AUBURN, Ala. - Playing on the road is all about composure.
That's especially true in a place like Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium, one of the toughest places to play in the country. It's the stuff of nightmares for a coach like Kirby Smart whose quarterback, Carson Beck, made his first ever road start on the Plains Saturday afternoon.
Georgia's offense had its fits and starts again. But through it all, Beck maintained his composure and helped lead the Bulldogs to a 27-20 win.
"He did awesome," tight end Brock Bowers said. "To come into that place, his first start, a super hostile away game, he did about the best you could ask for. Just really proud of him the way he played."
Beck had his share of struggles early on. He completed just 7-of-13 passes in the first half for 77 yards. He also tossed his second interception of the season, a mistake that set up Auburn's first touchdown of the day.
But in the second half, things turned completely around.
In the final 30 minutes, Beck completed 16-of-20 passes for 236 yards. He led a 98-yard touchdown drive to tie the game at 17 late in the third quarter, then threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Bowers with 2:52 left in the game.
"I thought Carson played better in the second half," Smart said. "I never felt like he was rattled, and that was a concern coming in is would he be rattled by this environment.”
Beck's teammates felt that confidence as well. Receiver Dillon Bell credited Beck, as well as center Sedrick Van Pran, for keeping the team calm in the face of adversity.
"Every time we were in the huddle we were like, hey, let’s go, we got this," Bell said. "It was never a doubt in my mind. We were down at that 2-yard line and I was like, oh yeah, we’re going to score. That’s what happened, we scored. Carson, he keeps everybody’s confidence high."
Smart has mentioned Beck's poise and composure numerous times in the early portion of the season. But it's easy to be composed in front of a friendly crowd in Sanford Stadium. It's quite another to stay poised in front of 88,000 fans screaming for you to fail.
That has been one of the biggest questions surrounding Beck this season: his ability to succeed in the face of adversity. He answered those questions resoundingly on Saturday.
"He kept his head forward and straight," Bell said. "He had a drive today to win the game for us. He did a phenomenal job, in my opinion. He did great, especially with this crazy atmosphere here. He did his thing."
