ATHENS — Georgia quarterback Carson Beck is reportedly dealing with a UCL injury in his elbow, according to Pete Nakos of On3 and Zach Klein from WSB.
His status for the Sugar Bowl is uncertain at the moment as he seeks a second opinion.
Beck suffered the injury on the final play of the first half of the SEC Championship game. He was assisted by Gerogia staff off the field after remaining on the ground. Beck returned for the final play in overtime, where he handed the ball off to Trevor Etienne for a game-winning 4-yard touchdown.
Georgia has not yet shared anything official when it comes to Beck. The school confirmed he had an MRI on Sunday, and Smart shared what he had seen from Beck in a team meeting.
“I think he was pretty somber,” Smart said. “A tough deal for him in terms of not being able to go out there and finish in the second half. But he’s also excited for his teammates and happy that it ended the way it did, and ironically he got to be on the field for that.”
Beck threw for an SEC-best 28 touchdowns this season and 3,485 yards. He also had 12 interceptions, which led the SEC.
Beck has another year of eligibility remaining due to the COVID-19 season. It remains to be seen if he will use it or if he will declare for the 2025 NFL Draft. He is viewed as a potential first round pick but is not viewed as someone expected to go at the very top of the draft.
Beck has started every game for Georgia over the past two seasons, with a 24-3 record.
With Beck potentially out, backup Gunner Stockton would take over as the starter. Stockton took over in the second half against Texas and finished with 71 passing yards on 16 attempts. He added 8 rushing yards, picking up a key first down in overtime. Stockton’s helmet was knocked off during the penultimate play of the game, forcing him to the sideline. When questioned if Stockton was injured on the play, Smart has repeatedly said that Stockton was “fine” after the hit to the head.
“There’s not a game we don’t go into that we don’t have a plan for Gunner if he were to have to play,” Smart said. “I mean, when he’s your backup quarterback. He’s got to be ready to play, but he functions and operates really well within our current offense. We don’t think we have to change much in terms of that. He does give us the capability of doing some different things with his athleticism, and I thought Mike and those guys did a good job using that.
“The team has a lot of confidence in Gunner. He’s very smart, very intelligent. So I don’t know that it’s a lot of change. It’s probably more picking the volume correctly in terms of not having everything that we have with Carson but having things that fit Gunner.”
If Stockton were to start in the Sugar Bowl, it would be the first start of his college.
Georgia have time to further prep Stockton, as it does not play again until New Year’s Day. The Bulldogs will face the winner of the Notre Dame-Indiana first-round game on Dec. 20.
“This situation does give you time if that’s what has to happen,” Smart said. “I mean, there is time there. But, I mean, experience is so valuable, and you can’t really get experience in this amount of time. I wish he’d gotten more game experience up to this point in time. There’s not a lot we can do about that right now, so we’re just waiting to find out more information.”
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