Kirby Smart pushes back on criticism of Carson Beck

ATHENS, Ga. — Carson Beck‘s performance in the season-opener this past Saturday has sparked plenty of conversations the last few days. In his first career start, Beck went 21-for-31 for 294 yards and a touchdown. He also punched one in himself for a rushing score.

From fans jumping to conclusions, calling him “Checkdown Beck,” to some even wanting to see a change to Brock Vandagriff or Gunner Stockton already, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is ready to push back on any criticism of his quarterback.

“I don’t understand you guys sometimes. I really don’t,” Smart said with a laugh when asked whether or not Beck was dealing with nerves. “I thought Carson played… I thought just like I did when I looked at it as when I came in there and talked to y’all Saturday night. I thought Carson played really well. I thought he played composed. I’m trying to think of the throws that were just awful or erratic and I didn’t see that.”

“The one third down, he admittedly threw the ball a little bit behind, thinking Dom (Dominic Lovett) was sitting down. Dom broke in, which Dom was correct. He missed him on that throw. Outside of that, there’s going to be incompletions in games,” Smart continued. “There’s going to be looks that maybe they fool you with that you didn’t see in the week in the scouting report but his run-check game, his carrying out his fakes, his decisions in the pocket, him throwing the ball away. I mean, I thought the guy, for a first start, did well.”

Of course part of the coach’s evaluation of the quarterback is understanding what Beck was able to do at the line of scrimmage – like Smart pointed out. Counted on to call audibles and make adjustments accordingly, it’s his responsibility to make sure that the play isn’t doomed before the snap based on something that defense is doing.

“There’s parameters you give them. There’s runs that have checks. There’s runs that have checks from run to run. There’s run that have checks from run to pass. There’s certain looks you’re allowed to check to pass. Every week we package those but not every play has those,” Smart said. “There’s sometimes you’re gonna sit back, as you guys can do and we can do as coaches, you can second guess and say ‘Well, he should have thrown that ball because it had an option to throw.’ Then there’s the check to a throw, which is completely different than a run-pass option. So it’s really complicated and elaborate but he did what he was coached to do. He did exactly the things we want him to do.”

After that’s done, there’s the in-play decision making of it all too. Beck didn’t put the ball in harms way on Saturday with none of his 10 incompletions really having potential for a turnover to happen. That was another plus in Smart’s assessment of Beck’s performance.

As Smart said on Saturday after the game, the next step in the process, for Beck and the rest of the Bulldogs, is getting and giving feedback. Without classes on Monday for Labor Day, Georgia was able to “put UT-Martin to bed” and turn its attention toward the next opponent, Ball State.

For the Bulldogs, the game against the Cardinals is another opportunity for growth. This past week, there were many on the field for the first time, either in general or in their expanded roles. With that came some jitters, something Smart acknowledged on Saturday and did so again on Monday. In a second game, there’s reason to expect less of those as comfort continues to build.

“Yeah, I don’t think you can say it’s up to a coordinator to settle the players. You certainly can call it conservatively to try to figure out where we are, where are the guys are. You got two backs that have never played, never carried a ball. You got a quarterback that’s never started. You got two starting receivers I know of out, one that’s played a lot, and Meeks is out. So there is a lot of the new pieces of puzzle,” Smart said when asked a question on if there’s anything coaches can do to help calm the nerves – specifically of those on offense. “I have high expectations for all these guys, but there is a little anxiety there and a little bit of, ‘Let’s figure out where we are,’ when you take the gloves off and say, ‘All right, let Carson go play.’ Then he goes and he plays well. Those guys did, too.”

Kickoff time for Saturday is set for 12:00 p.m. ET from Sanford Stadium with the game airing on SEC Network.