ATHENS — While making a video appearance on ESPN’s “College GameDay” ahead of the Notre Dame-Indiana game Friday night, Georgia coach Kirby Smart provided an update on quarterback Carson Beck.
While Smart did not confirm the reports that Beck will miss the entirety of the College Football Playoff, he did share why the quarterback has been away from the team as the Bulldogs continue to prepare for their CFP game in the Sugar Bowl.
“He and his family down in Jacksonville (Florida), his team and staff and really group of people in his family, have been trying to pursue the best options to go forward,” Smart said. “We’ve talked to him. We’ve communicated with him, and we’re hoping for the best.”
Beck suffered an injury to his elbow on the final play of the first half of the SEC Championship game Dec. 7. With Beck unavailable, Gunner Stockton is in line to start in his place. Stockton filled in for Beck in the title game, completing 12 of 16 pass attempts for 71 yards and an interception in the 22-19 win over Texas.
“I think his strengths are somewhat different than Carson’s, obviously, but we’ve known that,” Smart previously said of Stockton. “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 (offensive coordinator) Mike (Bobo) 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.”
Stockton would be making his first career start in the Sugar Bowl, which is set for Jan. 1 and an 8:45 p.m. ET kickoff on ESPN. The Bulldogs have had some time off to help further prepare Stockton and integrate him into the offense.
Georgia will learn who it is playing Friday night, as the Bulldogs face the winner of Indiana-Notre Dame at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. That game is set for an 8 p.m. ET start on ABC.
“Well, we spent most of this week a couple of days on each team,” Smart said about the game between the two playoff foes. “That was very unique for us because we’ve never had two teams to work on. So we did work on each team. We’ll have a lot of recruits in town tonight, and we’ll get to watch the game with some prospects and some of our young midyears that are in town. So I’ll be watching it in enjoyment.”
Notre Dame fans are hoping they get a chance to face the Bulldogs. The fan base made that very clear Friday afternoon.
As the “GameDay” crew was interviewing Smart, with some encouragement from Pat McAfee, Notre Dame fans in attendance were chanting, “We want Georgia” while Smart was listening and waiting for a question.
Smart heard the chants and offered up a rebuttal.
“They gotta worry about their first game first,” Smart said. “That’s for sure. And we’ve got to worry about ourselves, that’s the primary thing we’ve got to do. We’ve got to get better ourselves, and we’ve been working really hard here. Our kids have had a great attitude about practice and I’ve been excited about it.”
Notre Dame is a seven-point favorite against Indiana. Notre Dame is the host for the game because the first-round playoff games are being played on campus.
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