ROWE: Georgia fans, give Carson Beck the patience Stetson Bennett didn't get

It’s wild how quickly bars can be raised. It’s even wilder how soon we tend to romanticize the past. Those two ideas apply to University of Georgia football just as much as the moniker “back-to-back National Champions.” It wasn’t so long ago that the program’s most beloved quarterback wasn’t so and that being the king of the College Football hill was a desire rather than a reality.

Stetson Bennett IV has earned everything he has gotten when it comes to the adoration of Bulldog nation. The coaching staff did everything it could to avoid making him “the guy.” They told him that he wasn’t part of the plan. They elevated unproven guys over him time and time again. The Mailman kept plugging along, fueled by something that we may never truly know.

Maybe it was his love of UGA that kept him going. Maybe it was an I’ll-show-you mentality. Whatever it was, he’s a Georgia legend now and he deserves it.

Kirby Smart named Bennett’s successor on Saturday and it surprised no one. Carson Beck will be Georgia’s starting signal caller to begin the 2023 season, a job he earned after stellar showings in mop-up duty a season ago, a great spring game performance, and another surge during preseason camp that followed a sluggish start.

But it wasn’t long after Beck got the official, out-loud nod that some odd things started to come before me. The questions began being posed. Does he have the “it” factor? Can he be like Stetson? Can Beck be at his best when Georgia needs it the most?

Folks, that’s not fair. This isn’t a slight at Bennett but he wasn’t always at his best in the biggest moments. He didn’t always have the “it” factor. Beck, at some point, might be similar to the guy that UGA fans, the vast majority of them anyway, couldn’t wait to move on from during the 2020 and 2021 seasons plus the 2022 offseason.

I’m not poking fun at you or trying to say, “haha, you were wrong.” That does no one any good. Stick with me here. Prior to the fourth quarter of the 2021 National Championship win over Alabama, the big moments hadn’t been Bennett’s finest. Take it back to the 2020 season where Georgia got shut out in the second half at Alabama after leading 24-20 at the break. Bennett threw two picks.

We won’t discuss the 2020 Florida game because Bennett got hurt in that one but skip ahead to Georgia’s next loss, the 2021 SEC Championship game vs. the Crimson Tide, and it happened again. Now, to be fair, Bennett threw a touchdown pass in that game to tie it at 24 only to be down by 14 the next time he took a snap but he threw a late pick-six, putting the finishing touches on a Crimson Tide victory.

Todd Monken, now also a beloved figure in Georgia circles, was viewed as a fool for suggesting that Georgia could win a National Championship with Bennett at quarterback when he spoke to reporters prior to the Orange Bowl. Bennett was doubted throughout preparations for that game with a sizable contingent expressing doubt as to whether or not the Bulldogs could take down the Wolverines.

Well, they did so and easily. Then came three shaky quarters from Bennett in his third attempt at Alabama before he caught fire. He threw the go-ahead touchdown and then another to put the Bulldogs up by eight. Kelee Ringo sealed the deal with a 79-yard interception for a touchdown and Bennett was off and running. He came back, some got mad, and he changed their minds with a magical 2022 season. That 2022 Stetson is the one fans will remember, but that’s not the guy he always was.

Think about that as you watch every Beck incompletion because it happened with Bennett too. Remember that the Mailman participated in a few three and outs over the years. He tossed an interception or 21 in his career and the other team will catch some of Beck’s passes, too.

Folks are going to say, “He doesn’t have the ‘it’ factor,” and “Georgia took a step back at quarterback.” I understand that nothing I say will prevent that. But Stetson needed time before he developed the qualities folks will forever associate him with. Beck deserves a chance to develop them, too.