Carson Beck: The long, complicated road that led former Georgia QB to Miami

The last time a Georgia staffer publicly spoke about Carson Beck, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo did so in a complimentary way.

“I think he (Ryan Puglisi) had a great role model when he came in last year,” Bobo said before the Sugar Bowl. “Carson (Beck) did a great job of mentoring him and teaching him.”

After his performance against Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl, it’s more than fair to give Beck his flowers, as hard as that might be for some associated with Georgia.

Beck is on the verge of winning a national championship after lifting Miami to a 31-27 win in its College Football Playoff semifinal. He scored the game-clinching touchdown after engineering a 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter. He did what Georgia could not do only a week before.

Beck has been there before, though only as a backup in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, when he was playing for Georgia.

He spent five seasons in Athens, and there were plenty of ups and downs during that time, as he went 24-3 as Georgia’s starting quarterback. In his last game as a Bulldog, he walked off the field after a dramatic overtime win over Texas. Despite having torn a ligament in his elbow, Beck returned to the field to take part in the game-winning touchdown.

But in the span of a month after that, Beck would have surgery, declare for the NFL draft, watch Georgia’s season end, enter the transfer portal and ultimately end up playing for Miami.

Beck left behind a long and complicated legacy in his time at Georgia — one that predates Georgia’s Kirby Smart winning a national championship, something Beck will now try to do on his own.

March 3, 2019: Beck commits to play quarterback at Georgia. Beck was a onetime Alabama commit before committing to play for James Coley, then Georgia’s offensive coordinator.

To put into perspective how long ago that was, George Pickens had not yet played a snap for Georgia, the Bulldogs had zero national championships since 1980 and only two seasons of “Stranger Things” had aired on Netflix.

January 2020: Beck enrolls early at Georgia. He is one of only six Georgia signees in the 2020 class to do so. By comparison, Georgia had 23 of its 27 high school signees in the 2025 recruiting class enroll early.

Beck would end the 2020 recruiting cycle as the No. 254 overall player in the class and the No. 19 quarterback, per the 247Sports Composite ranking.

2020 season: Despite the Bulldogs starting three different quarterbacks, Beck does not play during the 10-game 2020 season. Beck, briefly, shared the Georgia quarterback group with D’Wan Mathis and Jamie Newman.

August 2021: When speaking to reporters before the season, Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken shares that Beck had earned the backup quarterback job. JT Daniels entered the season as the starter for the Bulldogs, having won his first four starts at the end of the 2020 season.

Sept. 11, 2021: Daniels missed Georgia’s game against Alabama-Birmingham because of an oblique injury. However, Georgia starts Stetson Bennett instead of Beck.

It later would come out that Bennett had the better week of practice. It showed up in the game, as Bennett threw five touchdowns on 13 passes.

Beck would make his collegiate debut against the Blazers. He completed four of his 10 pass attempts for 88 yards. Beck threw his first career touchdown in the 56-7 win, but the redshirt freshman quarterback also threw a pick six.

2021 season: Beck appeared in four games, allowing him to redshirt. He was Georgia’s third-string quarterback, playing in games against Alabama-Birmingham, Vanderbilt, Charleston Southern and Georgia Tech. He completed 10 of his 23 pass attempts for 176 yards for two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Jan. 17, 2022: Daniels elects to enter the transfer portal, while Bennett announces he will return to Georgia for another season.

Those moves left Georgia with four scholarship quarterbacks, as Brock Vandagriff and Gunner Stockton also were with the program at that point in time.

2022 season: Beck cements himself as Georgia’s backup. He appears in seven games, completing 26 of his 35 pass attempts for 310 yards and four touchdowns.

His best performance came in a win over Vanderbilt, as he completed eight of his 11 pass attempts for 98 yards and two touchdowns. Georgia would win another national championship, with Bennett exhausting his eligibility.

Beck is the most experienced quarterback on Georgia’s 2023 roster.

Aug. 19, 2023: Smart, in a rather rare move, publicly names Beck as the team’s starting quarterback.

“Carson Beck is going to be our starting quarterback. He’s done the best job,” Smart said following Georgia’s second scrimmage.

Beck took reps exclusively with Georgia’s first-team offense in the spring game, where he completed 13 of his 18 pass attempts for 210 yards. Vandagriff would ultimately emerge as Beck’s backup quarterback, with Stockton settling in as the third-string quarterback.

Sept. 2, 2023: Beck makes his first collegiate start, leading the Bulldogs to a 48-7 win over Tennessee-Martin. Beck threw for 294 yards in a touchdown in the win.

Sept. 27, 2023: Beck makes his first career road and SEC start, leading Georgia to a comeback win over Auburn. Beck completed 23 of his 33 passes for 313 yards. He threw an interception, but responded by finding Brock Bowers for the game-winning touchdown with less than three minutes remaining.

Dec. 2, 2023: After winning his first 12 games as Georgia’s starter, the Bulldogs suffer their lone defeat of the season in the SEC championship game.

