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Smart: Carson Beck's return 'a huge momentum builder' for Georgia

On3 imageby:Jake Rowe•01/11/24•

JakeMRowe

Georgia QB Carson Beck
Brett Davis | USA TODAY Sports

Despite not making the 2023 College Football Playoff, expectations for Georgia aren’t budging. The Bulldogs are the favorite to win the 2024 National Championship according to multiple sports books and the return of Carson Beck is a massive reason why.

After leaning toward making a leap to the NFL after UGA’s loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship game, Beck decided that he wanted one more year in a Georgia uniform. Had he decided to jump, the odds on Georgia to win its third title in four years would be lower.

The Bulldogs return a triggerman who broke the school record for single-season completion percentage. Had Beck played the second half of the Capital One Orange Bowl beatdown of Florida State, he would have probably become the second quarterback in Georgia history to eclipse 4,000 passing yards in a single season. The production speaks for itself but according to Kirby Smart, the impact of Beck’s return goes much further than that.

“I think it’s a huge momentum builder, gives a lot of confidence in the program that things are headed in the right direction,” Smart said in an Thursday interview with Steak Shapiro and DawgsHQ’s Rusty Mansell on 92.9 The Game. “He has enough confidence in us as coaches and as a staff to continue to lead and direct him in the right direction.”

Smart and company welcomed Beck back with open arms because of their confidence in his ability to lead an offense that lost some key pieces but returns a ton of play-making talent. As of right now it appears as if UGA will return four of its top seven receivers from the 2023 season, all of whom had at least 23 catches a year ago. Georgia also went into the transfer portal and added electric running back Trevor Etienne from Florida and productive wideouts London Humphreys (Vanderbilt) and Colbie Young (Miami).

Beck will also operate behind an offensive line that brings back four players who started at least seven games in 2023. The Bulldogs have three more linemen who saw meaningful minutes this past season. The UGA signal callers decision to come back for a fifth season in Athens played a role in others electing to run it back.

Beck, who extensively researched his options before making a decision according to Smart, is set up for success even against a daunting schedule. The Bulldogs have Clemson, Alabama, Texas, and Ole Miss on the slate in 2024 and none of those games are at home. They play the Tigers in Mercedes-Benz Stadium to start the season and the other three in true road contests. That challenge, according to persons with knowledge of the situation, played a role in Beck’s decision to return.

Now, instead of having to break in a new starting quarterback for the second straight season, Georgia has continuity at the game’s most impactful position. Beck comes back as a legitimate Heisman Trophy hopeful, a difference maker from the pocket in multiple facets.

“If you’re No. 1 in the country on third down, you’ve got somebody that knows what he’s doing at quarterback,” Smart said of Beck’s performance in 2023. “It doesn’t just happen. If you look across the nation and across the history of guys that have been good on third downs, they usually are high quarterback functioning people. That’s what he is.”

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