ATHENS — Carson Beck understandably doesn’t have a lot of fond memories from the first time Georgia and Texas met.
On a personal level, he threw three interceptions in the 30-15 win. The game was also marred by Texas fans throwing garbage on the field in protest of a call made by the officials.
Now, Beck will get a second shot at not just playing better against Texas, but leading Georgia to an SEC Championship game win.
“It means everything for me personally,” Beck said. “I can speak for me. Having gone through the adversity that we’ve gone through this year and everything not being perfect or exactly the way we want it to be and still being in this moment and still being presented this opportunity to go play in this game and go win a SEC Championship.”
On the season, no SEC quarterback has thrown more touchdowns than Beck’s 28. He also leads the league in interceptions with 12.
Beck has also been plagued by drops, with Georgia leading the country with 36. The next closet SEC team, per Sports Info Solutions, is Ole Miss with 24.
With no Brock Bowers or Ladd McConkey — who ranked first and second among NFL rookies in receiving yards — Beck has at times felt he put more on his shoulders than need be.
“There’s just some situations where maybe I was trying to force the ball when it didn’t need to, and maybe trying to make plays when they weren’t there. And I think that’s one thing that I’ve really improved on as we’ve gotten into this kind of later half of the season, is not trying to do too much and just playing within myself and playing within the offense.
“There’s three downs to get a first down for a reason. You don’t have to try to get it all in one play, and I think I’ve done a better job at that in this second half of the season.”
Beck has admittedly been hard on himself this season and done his best not to let his frustrations boil over. Georgia coach Kirby Smart has noted a consistent and level-head player who is doing his best to elevate his teammates.
“Carson’s very consistent in his thought process, his makeup, his process,” Smart said. “You have to judge whether he’s consistent on the field because I think he has been. I think people judge it on stats. They don’t judge it on what we see. The day-in, day-out process-oriented of what he’s going through and what he’s doing for the offense has been very consistent.”
Georgia still found a way to beat Texas, in large part because of the success it found with Trevor Etienne and how Georgia was able to take advantage of short fields. The Bulldogs forced four turnovers in the win over Texas.
But Beck has been without Etienne for the last three games as the Georgia running back deals with a rib injury. Injuries and absences at the skill positions around Beck have put more on his plate this season.
For a quarterback whose every pass and facial expression is studied, it puts Beck under a microscope.
“If you show some type of emotion, people will take it and run with it,” Malaki Starks said of Beck. “And he does a great job as one of the leaders on the team of just trying to stay level-headed and keep everybody on the same page. So, you know, that is true, he’s very level-headed.”
Saturday won’t just be Beck’s second game against Texas but also his second start in the SEC Championship game. Last year, Beck was not at his best with Bowers and McConkey hobbled due to injury.
This game against Texas offers Beck the chance to further reshape the narrative around him. He’s thrown for 11 touchdowns and no interceptions in Georgia’s last three games.
He’ll have the ability to emerge from this game as a champion, of at least the SEC. And with a strong game, that is hopefully for Beck what will be remembered about him.
“Here we are in this position with everything that we want in front of us, and I know the guys are excited, I’m excited. And even though it hasn’t gone exactly how we want it to, we’re exactly where we want to be. So, no, we’re just really excited for this opportunity and the rest of the season looking forward.”
