ATHENS – Quarterback Carson Beck is in line to get his first career start for the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday.
At least that’s the expectation of a small group of people in northeast Florida. Count Bob Ramsey among them. He was Beck’s coach at Mandarin High School in Jacksonville, and the word he’s been getting, through friends and family of his former pupil is that Beck will start.
Chris Beck has heard that, too. But he has no idea. A former linebacker at the U.S. Naval Academy, Beck had been hearing all week that his son might start against Alabama-Birmingham (1-0) in the Bulldogs’ home opener at Sanford Stadium (3:30 p.m., ESPN2). But then he said Friday morning that he heard that Georgia has decided it’s going to start Stetson Bennett, a fifth-year senior who started five games last season.
Meanwhile, Bennett’s father said he’s pretty sure that JT Daniels is going to play. Daniels, a junior who has started the past five games for the Bulldogs, is dealing with what has been described as a mostly-minor upper-body injury.
Teammates said Daniels practiced and took snaps with the No. 1 offense Wednesday, but little else is known about his availability.
About all this, Georgia coach Kirby Smart said absolutely nothing. Reports of Daniels allegedly dealing with an alleged oblique muscle strain did not surface until after Smart’s media responsibilities were exhausted Wednesday. Smart did not address the Bulldogs’ quarterbacks on his Thursday night radio show.
So, in the words that college coaches so love to utter, “we’ll see Saturday.”
If nothing else, it appears quite likely that we will see Beck in the game, whether it’s as the starter or as Daniels’ backup. Somewhat uncharacteristically, Smart has declared that the role of QB2 belongs to Beck, a redshirt freshman.
“Carson’s been our No. 2 quarterback,” Smart said after the Bulldogs’ practice Tuesday. “He’s worked with the 2′s and has worked a lot there, taken a lot of reps. Stetson still gets some reps from time-to-time, but he’s got a lot of banked reps, so we ask him to do a lot of things mentally to be prepared and ready to go.”
Regardless of how it plays out, it should be encouraging for Georgia that Beck has asserted himself in his second year with the program. Beck signed with UGA in 2020 as a somewhat polarizing recruit.
While he arrived as a 4-star prospect, that actually came after he achieved 5-star status as a high school junior who led Mandarin to its first state championship in school history. The demotion was because Beck’s numbers dropped significantly his senior year. But the primary reason for that was he lost almost every starter around him to graduation, including several who signed college scholarships.
Meanwhile, Beck was somewhat controversial as a recruit. He once was committed to Florida, but for a baseball scholarship. Later, he committed to Alabama in football. Finally, he committed to Georgia after his junior season, only to be ridiculed later by the Bulldogs’ rivals as his recruiting ranking plummeted. He was 247Sports’ 248th-ranked national prospect by the time he entered UGA as an early enrollee in 2020.
“Like everybody else, I don’t think the pandemic did him any favors,” said Ramsay, who stays in close touch with Beck. “He didn’t get a spring practice and didn’t get a lot of opportunities. But I told him, ‘if you’re going to get an opportunity, it’s going to be because of what you do in practice.’ And I think he took that to heart.”
Ramsay said Beck has experienced tremendous growth since the 2020 season ended. Most important, he said, Beck has settled in and started to really enjoy attending UGA. Simultaneously, Ramsey said Beck has been a grinder in the film room and in practice. He’s actually become quite close to Daniels as a fellow student of the game.
At 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, that has allowed Beck’s athletic gifts to shine through.
“When I’ve talked to him he just seems really happy,” Ramsay said. “He likes it there, which I think is really important. I don’t think people take that into account enough, guys just liking the school that they’re at. Taking that into consideration, I’ve just felt all along he was in a good place.”
Georgia fans aren’t as hysterical as they would normally be with the quarterback situation up in the air days leading to a game. To start with, whatever injury Daniels is dealing with, there is no indication that it is a serious one that would require surgery or even multiple weeks of healing and rehabilitation.
And this week’s opponent being UAB doesn’t strike much fear in the hearts of the Bulldog Nation. Despite Smart’s protestations that the Blazers (1-0) are a dangerous team bent on scoring a major upset for Conference USA, confidence that Georgia will emerge victorious is at an all-time high. Las Vegas bookies seem to agree, posting the Bulldogs as a 24½-point favorite.
There is, however, the matter of Georgia failing to score an offensive touchdown and managing only 235 yards against Clemson. And the Bulldogs continue to be decimated with injuries at wide receiver.
But those that know Beck best insist he’ll be ready and capable of handling whatever scenario awaits him Saturday. He has been preparing for this moment a long time.
“Carson’s a winner; he can ball,” said Chris Beck, who will be at the game with Carson’s mother, Tracy, and 16-year-old sister Kylie. “When you see Carson smiling and having fun and enjoying himself and knowing what’s going on, stand by because it’s about to get good.”
Said Ramsay: “I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts. I’ve always felt Carson had all the tools he needed to be a big-time quarterback. It’s always been about getting an opportunity because there’s so much competition at a place like Georgia. Now it looks like he’s going to get an opportunity. I sent him a text message yesterday telling him I feel like he’s going to do really well Saturday.”
Whether that’s as a starter or as a backup, it sounds like we’ll find out.
