Kirby Smart made it official following Saturday’s scrimmage at Sanford Stadium. Junior Carson Beck will be the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback.
“He's done the best job. We communicated that earlier in the week to the other quarterbacks, and we've kind of been operating that way,” Smart said. “The other guys (Brock Vandagriff and Gunner Stockton) have done a tremendous job in terms of competing, and they're going to continue to do that.”
Smart did not reveal who the second-team quarterback would be.
“We haven't said anything in terms of who the second quarterback is or how those reps are going to be divvied up, but Carson is ahead of the other guys in terms of what he understands about the offense,” Smart said. “I'll be honest with you: I was really impressed with the other two quarterbacks throughout camp, and how far they've come in terms of improvement. Coach (Mike) Bobo has done a great job with those guys, and they both made a lot of plays with their feet and have done some good things.”
It was ultimately Beck’s experience in the Bulldog offense that won him the job.
Currently in his fourth year as a member of the program, Smart said the fact Beck’s been around as long as he has was the difference.
"That’s the greatest separator in the quarterbacks, it’s the comfort level with the offense and having the extra spring and extra fall that those two guys don’t have,” Smart said. “That rep volume is kind of the separator. He’s had the ability to understand when the defense is doing this, or they’re in this, I need the answer. He’s had good answers. But the two young ones have done a good job. They made really good checks today when they saw things. It’s a little hard to judge when you’re going against a defense that does everything. We have a lot of volume on our defense, and we throw it at them. We have a lot of volume on our offense, and we throw it at them.”
Beck also has the most on-field experience from which to draw.
As Stetson Bennett’s backup, Beck has completed 36 of 58 passes for 486 yards good for six touchdowns and just two interceptions, both of which came in 2021.
Smart said Beck’s knowledge of the offense is where it needs to be.
“It’s challenging, and Carson can handle that really well,” Smart said. “When you get down to a gameplan week and say well, we’re going take this 65 percent of our offense and our defense only really does so much, you’re not asking the quarterback to make as many decisions. But Carson is very knowledgeable, very intelligent, one of the smartest quarterbacks I’ve been around when it comes to handling the volume of offense, and what we want him to do."
Although Smart did not say how much Vandagriff or Stockton might play, he said he’s pleased with where they are at this stage of their respective careers.
“They’ve made mistakes and they’ve made good decisions. I have complete confidence we can win football games with both of those guys. Carson is just ahead of them right now,” Smart said. “I want to continue to grow both those guys, and they’re like sponges. They soak it up, they’re getting it, they understand, they know where to go with the ball and they’ve done some good things.
“It’s the few plays where things break down or a guy doesn’t do things with them. If another offensive player doesn’t do the right thing, a little bit of panic mode sets in and they’ve got to learn to give up on a play sometimes and not make it spectacular, just play for the next down."
