Cam Newton, Stephen A. Smith suggest Georgia could play better without Carson Beck

Georgia quarterback Carson Beck is out for the Sugar Bowl national quarterfinal, per On3’s Pete Nakos, and could miss the entire College Football Playoffs if he opts for surgery to fix a serious elbow injury suffered in the first half of the SEC Championship game earlier this month, according to ESPN.

In Beck’s stead, sophomore quarterback Gunner Stockton will assume the Bulldogs’ QB1 duties in the Sugar Bowl against the winner of Friday night’s first-round Playoff game between No. 7 seed Notre Dame and No. 10 seed Indiana (8:45 pm ET, Jan. 1 on ABC/ESPN).

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And while entering the College Football Playoff without a quarterback that combined for 7,426 passing yards and 52 touchdowns over the last two seasons would be terrifying for most programs, it might be addition by subtraction for No. 2 Georgia.

At least that’s how ESPN First Take personalities Stephen A. Smith and Cam Newton see it.

“I don’t view this as a death knell for Georgia at all,” Smith said on Friday morning’s First Take. “I think this cat Gunner Stockton can come in and make some noise to be quite honest with you. I don’t see it as a negative. Georgia still has a chance.”

Cam Newton: ‘Are they going to be better without Beck?’

Newton, Auburn‘s former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, went a step further in suggesting Beck’s absence could force those around the UGA quarterback to elevate their own play in support of Stockton.

“I’m left with the question: Are they going to be better without Beck? Which forces the role players to play better. The Receivers have to play better. The passing game has to get better. And coming in with Gunner, that’s going to force guys to stand up and make plays,” Newton said Friday. “Defensively, we know what Georgia’s going to be. We know what Kirby is going to get out of those guys, they’re going to attack and stay relentless throughout the whole game. That’s a proven fact. But it goes back to guys standing up and stepping up to the task at hand.”

Stockton certainly stepped up when his number was called in Atlanta, completing 12-of-16 passes for 71 yards in the second half of the SEC Championship game against Texas, guiding the Bulldogs to a 22-19 overtime victory. Stockton also provided Georgia a surprise run threat out of the backfield.

“I was never sold on Beck to begin with. … But, damn, there was a three-game stretch where this brother threw eight interceptions. Back-to-back three-interception games against Texas and Florida, and before that two against Mississippi State. I mean, it was awful,” Smith added. “And it was clearly a precipitous drop from when he walked into the season with the expectations that he had. So for me, I look at him – to be quite honest with you – as somebody that has been somewhat of a hinderance. … I’ve seen too many times where Beck just seemed to wet the bed.”

Smart explains how UGA’s offense changes with Stockton at QB

The good news in Athens is that the Georgia coaching staff has a lot of confidence in its sophomore backup QB.

“He functions and operates really well within our current offense,” Kirby Smart said last week. “We don’t think we have to change much in terms of that. He does give us the capability of doing some different things with his athleticism. I thought Mike (Bobo) and those guys did a good job using that. The team has a lot of confidence in Gunner. He’s very smart, very intelligent.”

Perhaps the biggest change for Stockton as he runs the offense will be the size of the package Georgia puts in for him.

“I don’t know that it’s a lot of change,” Smart said. “It’s probably more picking the volume correctly in terms of not having everything that we have with Carson but having things that fit Gunner.”

Thomas Goldkamp contributed to this report.