To Carson Beck, there's a big difference between being the guy and being a guy.

Beck won a state championship in 2018 as a starting quarterback at Mandarin High School. He has also collected a pair of rings over the past two years as a backup to Stetson Bennett.

This fall marks five years since Beck's run to the Florida state championship. Now that he's been anointed as Georgia's starting quarterback, he wants to feel that thrill again.

"I was the guy at that time," Beck said. "That’s an amazing feeling. I will never, I haven’t done that in a long time. Hopefully, I can replicate that. That’s kind of what that means. There’s a difference between being a part and obviously winning your own."

In a circumstance rare in modern college football, Beck has waited his turn. He has sat on the bench for three seasons without transferring, although he did admit the thought crossed his mind earlier in his career.

Those years have allowed Beck to get to the point he is now.

There is the obvious on-field development. Head coach Kirby Smart said the coaching staff makes it a point to give all players, starters, and reserves alike plentiful reps in practice. Players feel like they are being developed, which helps keep them from leaving.

"He's been around, so he understands the demands that we put on the quarterback, but he also understands the demands that I put on situational football," Smart said. "There's not a day we go out there that we're not working on some specific situation at the end of the year. That helps, having been through that and seeing how JT (Daniels) handled it, how Stetson handled it, how other guys handled it. So he's wise, he's intelligent, and he's got a personality that I think the team draws to because he's relatively quiet and doesn't show a lot of emotion."

To that point, Beck said his biggest focus this fall has been improving on third downs.

But even as he stood on the sidelines, Beck had his eye on the future. He said he worked to prepare each week as if he'd be getting the starting nod. Now he feels he knows what it takes to prepare as a starter week in and week out.

Beck also learned one valuable lesson from Bennett.

"He got it the worst at quarterback," Beck said. "I think a lot of people really hated on him a lot. You can see that all over the Internet. He just maintained and just kept his head down and kept going. I’d say that’s the biggest thing that I learned from him is that you just have to do you. You have to be you. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter about the noise that’s going on around you as long as you control your actions and your effort."

Smart informed the quarterbacks last week of his decision. After years of patience, Beck finally heard the good news of his ascent to the starting position.

Beck's phone exploded with congratulatory texts when the news went public. Some came from high school friends, people who were around that state championship Beck won in 2018.

Five years later, Beck hopes to once again be the guy to get the job done.