It didn’t take Georgia coach Kirby Smart very long after Georgia’s second scrimmage of preseason camp to break some news.
Maybe not earth-shattering news, since it already seemed quarterback Carson Beck was destined for the starting spot given he played the most behind starter Stetson Bennett last season. Still, though, the mystery has been set to rest – Beck will start at quarterback for the Bulldogs when they open the season Sept. 2 against Tennessee-Martin, Smart said Saturday afternoon.
Beck, a junior from Jacksonville, Florida, has competed against Brock Vandagriff and Gunner Stockton for the job to replace Bennett, who helped lead Georgia to the past two national championships. Last season, Beck played in seven games, completing 26 of 35 passes for 310 yards and four touchdowns.
Beck having more experience in the offense played the biggest role in him nabbing the starting role, Smart said Saturday.
“That’s the greatest separator in the quarterbacks; it’s the comfort level with the offense and having the extra spring and extra fall that those two guys don’t have,” Smart said. “That rep volume is kind of the separator. He’s had the ability to understand when the defense is doing this, or they’re in this, I need the answer. He’s had good answers. ... We have a lot of volume on our defense, and we throw it at them. We have a lot of volume on our offense, and we throw it at them.
“It’s challenging, and (Beck) can handle that really well. When you get down to a game plan week and say well, we’re going take this 65% of our offense and our defense only really does so much, you’re not asking the quarterback to make as many decisions. But (Beck) is very knowledgeable, very intelligent, one of the smartest quarterbacks I’ve been around when it comes to handling the volume of offense we want him to do.”
Even though Beck will start, Smart did mention multiple times he was impressed by the progress and development that Vandagriff and Stockton have shown in camp and said he thinks Georgia can play winning football with all three guys. Vandagriff is a sophomore and played in wins versus Samford, South Carolina and Vanderbilt last season, and Stockton is a redshirt freshman.
“They both have made plays, they’ve made plays with their feet and they’ve made good checks,” Smart said. “They’ve made mistakes, and they’ve made good decisions. I have complete confidence we can win football games with both those guys. (Beck) is just ahead of them right now. I want to continue to grow both those guys, and they’re like sponges. They soak it up, they’re getting it, they understand, they know where to go with the ball, and they’ve done some good things.
“It’s the few plays where things brings down or a guy doesn’t do things with them. If another offensive player doesn’t do the right thing, a little bit of panic mode sets in, and they’ve got to learn to give up on a play sometimes and not make it spectacular, just play for the next down.”
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