Carson Beck tried his best to downplay the significance of Georgia’s Sept. 28 game against Alabama.
The Bulldogs play a loaded schedule this season and with games against Texas, Clemson, Florida and Ole Miss, Georgia can’t put an added emphasis on one game.
Even if the game will go a long way in shaping how Beck is viewed.
“The preparation factor is the same each and every week,” Beck said. “Nothing really changes from that standpoint, just where you’re playing at. Whether you’re at home, Bryant-Denny, it could literally be anywhere. But the preparation factor doesn’t change. Super excited to get to play in those types of atmospheres.”
Beck was largely flawless in his first season as a starter. It’s a big reason why Beck was voted as the First Team All-SEC quarterback this past week. He accounted for 28 touchdowns and threw for 3,941 yards. He’s expected to build off those numbers this season.
He’ll need to do so, as his lone loss last season as a starter showed.
Against Alabama in the SEC championship game, the Bulldogs were held to a season-low 24 points. Entering the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs had just 10 points. Beck was able to rally Georgia to score touchdowns on their final two offensive possessions.
But Beck was held without a touchdown pass in the game. And while the loss isn’t all on his shoulders, it was far from a stellar performance.
Beck has said in a number of interviews he knew shortly after that loss to Alabama that he was coming back to Georgia. He could’ve declared for the NFL draft.
But instead, he bet on himself to improve. And get another shot at Alabama.
“Look at the failure rate in the NFL,” former Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “And I think the failure rate is what it is because guys go there early, they’re not really ready, if you get drafted really high first pick or whatever, you play before you’re ready. You get frustrated, you lose your confidence. So the best place for a quarterback to develop is actually in college because he is playing.”
Saban knows Beck better than most opposing coaches. At one point during the recruiting process, Beck committed to play for Alabama and Saban.
But Alabama ended up with Bryce Young in the 2020 recruiting cycle and Beck ended up at Georgia.
“I’d say I have a great relationship with Coach Saban, obviously one of the best if not the best college coaches of all time,” Beck said. “His demeanor, the way he approaches the game, his intelligence level towards football, the respect that he demands from his players. I think we had a great relationship.”
Beck went 0-1 in his career against Saban as a starting quarterback. When he takes the field against Alabama on Sept. 28, he’ll face off against Kalen DeBoer and company.
While Beck would’ve loved to take down Alabama with Saban there, a win on Sept. 28 will be just as sweet for the Georgia quarterback.
“Yeah, for me I like to put my focus on the team around me and focus on what’s actually important,” Beck said. “When you focus on the team and you really put other people before yourself and you are selfless it kind of takes all that outside noise and pressure of these individual awards and individual statistics and it puts it on, okay, let’s win this week and let’s win the next week and so on, so forth, and when those things happen and you can focus on the team and everybody on the team is on that same mindset, that’s when those individual kind of awards start to happen.”
Beck has lofty goals entering this season. Beating Alabama is on the list, just as beating Tennessee Tech, Mississippi State and UMass are as well. Beck could very well be the No. 1 overall pick next fall, becoming the first Georgia quarterback since Matthew Stafford to go that high.
Stafford is also the last quarterback to beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa. That came all the way back in 2007. It also happened to be during Saban’s first year at Alabama.
Stafford wasn’t the No. 1 overall pick because of that win, just like Beck will won’t be the top pick regardless of the events on Sept. 28.
But as of right now, Beck’s prior performance against Alabama has given critics the ammunition they need to doubt Beck and the Bulldogs. It wasn’t his best performance and he knows that.
While Beck has garnered plenty of attention off the field this offseason, how last year ended has stuck with him. It’s why he’s unconcerned with his video game ranking or what others have to say about his automobiles.
“I think I’m more than capable,” Beck said. “I’m ready for that. I think over my time at the University of Georgia, growing into that, I’m now in the position to be able to step into that and take into that leadership role and deal with everything that comes with that.”
Beck and head coach Kirby Smart downplayed any idea that the loss to Alabama has some motivating factor for Georgia this season. You can understand why they’d do that as it runs against the idea that any one game — past, present or future — carries more weight than any other.
But there’s too much history, for Beck, Smart, Saban, Alabama and Georgia to completely ignore the 2023 SEC Championship Game when it comes to Beck.
Beck likely knows that and embraces it. It’s what makes this year’s game against Alabama all the more worth watching for the Georgia quarterback.
“I’ve always watched these guys that you have relationships with and you’re really proud of how they do and how they develop,” Saban said. “But I think there’s more guys at this position that need to stay put and develop in the system that they’re in because I think in the long run, that’ll help them the most.”
