Georgia backup quarterbacks to continue battle, development behind Beck

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia announced its starting quarterback on Saturday. Carson Beck will get the first opportunity on September 2nd when the Bulldogs take on UT-Martin at Sanford Stadium, but who gets the second? That’s still up in the air according to Kirby Smart.

The eighth-year head coach said he’s been pleased with the work put in during preseason practice by both backups Brock Vandagriff and Gunner Stockton. A redshirt sophomore and a redshirt freshman respectively, neither has the game reps that Beck has under his belt. Vandagriff has stepped between the lines in five career contests, going a combined 0-for-3 passing, while Stockton has yet to see the field. It was the biggest separator for Beck in deciding who the starter was, but the goal is to get both Vandagriff and Stockton some of those this fall.

“I’m excited to see those guys hopefully have an opportunity to play, compete. They’ll be able to go with the ones here in the next two weeks some and get more reps and figure out even if we have a two, you know, who that’s going to be and how it’s going to go further,” Smart said.

“I’ll be honest with you, I was really impressed with the other two quarterbacks throughout camp how far they’ve come in terms of improvement,” he added. “Coach Bobo has done a great job with those guys, and they both made a lot of plays with their feet and done some good things. Carson’s been in this offense for a year over one of them and two years over Gunner. He’s just ahead, so he’ll be our starting quarterback.”

As Smart spoke about the starting quarterback decision and what Beck brings to the table, almost every single time did he also mention Vandagriff and Stockton. Whether it was their improvement this preseason, attitude since the news was delivered or simply what they bring to the table as players, Smart had plenty of praise for the duo.

“They both have made plays, they’ve made plays with their feet and they’ve made good checks. They’ve made mistakes and they’ve made good decisions,” Smart said. “I have complete confidence we can win football games with both those guys. Carson is just ahead of them right now.”

“I want to continue to grow both those guys, and they’re like sponges,” he continued. “They soak it up, they’re getting it, they understand, they know where to go with the ball and they’ve done some good things. It’s the few plays where things bring down or a guy doesn’t do things with them, if another offensive player doesn’t do the right thing, a little bit of panic mode sets in and they’ve got to learn to give up on a play sometimes and not make it spectacular, just play for the next down.”

With the Bulldogs opening the season against opponents from the FCS and MAC level in the first two weeks, plus a team from Conference USA in Week Four, it’s likely that Vandagriff and Stockton do get in-game opportunities to showcase their growth. Smart said that no decision had been made however on how the quarterback rotation would be handled, only that a starter was settled upon.

“The decision about the quarterback is really about who the starter is. We haven’t talked even beyond that. That’s not the conversation,” Smart said. “We have two really talented, young quarterbacks who are coming along and getting better. We want to keep that growth growing, and the only way you keep that growth going is you continue to get those guys really quality reps.”

“I think that’s one of the greatest separators in every program in the country, who’s able to get quality reps for their twos and threes from this point forward,” he continued. “If you don’t get quality reps you can regress. I want those two guys to keep growing and keep competing. They challenge each other every single day, all three of those guys do and they do some really nice things.”