Carson Beck injury update: Kirby Smart offers latest on Georgia QB ahead of College Football Playoff

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart provided a couched update on the status of Carson Beck after the Bulldogs’ senior starting quarterback was knocked out of Saturday’s SEC Championship game on the final play of the first half.

“He did have an MRI this morning and we should get the results here in the next few hours,” Smart said Sunday afternoon during an appearance on ESPN’s College Football Playoff Selection Show. “We just had a team meeting and he was there for the team meeting. But we don’t know much more than we knew last night as of right now, but we should be finding something out here soon.”

Beck suffered an “upper extremity injury” to his throwing arm in the final seconds of the first half of Saturday’s 22-19 overtime win over Texas in the SEC Championship Game. The injury occured when Longhorns pass rusher Trey Moore clipped Beck’s right arm while in its throwing motion, forcing a fumble that the Bulldogs ultimately recovered to end the half.

Beck, who ESPN cameras later spotted telling fellow UGA quarterback Ryan Puglisi “it’s bad” while pointing to his right elbow, would notably return for what became the game’s final play — a four-yard touchdown run by Trevor Etienne — after backup Gunner Stockton lost his helmet on the prior play.

Smart explains decision to put Beck in for final snap

The SEC Championship Game ended up testing Georgia‘s depth, particularly at the quarterback position. Even in the final play of the game, Smart was forced to make a quick and difficult decision at the quarterback position.

On the Bulldogs’ first overtime series, after Stockton was forced to leave the field after losing his helmet on a nasty hit that was initially ruled targeting but overturned upon review, Smart turned back to Beck, who handed the ball off for the game-winning score.

Following the game, Smart explained his thought process in that final sequence and why he chose to put Beck into the game despite his injury.

“No. I can’t remember what game it was this year,” Kirby Smart said. “We had a targeting somewhere where the helmet came off and the officials came over and told us that the kid could stay in if it was confirmed targeting and he had to come out if it wasn’t. And so it immediately came to my mind, when it happened with Gunner, I just assumed he’d be able to stay in because I thought I was gonna be targeting, and then I saw the replay and realized he led with his shoulder and we were gonna have to take a snap with another quarterback, which we were prepared to put Ryan Puglisi in, and he knows the system. He knows what to do. But we felt like, once the offensive coach called and said, Carson can take a snap, it’s not an issue.”