Beck?
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ATHENS - If feels like UGA football is at an important moment - specifically quarterback Carson Beck.
In three of the biggest games of the year for the Dawgs - at Alabama, at Texas and against the Gators - Beck threw nine interceptions and lost a fumble. Beck came into his 2023 throwing eight interceptions in his career - total.
And yet Georgia won two of those games by double digits. The other was lost on the final play of the game thanks to a pick from Beck.
The headline here are the mistakes.
“You've got to make good decisions,” Kirby told reporters Monday. “You've got to be willing to concede a down and move on, especially when it's first down.”
The ninth-year head coach went on to say that Beck made “winning decisions” in 68 out of 73 plays against the Gators.
“He did the right thing and made some really, really elite plays and throws within the game,” Kirby said. “So, it's cutting down on the catastrophic things.”
Couple of things…
(It has to be said that most games are decided with by a handful of plays - we just on’t know which ones they are beforehand.)
First of all Beck’s interceptions have not been as bad as they could have been. Consider this: Beck had ten total turnovers against Bama, Texas and the Gators… those ten turnovers resulted in only 24 points.
They could have resulted in 70. So Georgia’s defense has been so good that they have made Beck’s “catastrophic” turnovers more catastrophic-adjacent than anything else. It is very possible or even probable that we don’t appreciate how good Georgia’s sudden-change defense is.
Secondly, I feel like I have to say this: Beck does have a problem right now. Here’s what he said to reporters after the game in Jacksonville….
“It would be stupid to say I am not frustrated,” Beck admitted. “I have emotions - as much as it might not seem like it sometimes. I get frustrated. I am mad, but the best way I can be for the team is to move on, and throw it into the trash and leave it in the past. There is nothing I can do.”
“You have to see the positive in negative situations - and that’s hard sometimes - especially in the heat of the moment.”
That’s true. It is very simple: If Beck clears up his turnovers, which he is more than capable of, Georgia is the best team in the country. If he doesn’t they won’t win it all with a team that could or even should - and that would be twice in two years that’s been the case. It would be for different reasons, but it would twice in two years nonetheless.
And that’s the hard part for Beck - UGA fans are hard on their quarterbacks - particularly when there are expectations involved. JT Daniels never held the burden of disappointing Georgia fans - he got hurt, and all of the trial-by-fire he would have gotten was sent directly to Stetson Bennett, who lived in fan purgatory his entire career save the TCU game. Fans nearly fired Jake Fromm after LSU in 2018. D.J. Shockley after Florida in 2002 deal with it until he was the starter in 2005. David Greene got the ire whenever D.J. was his backup, which was each year he was in Athens save 2001.
Aaron Murray probably got this more than any quarterback I can remember. People threw eggs at his place back in the day.
Eggs.
Scrambled, over easy, boiled, poached or fried... this is what Beck signed up for. This is the life he’s chosen. No one asks: “But are you cool with cleaning eggs off the side of your house?” Before you are the starter at UGA.
They probably should, but that’s what this is. That’s what the accolades are for. Quite frankly, that’s what the money is for. Beck is a big boy - he certainly understands the situation he’s in right now.
“It comes down to me at the end of the day,” Beck said. “I have to be better.”
At least he’s handling this in a way many adults could learn from - accepting responsibility for his mistake(s).
The expectation was that Beck would be a possible No. 1 overall NFL pick; that UGA would be the top team in college football - and that both of those things would be evident on the field. That’s not been the case. But you can not shrink from difficult times if you aspire to be great. Winning a national title is difficult - have Stetson tell you about his time between the two Alabama games in 2021. Hell, have him tell you about everything leading to the final quarter of that year.
This is not easy or simple.
So here comes the Ole Miss game - a massive opportunity for Georgia to all but wrap up its birth in the College Football Playoff. A loss? The game against Tennessee would pretty much be a do-or-die situation for the Dawgs.
All Beck has to do is play the way he’s capable of - nothing more or less - and Georgia will fly on by.
“We really didn’t get stopped unless I turned the ball over,” Beck said with a laugh. “Which is a good thing for our offense, but a bad thing for me.”