Beck completed 21 of his 29 pass attempts for 243 yards, while adding two rushing touchdowns. Georgia’s top two pass catchers, Bowers and Ladd McConkey, were limited because of injury. Georgia saw starting right tackle Amarius Mims exit the game in the first half with a right ankle injury. Bowers, McConkey and Mims would all be top 35 picks in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Georgia missed the playoff that season before trouncing Florida State in the Orange Bowl. In 13 games, Beck threw for 3,941 yards and 24 touchdowns to just six interceptions.

Dec. 18, 2023: Beck announces he will be returning to Georgia for his fifth season, bypassing the NFL draft.

The announcement came on the same day Georgia saw five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola flip his commitment from Georgia to Nebraska. The Bulldogs also saw Vandagriff enter the transfer portal. He ultimately ended up at Kentucky after spending three seasons with UGA.

With Vandagriff gone, Stockton ascended to the role of backup quarterback for the Orange Bowl. He completed six of his 10 pass attempts for 96 yards and two touchdowns against the Seminoles.

February 2024: Beck acquires a Lamborghini Urus Performante.

Beck would defend the decision in a March news conference.

“I like cars. I got a car. That’s really all it is,” Beck said. “Obviously a lot of people are going to look at it and say what a terrible decision, what a terrible choice with his money. But it’s just a car at the end of the day. It’s not too big of a deal. I just drive it around.”

In February 2025, the Lamborghini and a Mercedes were reported stolen from Beck’s home in Miami.

Aug. 31, 2024: Beck enters the season with plenty of hype, with some draft analysts touting him as the No. 1 overall pick.

He leads Georgia to a 34-3 thrashing of No. 14 Clemson. Beck was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his play, as he completed 23 of his 33 pass attempts for 278 yards and two touchdowns.

Sept. 28, 2024: Beck loses again to Alabama, throwing three interceptions in the loss, while also fumbling for a fourth turnover.

Georgia trailed 30-7 at halftime before Beck rallied Georgia to a 34-33 lead in the fourth quarter. A Jalen Milroe touchdown pass led to the winning score for Alabama, while Beck’s last pass is intercepted.

Beck completed 27 of his 50 pass attempts for 439 yards and three touchdowns to go with his four turnovers.

Starting with the Alabama game, Beck would throw 12 interceptions over a six-game stretch for Georgia. The Bulldogs would lose again during the regular season, falling to Ole Miss.

Nov. 16, 2024: Beck rebounds after the Ole Miss game, throwing 11 touchdowns and no interceptions in Georgia’s final three regular-season games. He earns a much-needed win over No. 9 Tennessee and leads a comeback from 17-0 down to defeat Georgia Tech in eight overtimes.

Even with a tumultuous offensive season — Georgia ranked 15th in rushing offense and led the country in drops — Beck still leads Georgia into the SEC championship game, where it faced Texas.

Dec. 7, 2024: On the final play of the first half against the Longhorns, Beck is hit by Texas defender Trey Moore as Beck attempts a Hail Mary. The Georgia QB fumbles the ball and remains on the ground after the hit.

Stockton enters the game in the second half, leading Georgia on a touchdown drive to open the third quarter.

The game eventually goes into overtime, where Georgia forces a field goal. Stockton loses his helmet after getting hit by Texas defender Andrew Mukuba and must exit the game.

Beck reenters the game for Georgia, heavily favoring his right arm. Beck is able to take the snap and hand the ball off to Trevor Etienne on the ensuing play. Etienne scores to give Georgia a 22-19 win.

That would prove to be the final snap of Beck’s time at Georgia.

Dec. 9, 2024: Georgia announces that Beck is dealing with an elbow injury and seeking medical options. A timetable for his return is not listed.

Dec. 23, 2024: Beck undergoes UCL surgery to repair a ligament in his elbow. Georgia confirms that his season is over and that a full recovery is anticipated.

Dec. 28, 2024: With Georgia practicing for its College Football Playoff game against Notre Dame, Beck declares for the 2025 NFL draft.

“To coach Smart, coach Bobo and the rest of the coaches who were apart of my tenure at UGA, thank you for your wisdom, your unwavering support, and most importantly the time that you’ve sacrificed pouring into not only me, but the many others who came before and after,” Beck said in an Instagram post that has been deleted. “Thank you for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to lead this team. It’s been a blessing, and I’m forever grateful.”

That same day, Georgia team captain Tate Ratledge offered his thoughts on Beck’s Georgia career.

“I think Carson should be remembered as a great player. I mean, he’s who got us to this point in our season,” Ratledge said. “So him getting hurt, I don’t think should have any effect on his legacy he’s left here. I mean, he’s brought us to two SEC championships. Some could say he won us one. But, I mean, he’s had a tremendous career here. And the guy who waited his turn, had the opportunity to go anywhere in the country and play, and decided to wait his turn here.”

Jan. 2, 2025: Beck is still with the Georgia team as Stockton makes his first career start.

The Bulldogs see their 2024 season end with a 23-10 loss to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl CFP quarterfinals. Stockton completed 20 of his 32 pass attempts for 234 yards and a touchdown. Stockton did have a critical fumble that led to a Notre Dame touchdown just before halftime.