Despite the Georgia Bulldogs being 6-1 and ranking No. 2 in the college AP Top 25 Poll, quarterback Carson Beck has taken some heat for his inconsistent play this season.
Beck logged his worst game of the year thus far in Georgia’s most recent win over the Texas Longhorns, completing 23 of 41 passes for 175 yards.
On Monday coming out of their bye week, head coach Kirby Smart was asked “what is wrong?” with Beck.
Rather than answering the question, Smart stood up for his quarterback.
“Yeah, I don’t answer it, because I don’t think anything’s wrong with him,” Smart said. “He hasn’t played perfect, but nobody does. I’m very comfortable with where Carson is in terms of his leadership, his practice habits, the things we’re asking him to do. I think he’s doing a good job of those.”
Not only has Beck’s completion percentage dropped to 66 percent compared to last season’s 72.6 percent, but he has also thrown eight interceptions.
He threw just six total in 2023.
Of course, Beck isn’t the only one to point fingers at as Georgia’s receivers have dropped several perfect passes and the pass protection hasn’t done their job very well — which Smart has repeatedly said throughout the season.
But ultimately, Smart is taking the blame for Beck’s struggles and says his staff needs to do a better job of coaching.
“We need to coach better, we need to execute better,” Smart said. “We need the people around him to play better. That’s the ownership that a quarterback takes, and I wouldn’t expect him to answer any questions like that any other way.”
The bye week should have given the Bulldogs enough time to get things right ahead of the final stretch of their tough schedule.
Beck and the Dawgs return to action this Saturday when they take on the Florida Gators in Jacksonville.
