ATHENS — Mike Bobo has no problem listing Carson Beck’s strengths.
When speaking to reporters on Thursday, the Georgia offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach routinely pointed to Beck’s composure, accuracy and arm talent as plus attributes. Those were all on display during Beck’s first season as a starter.
Beck and Bobo are back in the lab cooking again for the Georgia offense. But they want to add a newer element to the Georgia offense. One that could make the Georgia quarterback even more potent.
“One area that we addressed in the spring and the beginning of fall camp is the deep ball,” Bobo said. “It’s a lot just giving the guy a chance. Not throwing the ball so far where you don’t have a chance or throwing it out of bounds. Give the guy a chance to make a play. He’s done a better job of that.”
Bobo referenced that anytime Beck completes a long pass during practice, he’ll look to Bobo or analyst Montgomery Van Gorder for reassurance that he’s doing what is needed.
Beck has an acquired confidence he didn’t have a year ago. At this point in 2023, Beck had yet to be named Georgia’s full-time starting quarterback.
He’s since led Georgia to a 13-1 record, accounting for 28 touchdowns and throwing for 3,941 yards.
That experience has given Beck the belief that not only can he play quarterback for Georgia but do it well.
“There’s things he’s got to work on, but he’s a confident young man,” Bobo said. “He’s got to instill that confidence in the players that are around him, and it could be a word to them, it could be putting an arm around them. Just knowing the impact that he has on guys because these young guys that are coming in or the first guy that walks on that field for the first time, they’re looking at a guy in Carson Beck that has done it.”
Beck isn’t afraid to have a go at his fellow coaches, an extension of his confidence. Safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson has come away impressed with Beck’s ability to take and talk trash.
“He does a good job of handling it in the right way,” Robinson said. “And he does a really good job of responding. He makes bad plays, he picks it up and does something different. He’s a talented guy who is going at it and getting after it every single day.”
As for Beck’s deep ball, that will come with more work. Bobo believes the Bulldogs have a skill group around Beck where the Georgia offense can routinely make explosive plays, and not have to rely on connecting 10-play drives consistently.
Whether it be unlocking Arian Smith’s speed, or getting more out of full-time wide receiver Dillon Bell, Beck knows there’s enough around him to where he doesn’t feel the need to make the perfect pass every single time.
“The most important thing is today, and that’s a hard thing to do,” Bobo said. “That’s a hard thing to do for me and I’m 50, but we’ve got a head coach that’s going to stress that daily of the most important thing is our meeting here in a minute with the players, how we go out there in walk-through, how we go out there and do stretch, how we do everything on a day-to-day basis. He’s doing a good job of that.”
Because of all Beck did last season, he comes into 2024 with massive expectations. Be it from the Heisman Trophy to a national championship, Beck could walk away with a lot of hardware this season.
But that all is off in the future. He’ll need to complete a lot of deep passes — along with building off everything else he does well — to get there.
Bobo is confident Beck can do that. Bobo has seen his quarterback continue to improve and play a major role in shaping the entire Georgia offense.
“He’s done it in SEC games, done it on a big stage, and they’re going to look for him for how to act and how to respond,” Bobo said. “What he says and what he does goes a long way in building belief in our football team.”
