ATHENS — Like it or not, deserved or not, there will be a referendum delivered on Carson Beck and Quinn Ewers after Saturday’s game.
The quarterbacks for Georgia and Texas both are very good. They’re also remarkably similar.
They’re a close match physically, both lead powerhouse football programs and each carried into the season some of the country’s best odds for winning the Heisman Trophy.
As the No. 1 Longhorns (6-0, 2-0 SEC) prepare to host the No. 5 Bulldogs (5-1, 2-1) Saturday at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (7:30 p.m., ABC), Beck generally is thought to be the superior passer and Ewers the better overall athlete. Both have a wealth of experience in big games, and each is surrounded by great athletes and protected by exemplary offensive lines.
When breaking down Saturday’s matchup position-by-position, at quarterback it’s difficult to come to any conclusion other than it’s a “push.”
“I mean, I feel that way,” coach Kirby Smart said after Georgia’s practice Tuesday night. “You don’t have a full quota (for Ewers) because he hasn’t played in every game. But the games he’s played in, they’re very similar in terms of knowledge, understanding of their offense and protections.”
Ewers, a junior, missed two games with an abdominal injury before returning for the Longhorns’ last game against Oklahoma. For the season, he’s averaging 225 yards passing per game on 72.2% completions with nine touchdowns and three interceptions.
Beck’s numbers are 303 per game passing on 67.9% completions for 15 TDs and five interceptions.
Those similarities hold up for the balance of their college careers. Following is a snapshot:
Beck+Category+Ewers
6-4, 215+Ht., wt.+6-3, 206
32+Games+27
20+Starts+26
18-2+Record+20-6
70.2+Comp. pct. (career)+65.4
6,245+Pass yds (career)+6,546
290.2+Pass ypg (starter)+251.8
45-15+TDs-INTs (career)+46-15
Both quarterbacks were major prospects coming out of high school. Ewers was a consensus 5-star recruit when he signed with Ohio State out of Southlake, Texas. He spent a year in Columbus, making only a token appearance in one game, before entering the transfer portal and settling on coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns. Essentially he has been the Texas starter ever since.
“He doesn’t seem like pressure affects him much,” Smart said of Ewers. “He seems like he has really good composure and stands in there. If something goes wrong, they both get you out of a bad play and typically avoid catastrophes. That’s what older quarterbacks do.”
Sarkisian is very familiar with Beck. The coach recruited him when Sarkisian was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Nick Saban at Alabama. Beck was committed to the Crimson Tide for a while.
“Carson Beck I know really well,” Sarkisian this week. “He’s a great young man, military background from his father. He’s big, strong kid, can make all the throws. He’s got a real presence in the pocket. There’s nothing in the throwing game that he really can’t do. And he’s played a lot of football now, too. It’s kind of hard to confuse guys when they’ve played that much football.”
Both quarterbacks have had challenges to overcome this season. For Ewers, it has been the injury and the presence of one of the more talented backup quarterbacks in the country. Sophomore Arch Manning has been incredibly impressive in four games this season, completing 70.5% of his passes for 901 yards, nine TDs and two interceptions while adding 82 yards rushing and three scores, including a 67-yarder.
Ewers got off to a slow start in the first game back Saturday against Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry in Dallas. The first pass he threw in 28 days was intercepted. He finished with 199 yards on 20-of-29 passing in the 34-3 victory.
“It was definitely tough because, throughout the week, you don’t have live bullets flying at you,” Ewers said. “The speed of the game is just not the same in practice, even though you try to emulate it as best you can. I’m not going to belabor the point, but I don’t think I played as well as I needed to for the standard.”
Beck echoed those sentiments. Even though he passed for a career-best 459 yards Saturday and tied a school record with 36 completions, he also threw two interceptions.
“It is what it is. Oh, well,” Beck said after Georgia’s 41-31 win over Mississippi State. “The first one gets tipped up in the air. The second one was whatever. You keep playing. You throw the ball almost 50 times a game, things are gonna happen. Balls are gonna get batted in the air, guys are gonna make plays on defense. We’re playing in the SEC.”
It’s upon close inspection of the teams’ respective opponents where the discussion of Saturday’s quarterbacks gets interesting. The Texas defense hasn’t faced any team that throws the football nearly as effectively as Beck and Georgia. The best passing team the Longhorns have met so far was Texas-San Antonio, which ranks 45th nationally in passing. Otherwise, they’ve faced two freshman starters and backups in two other games.
By the same token, Georgia’s secondary has looked extremely vulnerable this season. The Bulldogs allowed seven explosive plays to Mississippi State, which was playing with a freshman quarterback. Georgia’s secondary also was badly victimized in a 41-34 loss to No. 4 Alabama, whose 374 yards passing included a 75-yard touchdown pass.
Meanwhile, both teams could down a receiver or two. Georgia has lost two split ends this season to a dismissal and a suspension in Rara Thomas and Colbie Young.
Meanwhile, Texas star wideout Isaiah Bond was considered questionable with an ankle injury as of Wednesday. The Longhorns’ leading receiver (21-369-3) victimized the Bulldogs with five catches for 79 yards while playing for Alabama in the 2023 SEC Championship game in December.
“Thankfully at the University of Georgia we go against great offenses every single day,” Bulldogs safety Dan Jackson said. “With the skill players and quarterback that we have, I have complete confidence in our defense. I know our coaches will have a great game plan for us. We just need to go out and execute.”
Both sides were extremely complimentary of the other heading into Saturday’s contest.
“Carson Beck is somebody you have to be ready and dialed in for,” Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron said. “He’s amazing. He does a lot of great things as a quarterback on this level.”
Said Smart of Ewers: “Him and Carson are so similar in terms of the kind of quarterbacks they are. They’re both better athletes than people think, they both have awareness of coverage and they’re really good in the pocket. This guy’s taking off and hurting people running when he needs to, but he also can stand in the pocket and make all the throws and change the protection. So, I’ve been really impressed.”
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