'Absolutely not' Kirby Smart won't be benching Carson Beck vs Tennessee
Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck has not lived up to the Heisman hype this season which has led some critics to think that it's time to throw backup Gunner Stockton into the fire. However, head coach Kirby Smart doesn't believe a quarterback change is necessary. "Absolutely not," Smart said of a possible quarterback change ahead […]
Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck has not lived up to the Heisman hype this season which has led some critics to think that it's time to throw backup Gunner Stockton into the fire.
However, head coach Kirby Smart doesn't believe a quarterback change is necessary.
"Absolutely not," Smart said of a possible quarterback change ahead of Saturday's big game against Tennessee. "We've got a quarterback who's completely competent, capable, and understanding of our system that gives us the best chance to win."
While it's easy to blame the quarterback for the team's offensive struggles, Smart pointed out that it has a lot more to do with how tough the their schedule has been.
"Well, we've played really good defenses," Smart said. "So you guys will look at a stat sheet, and you'll say, where do they rank? And I'll say, well, against who? Because relative to who we've played, we've played some really good teams. But I would be remiss if I would say that we're happy with where we are. We're not happy with where we are. We've played some really, really, really, really good defenses, I think, this year, more than most people in terms of their schedule. And when you look at in SEC games, the ones that matter the most, SEC versus SEC, and you look at all those, it's not as glaring as a difference because there's some really good defenses in our league in terms of what you play against."
Regardless of how hard their opponents have made things for them this year, Smart isn't ignorant to the fact that his team needs to get better — on both sides of the ball.
"But we want to be more productive," Smart said. "We want to be able to throw the ball vertical down the field. We want to be able to shoot play action. Play action is set up off of your backs and off of your ability to run the ball. In some games, we have been able to run the ball better than others. In some games, we've been able to drop back pass better than others. But regardless of those two things, you must protect the ball. And we have not done that. And that's the key to the drill. If you don't turn the ball over, guys, you're going to have a chance to win. And then the flip side of that is you've got to get turnovers. So where are our strip outs? Where are our rip outs? Where are our takeaways, I would say. Because to win turnover margin, it's a two-way street. It's not just a one-way street."
The Bulldogs have played the toughtest-ranked schedule in the SEC and are still 7-2 with one more big game on the line against the Vols. It's worth noting that their overall outcome has had a lot to do with Beck's arm saving them late in the game.
The hope now is that Beck can step it up early against Tennessee and keep Georgia on the playoff track.
