Booger McFarland diagnoses Carson Beck's struggles, reveals how Georgia QB can bounce back

After Georgia faced two Top-20 opponents over its last three games, Carson Beck’s struggles became a major storyline. The Bulldogs QB has thrown seven interceptions during that time and taken multiple sacks, and ESPN’s Booger McFarland diagnosed the issues.

At halftime of Saturday’s Texas at Arkansas game, McFarland pointed out the importance of Georgia’s offensive line. That was on display in last week’s loss to Ole Miss as the Rebels sacked Beck five times en route to the upset victory in Oxford.

As Georgia gets ready to take on a strong Tennessee pass rush Saturday night, McFarland said it’s paramount the Bulldogs protect Beck. If they do, he’ll have an opportunity to turn things around, as is the case with any quarterback who has time.

“When you look at this game specifically, Kev, the key to this game is really simple,” McFarland told Kevin Negandhi. “It’s going to be the big guys up front – the guys that look like me, thin ankles, they’ve got a six-pack and they’re called the defensive line. They get after the quarterback. Tennessee’s going to play seven, eight, nine defensive linemen, led by James Pearce Jr., who’s a top-50 player in America.

“Can they get after Carson Beck and make him uncomfortable in the pocket? Because we saw Ole Miss do the same thing last week, and they did it against this Georgia offensive line. They gave up five sacks last week. People continue to say, Carson Beck isn’t playing well. Well, guess what, Kev? Joe Montana couldn’t play well if he didn’t have time behind an offensive line. The Georgia offensive line has to play well to give Carson Beck an opportunity to play better.”

Booger McFarland weighs expectations for Carson Beck

After an impressive first season as Georgia’s tarter last year, Carson Beck was generating some Heisman Trophy and NFL Draft buzz. He entered the year as one of the top quarterbacks eligible for the draft, with some wondering if he could be the top QB selected.

But amid his struggles, that conversation appears to be shifting. Booger McFarland wondered if those expectations are playing a role in Beck’s up-and-down season and encouraged him to get back to a simple game plan – a similar conversation to the one around Patrick Mahomes.

“I think he misses Brock Bowers, he misses Ladd McConkey,” McFarland said. “That’s No. 1. No. 2, the expectations of where he started the season. Top pick in the draft, can you live up to that? When you don’t put up the numbers – because let’s face it, these kids all check Twitter, ‘Hey, what is everybody saying about me?’ So the expectations have put some pressure on him. You’re leading Georgia, Georgia’s supposed to beat everybody by 30. So there’s those expectations.

“At some point, just be a game manager. What do we say about Patrick Mahomes? ‘It doesn’t matter what the stats are. Just win the ballgame.’ Check it down, throw it to the tight end, throw it to the back. He’s got to get back to playing football the way he did last year. If he can do that, they can beat anybody. But this Carson Beck that we’ve seen the last three or four weeks, they can’t do that.”