Carson Beck improving in important areas ahead of second season as starter

ATHENS, Ga. — Expectations are high for Georgia’s offense in 2024. After finishing No. 5 in the country for both scoring (40.1 points per game) and total offense (496.5 yards per game) last season, the Bulldogs bring back Carson Beck for a second go-around as the team’s starting quarterback.

It’s a tale as old as time, especially at the quarterback position: experience is important, and it’s something that can only come with time. Georgia took strides offensively when Stetson Bennett got a full offseason as the returning starter, and the Bulldogs hope similar results come from Beck’s decision to return.

Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo also serves as the quarterbacks coach. He spends the most time with Beck of any UGA staff member and has seen the work he’s put in. Like Beck told reporters at SEC Media Days, Bobo is working with a different quarterback in year two, both on and off the field, than he was last fall.

“I see a guy that’s trying to have a sense of urgency every day about everything he does and not taking anything for granted,” Bobo said. “He wrote a bunch of things on our board in our meeting room of what we needed to do as a quarterback, and number one was be where your feet are. You hear that a lot, but here’s a guy that, you know, had a good season, his first season [as a starter]. There’s a lot of noise outside this building about the future, but he can’t control that. What he can control is being where his feet are every day.”

Beck enters 2024 as one of the Heisman Trophy favorites. He was selected by the media as the First-Team All-SEC quarterback, and NFL Draft experts are looking at him as a potential first overall pick come next April. It’s all noise, and noise that Beck is blocking out. He’s not worried about any of that. Instead, he’s focused on accomplishing everything at the collegiate level he wants to – primarily, getting his own National Championship.

Beck’s head coach, Kirby Smart, has challenged him this offseason to take control of this Georgia football team and make it his. It’s something he got more and more comfortable with as the season went along last year. However, he has his own style of leadership. He may not be the most vocal – although he’s continuing to find his voice – but the example Beck sets is one his Bulldog teammates follow.

“I’ve had a few conversations with him about, when he speaks, people are going to listen,” Georgia offensive lineman and one of Beck’s best friends, Tate Ratledge, said at the start of fall camp. “He’s our starting quarterback. I think every team needs their starting quarterback to have some sort of voice. Him stepping up has been big, and he has. People listen when he talks.”

“He comes in every day and just is himself. He never changes,” wide receiver Arian Smith added. “He’s never not going to be clean-cut and tell you what you did right or what you did wrong. He’s always a level guy, never too high, never too low. I feel like whenever things are going good, whenever things are going bad, as a teammate you can always follow him because he’s going to be the same person.”

Bobo knows it too about Beck. Bulldogs on both sides of the ball look to their quarterback as a leader when times get tough. Georgia coaches have tried to create adversity in fall camp knowing a challenging schedule will generate that during the season, and few are cooler under pressure than Beck.

“The nature of the position and what you play, you’re the leader of the offense and a lot of times the leader of the team. His actions and his body language speak volumes to guys. It could be getting on somebody’s ass or it could be encouraging somebody. I just want him to be him,” Bobo said about Beck. “He has a great trait that he has such an even temperament, whether we score a touchdown or we go three and out or he happens to throw a pick or something, his temperament doesn’t change. That allows him to stay calm in the moment, and one of our core DNA traits is composure.”

“I think he has great composure, but also his position and his job is to enhance the play of others, you know? He’s going into his second year. Last year he was a first-year starter, and we’re trying to get him off on solid ground. As the season went on, he gained confidence, confidence, confidence, and he has confidence,” Bobo continued. “There’s things he’s got to work on, but he’s a confident young man. He’s got to instill that confidence in the players that are around him, and it could be a word to them, it could be putting an arm around them. Just knowing the impact that he has on guys because these young guys that are coming in or the first guy that walks on that field for the first time, they’re looking at a guy in Carson Beck that has done it. He’s done it in SEC games, done it on a big stage, and they’re going to look for him for how to act and how to respond. What he says and what he does goes a long way in building belief in our football team.”

Bobo said that on the field, improving Beck’s deep ball was an emphasis for them this spring. He’s seen the work pay off. Recently, it was an area Georgia defensive coaches complimented when talking about the task of defending against him and the UGA offense on a daily basis.

“It doesn’t always need to be a perfectly thrown ball where you hit the guy in stride. Sometimes we want it to be that way as a quarterback, but it’s a lot just giving the guy a chance. Not throwing the ball so far where you don’t have a chance or throwing it out of bounds. Give the guy a chance to make a play,” Bobo said. “… Sometimes when you struggle hitting something or doing something as a quarterback, you start to aim. You’re thinking about it too much. Take your drop, read your progression, throw the ball, and play football, not get in your head of ‘Well, I can’t hit it, I’m trying to aim it or throw the perfect ball.’ Throw it and give the guy a chance.”

“He’s done a better job of that,” the 25th-year coach added. “Every time we complete a deep ball, he’s looking at me or looking at Coach Gummy (Montgomery VanGorder) because he knows that’s what he’s focused on, giving those guys a chance.”

Giving his guys a chance will give Georgia a chance to take home the ultimate prize this fall. Beck’s improvement is important – although he was almost good enough last year, even in his first season as a starter. The Bulldogs open the 2024 campaign ranked No. 1 in the country according to the Coaches Poll and kickoff on August 31st against No. 14 Clemson (12:00 p.m. ET, ABC).