ATHENS — Georgia quarterback Carson Beck confirmed he can solve Rubik’s Cube in under a minute, but it took him and his teammates nearly all 60 minutes of Saturday’s game with Missouri to figure out how tame the Tigers.
Beck knew what he was in for against the aggressive Missouri front on Saturday but appeared to remain unfazed.
“You get hit in football, it’s part of it,” said Beck, who was sacked three times in the Bulldogs’ 30-21 win over the upset-minded Tigers on Saturday. “(You) just stand back up and play the next play.”
Georgia (9-0, 6-0 SEC) took firm control of the East Division with the victory over Missouri (7-2, 3-2) and can clinch a spot in the SEC Championship Game with a win over Ole Miss next Saturday in Sanford Stadium.
Beck and the Bulldogs knew the Tigers would be ready for battle after UGA narrowly escaped Columbia last season with a 26-22 victory.
There were five lead changes in the contest, with Georgia only narrowly out-gaining Missouri, 385-363 yards.
Beck showed his cool composure throughout a 21-of-32, 254-yard passing performance -- that included two third-quarter touchdown drives and completions on 11 of 14 throws in the second half.
Beck, not known for his running ability, also had two key scrambles on a clutch scoring drive, picking up a first down on third-and-3 at the UGA 40.
“The conversions he had with his feet,” Coach Kirby Smart explained, “it makes you as a defensive coordinator not want to call certain things. It takes you out of your element.”
Beck, who sat most all of his first three seasons in Athens, admitted he’s still getting a feel for such things.
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“I’m kind of re-learning how to play football, I haven’t played in so long ….. the past four years I don’t ever get hit, so avoiding the rush and knowing when to get the ball out, and when to try to run,” Beck said.
“There’s so many things that come with playing the position of quarterback, it’s kind of a feel thing.
As we’re nine games into the season, now it’s starting to develop more and more.”
The Georgia football team, Beck acknowledged, has indeed taken on his personality.
There have been no signs of panic for the top-ranked Bulldogs, even as they have trailed in five of their six SEC games this season.
“We are a very composed team and we are resilient,” Beck said. “I think we’ve shown that at this point of the season, and we stand on that. Those are some of our four pillars , we have resiliency, toughness, connection …. when you practice those things they end up showing up in games.”