Stephen A Smith, Elle Duncan debate Saturday's importance on Heisman chances for Carson Beck, Jalen Milroe

A lot is at stake for both teams in the top-five matchup between No. 2 Georgia and No. 4 Alabama. However, a lot could be on the line individually too with it being a primetime moment for both quarterbacks in Carson Beck and Jalen Milroe.

On ‘First Take’ on Friday, Stephen A. Smith and Elle Duncan debated which one would need tomorrow’s win and would have to play better to best make their case as a candidate for The Heisman Trophy. Duncan began by saying it was Beck because he hasn’t always performed as some know that he’s capable of. That means it’s no better time than now with this game to be at his very best.

“It’s Carson Beck because people fall in love with Heisman moments. It’s why it’s in the title of the entire thing and he hasn’t had any,” said Duncan. “The thing about Carson Beck is it looks like he’s holding back. Yes, the numbers are perfect. In fact, he’s perfect – he hasn’t thrown any interceptions, he protects the ball, he’s got a very high completion percentage. In fact, he’s ranked 27th nationally overall – 68.3% of his passes are completed. But then he falls all the way to 94th if you look at passes that are thrown beyond the line of scrimmage. That drops another 20 percentage points when you look at any throws down field. It’s as if he’s playing not to lose and not playing to win.”

“They are going to need him to step up in a big and significant way,” said Duncan. “He has got a lot more to prove.

However, Stephen A. disagreed because, in his mind, Beck isn’t much of a candidate to begin with.

“What he has to do is go out and make sure that he doesn’t contribute to losing this game,” said Smith. “What I’m saying is I don’t believe Beck really has a legitimate shot at the Heisman.”

As for him, Smith went with Milroe considering how he has played through the Crimson Tides’ transition this season. His play has helped keep them up to what people expect of Alabama. This is now another opportunity to remind them all of that.

“I’m going to go with Milroe as the answer to this question because this brother right here is ballin’ on another level,” said Smith. “Now it’s one thing to be playing for Nick Saban and you’re learning as you go along, you elevate your level of play over the course of a season as he did last year when he ultimately ended up outperforming Beck in the SEC title game. The flip side to it is this. Now you’ve got a new coach in Kalen DeBoer.”

“Milroe has got 156 yards rushing, he has ran for two touchdowns in each of these games. He’s in the conversation right now for the Heisman not just because of how Alabama has looked but because it wasn’t expected because everybody expected a drop off because Nick Saban is gone,” Smith explained. “If you continue to play this way, dare I say elevate your level of play under a new coach? Then I think that better positions you for the Heisman. If you don’t? Then we’re going to be like well, damn, you missed out and we’re going to move forward.”

Per the latest odds, Milroe is third in contention while Beck is then in seventh. As for the On3 Heisman Trophy Poll, Milroe was again third while Beck was outside the Top-10 at No. 11.

This is one of the biggest games of the entire season with the winner remaining where they are or better off amongst the contenders in the conference and nationally. It also is one of those times where a player like one of these two could have an outing that has them in New York come December.