South Carolina trying to dial things up to knock Carson Beck 'off his game'
For the first time this season, South Carolina will be facing somewhat of a green quarterback.
The Gamecocks–after facing reigning ACC Player of the Year Drake Maye and multi-year starter Tyler Huff–will get a young, albeit talented, quarterback in Carson Beck.
This means South Carolina is going to try and do its best to confuse Beck and get him off script some.
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“We’re moving some pieces around schematically. Trying to cook up stuff to slow him down and contain the whole passing game,” Marcellas Dial said. “All we have to do is go out there, execute, trust our technique and everything will fall into place.”
Beck–a former four-star prospect in the 2020 class–will make just his third career start and first against an SEC opponent on Saturday when the Gamecocks come to town.
Beck’s played well in limited action, completing 67.2 percent of his 119 career attempts while averaging 9.3 yards per attempt. This season, he’s 44-for-61 (72.1 percent) for 577 yards (9.5 yards per attempt) with three scores and a pick.
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He’s still young, and this could be the best defense to date Beck’s had to face. And the Gamecocks are trying to take as much of an advantage of that as possible.
“He can throw the ball deep and has a strong arm. He’s new back there. But we’re trying to work on some things to get him uncomfortable back there,” Dial said. “Try to knock him off his game. A lot of new schemes and plays coming in.”
Beck’s only played in 13 career games, including going 5-for-6 for 55 yards and a touchdown last year against South Carolina.
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But with such a limited sample size, it can be hard to scout him and know what he does really well, which means going back to his time in high school to watch video.
“You really have to do your homework. You go back to high school tapes and you go back to things from a recruiting standpoint. Someone on this staff knows him, someone on this staff was part of the recruiting process. The film is out there,” Clayton White said.
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“Obviously, he had the spring game and he played in our game last year. But you definitely want to do all the homework you can on a new quarterback/ What’s his strengths and weaknesses? He’s a talented guy. He’s got a skill set, can run and throw and has a lot of weapons around him.”
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Georgia hasn’t asked Beck to do a lot this year. And he really hasn’t had to with games against UT-Martin and Ball State to start the year.
Only 19 of his attempts have gone at least 10 yards downfield. He’s completing 57.9 percent of his throws for 14.6 yards per attempt, a touchdown and one pick.
In throws 10 yards or less downfield he’s completing 84.6 percent of his passes and averaging 7.7 yards per attempt with two scores.
So it’ll be up to South Carolina to try and change the picture on someone facing an SEC defense in earnest for the first time.
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“I would say the first start is to make sure we get lined up and get our cleats in the ground. Make sure we’re stable and our eyes are in the right spot and we have the right leverages and we understand what they’re trying to present to us as well,” he said.
“You have disguises, you have movement, you have things where you can show one coverage and play another. It’s the normal things. But he’s well-coached and he’s a smart player. You have to try to not outsmart yourself.”
