Carson Beck Proves He Is Georgia's Top Option at QB
Throughout Georgia’s 2023 spring practice, most were led to believe through head coach Kirby Smart’s statements that Carson Beck and Brock Vandagriff were locked in a tight competition to replace Stetson Bennett as Georgia’s starting quarterback. By halftime of Georgia’s spring game, however, it was abundantly clear that any alleged competition between Beck and Vandagriff might not be as close as advertised. Following G-Day, Smart will almost certainly recite all of his favorite lines about Georgia’s quarterback battle being a real competition, but make no mistake about it, Carson Beck is Georgia’s starting quarterback.
Admittedly, spring games do amount to just one of 15 spring practices, and overreactions tend to flow freely in all directions in their aftermath. Yet, after taking in Georgia’s spring game inside Sanford Stadium, asserting that Carson Beck is Georgia’s clear top option at quarterback feels more of an unequivocal reality than an overreaction. While Beck and Vandagriff split halves repping with the first team offense, it was Beck who got the nod in the first half; the first indication of his lead in the competition. The redshirt junior looked the part of a starting quarterback from the outset, leading Georgia’s first team offense to a scoring drive on the first three drives of the game and continuing his impressive play through the rest of the first half, finishing the game 15-22 passing for 231 yards and a touchdown.
QB Carson Beck meets with the media after his 15-22, 231, 1 TD performance in Georgia's spring game.
However, the numbers - as impressive as they were - do not tell the entire story. After Smart repeatedly made it clear this spring that decision-making would be the most prominent factor in determining who would ultimately lay claim to Georgia’s starting quarterback position, Beck answered the bell, putting on a decision-making clinic. He was in complete control operating Georgia’s offense on Saturday; consistently making the right reads, taking check downs when necessary, and displaying impressive accuracy. Given that he is entering his fourth year in Georgia’s offense, perhaps Beck’s command on the field should come as no surprise, but it was striking nonetheless.
However, it was Beck’s superior performance against Georgia’s first-team defense that served as the most decisive evidence of his status as Georgia’s top quarterback. If Georgia is going to pull off the unprecedented three-peat in 2023, whoever the Bulldogs trot out there at quarterback this season will be required to perform at a high level against the most talented defenses in college football and Beck’s performance against Georgia’s top defense - 13-18 for 211 yards and a touchdown - vastly outpaced that of his closest competitor for Georgia’s starting quarterback position. Vandagriff largely played well in his own right, finishing the game 13-25 for 175 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, but he only managed to complete 4 of 11 passes for 40 yards and an interception against the Bulldogs’ starting defense. That chasm between their respective performances against what will likely once again prove to be one of the best defenses in the nation, speaks volumes about Beck's lead in Georgia’s quarterback competition.
While we have been force fed the notion this spring that Vandagriff is posing a legitimate challenge to Beck’s long and winding quest to emerge as Georgia’s top quarterback, their respective performances at G-Day - small sample size though it may be - revealed that Beck’s ascension to Georgia’s starting quarterback position is seemingly a formality as we head into the summer months.
