Kirby Smart pushes back against idea of Georgia using other QBs in defense of Carson Beck

Kirby Smart pushed back against the idea that he would change quarterbacks from Carson Beck to whoever else on the roster.

Amid Beck’s struggles, the entire Bulldogs’ offense sputtered and Georgia ultimately lost their second game of the year. The loss to Ole Miss showcased a lot of holes in the unit currently.

But Smart stood by Beck and won’t think about guys like backup QB Gunner Stockton.

“Absolutely not,” Smart said. “We got the quarterback we’ve got who’s completely competent, capable and understanding our system, it gives the best chance to win.”

This season, Beck has 2,488 yards, 17 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a 65.4% completion percentage. Beck’s interception total is double from last season, his first as the starter.

Carson Beck still Georgia’s starting QB

Why are they struggling, especially Beck? Smart chalked it up to quality of opponents while acknowledging his guys have to be better as well.

“Well, we played really good defenses,” Smart said of the offensive struggles. “So you guys will look at a stat sheet, and you’ll say, where do they rank? And I’ll say, well, against who, because relative to who we’ve played, we played some really good teams. But I would be remiss if I would say that we’re happy with where we are. We’re not happy with where we are. We played some really, really, really, really good defenses, I think, this year, more than most people in terms of their schedule. And when you look at the in SEC games, the ones that come out of the most SEC versus SEC, and you look at all those, it’s not as glaring as a difference, because there’s some really good defenses in our league in terms of what you play against.”

Smart admitted that Beck and the rest of the offense aren’t up to their regular standard.

“But we want to be more productive,” Smart said. “We want to be able to throw the ball vertical down the field. We want to be able to shoot and play action. Play action ia set up off of your backs and offer your ability to run the ball. In some games, we have been able to run the ball better than others. In some games, we’ve been able to drop back pass better than others. But regardless of those two things, you must protect the ball, and we have not done that.”

Georgia is back in action this weekend at home against Tennessee. It’s a major test for Smart, Beck and the Bulldogs, especially if they want to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.