FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Georgia’s players and coaches notice a difference in Carson Beck, and they believe that’s a very good thing as the No. 6-ranked Bulldogs prepare to take on No. 5 Florida State in the Orange Bowl.
Ten days ago, the Bulldogs’ 6-foot-4, 220-pound junior quarterback finalized a big decision. He told the college football world via social media he intended to return to UGA for his senior season and put off the NFL draft another year.
Since then, Beck finds himself smiling and laughing a little more, walking with a little more pep in his step. There are rumors he also may be delivering the football to his receivers with a little more zip.
“I do feel like it loosened him up,” senior split end Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint said Thursday morning at an Orange Bowl gathering at the Le Meridian Dania Beach hotel. “Now that he knows what he’s doing, his mind’s not as cluttered thinking about whether he should stay or he should go. Now that he’s staying, his mind can lock in on getting his job done first, really, and then whatever happens next.”
Said junior flanker Ladd McConkey: “I’m sure it probably took a little weight off his shoulders. ‘I have my decision (to play in the Orange Bowl); I know what I have to focus on. I don’t have to think about that anymore. Let’s lock in and play this game.’ I’m not saying he wasn’t locked in and focused in the first place; he’s always locked in and ready to go. But I would say there’s a sense of a little relief to have made his decision and have his mind made up. ‘Now, let’s roll.’”
Beck agrees with all that. There were 16 days between the Bulldogs losing to Alabama 27-24 in the SEC Championship game and Beck going public with his decision to play a fifth college football season. In between were meetings with coach Kirby Smart, discussions with his parents and management team and trying to process whatever information Georgia’s coaches were putting in front of him on FSU, an opponent he may or may not be playing against in a bowl game that has nothing to do with the College Football Playoff.
Even when he met with children from the Boys and Girls Club of Athens to buy them Christmas presents in mid-December, Beck’s smiles seemed forced and disappeared quickly when the cameras turned away from him.
“I definitely think that was something heavy on my mind after the (Alabama) game,” Beck said Thursday. “Now that it’s in the past and people aren’t really talking about it, it’s something I don’t have to think about anymore, and I can just lock in and focus on this game and our plan and go out there and just try to execute at the highest level.”
To be sure, Beck’s execution for the Bulldogs has been elite. He arrives at the Orange Bowl needing only 155 yards to set Georgia’s record for most passing yards in a single season. Stetson Bennett owns the current mark of 4,127 in 2022. At 72.43%, Beck is a virtual lock to finish the season with the highest completion percentage in school history.
Nobody could have been sure what the Bulldogs were going to get from the quarterback position in August when Beck entered preseason camp as a first-time starter. Four months later, everybody now knows he’s elite, and he’s coming back for more.
“I think he’s gotten better every week, to me,” Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said. “He’s more experienced now, the more things he goes through as a quarterback, and having to go through a loss. You know, having to feel that sense of failure is good sometimes. Like I told him after that game, ‘the other side of failure is success. You’ve got to pick yourself back up and go back out there.’ He’s had the right mindset, and I think now he’s trusting guys more on our football team since he’s had to deal with so much in-and-out with skill players this year. … I think that’s the biggest thing, him learning to trust who’s out there.”
In the weeks after the regular season ended, Beck said he has reviewed game video daily. He’s gone over every game with a fine-tooth comb, but none more than the SEC Championship game against Alabama.
Beck didn’t play poorly against the Crimson Tide. Far from it actually. He had 243 yards on 21-of-29 passing but failed to get the ball in the end zone through the air. He had a 1-yard rushing touchdown, but was sacked twice after going down only seven times in the previous 12 games.
The fumbled exchange between him and Dillon Bell on a reverse deep in Georgia territory still haunts him.
“I felt like this season was OK,” Beck said Thursday. “I did some good things; I did some bad things. … I set really high expectations for myself and definitely could have done a whole lot better. There were so many opportunities left out on the field, so many decisions where I go back and watch it on film and say, ‘I’ve done that a thousand times, how could I possibly mess that up?’
“So, coming back, I’m just being super tough on myself going into next year. I want to finish strong here but, going into next year, I’m going to be super-critical of myself and home in on the areas I need to improve in.”
Georgia is providing Beck some help. The Bulldogs have brought in from the transfer portal two experienced wideouts in rising junior London Humphreys from Vanderbilt and senior Colbie Young from Miami. They also believe they added a potential All-SEC back in former Florida Gator Trevor Etienne. They will need to replace two starters on the offensive line next year and will be without all-world tight end Brock Bowers, but optimism is already sky high about the potential explosiveness of Georgia’s 2024 offense.
“They definitely talked to me about, ‘hey, we’re going to go into the portal; we’re looking at a few guys,’” Beck said of Georgia’s pitch to him about returning for another season. “Obviously, they didn’t name names at that time, but they did go out and get those guys, and I’m super excited to get play with them next year. … The biggest thing for any quarterback is having those weapons around you.”
For the moment, the Bulldogs’ focus is 100% on the Orange Bowl and doing what they can do to get past an undefeated FSU team whose strongest feature is fielding the ACC’s best defense. Having Beck back in the fold is a big step in assuring they will be able to do that. Having a strong supporting cast around him helps, too.
As of Thursday, the Bulldogs weren’t sure whether Bowers, a three-time All-American, will be available to play. But they know they have McConkey, healthy running backs in Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards and an offensive line that was a finalist for the Joe Moore Award.
Suffice it to say, confidence is high.
“It just creates a lot of confidence and energy for our team,” coach Kirby Smart said of having Beck back. “A lot of the guys around him on offense have more confidence because he’s coming back. And the defensive players know we’re going to have the ability to score points and be explosive.”
Said sophomore linebacker Jalon Walker: “Carson’s a great leader for our team. He makes our offense the best it can be. Those battles in practice are very exciting, two-minute offense, 5-on-4 pass rush, team period. You know, him being around is a lift not just for the offense but for the whole team.”
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