A short time before last Christmas, after Georgia’s College Football Playoff hopes were doused by an SEC title game loss to Alabama, the moment arrived for Carson Beck to do a self-evaluation about his future.
What resonated most with the Bulldogs’ quarterback, a Mandarin High product, wasn’t the amount of lucrative NIL deals or his potential selection spot for the NFL draft.
Beck just came to the realization he needed more seasoning and wasn’t done with college football.
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“I’m not sitting there and saying to them, ‘If you don’t pay me this [NIL money], I’m going to the NFL,’ “ Beck told the Times-Union in a Wednesday phone interview. “That never happened and was never said. It was more me asking myself, ‘Is there room for growth [as a quarterback]? Are there still things I want to accomplish? Am I ready to go?’
“In my mind, there was still more room to develop. The timing was that there was more to be done here. That ultimately led me to come back.”
It sure didn’t hurt that Beck also wanted the chance to experience another Florida-Georgia game as a starting QB. He savored last year’s 43-20 win over the Gators, and is stoked to get another shot Saturday in his hometown at EverBank Stadium.
“Coming home to Jacksonville, where I was born and raised and went to the game my whole life, it’s crazy, full-circle for me,” Beck said. “Being a starter for the first time was exciting, and coming out with a win was even better.”
Oddsmakers say Georgia is a 17-point favorite to beat Florida for the seventh time in the last eight years, none of which means anything to the 21-year-old QB.
This is as much a legacy game for Beck as any on the Bulldogs’ schedule. He would love to leave college as the only Jacksonville starting quarterback to win multiple Florida-Georgia games without losing, a feat that eluded two former local Gators, Raines’ Don Gaffney (1973-75) and Nease’s Tim Tebow (2007-09).
Beck, who completed 19 of 28 passes for 315 yards and two TDs against Florida, acknowledged over the summer: “That game last year was probably my favorite game that I played in.”
Another victory over the Gators might zoom to the top of Beck’s list of favorites, especially if it ultimately leads Georgia to a third national championship in four years.
‘Bama bummer: “I’m still not over it”
Beck stops short of calling his final college season a revenge tour, but he makes no secret of how much losing his only two starts to ‘Bama — 27-24 in the SEC championship and then 41-34 in a Sept. 28 rematch in Tuscaloosa – sticks in his craw.
“I’m still not over it, just being honest,” said Beck. “No way am I over it.”
Don’t be misled by his even-keel disposition, which has been a Beck staple since his youth football days with the Pablo Creek Saints.
While Beck has a natural laid-back personality and rarely shows much emotion, the fierce competitor in him remains uber-focused on leading No. 2-ranked Georgia into the 12-team College Football Playoff and winning it all.
“That’s just how I’ve always been,” Beck said of his low-key manner. “I don’t have to try to do that. That’s just who I am. Everybody on the team is looking at me, so I own that way of being chill. That’s where I want to be. I think it’s a positive.”
During his first two college seasons, Beck was mostly on the sideline as former walk-on Stetson Bennett led Georgia to back-to-back national titles.
Now he gets a second and last chance to take his team to the college football mountaintop, but it’s a steeper climb in 2024 because Beck is still adjusting to new offensive personnel.
Both receiver Ladd McConkey and All-America tight end Brock Bowers are now shining in the NFL. Injury and suspension issues have cut into depth at receiver and running back, leaving Georgia as less than the consistently dominant team it had been in recent years.
Trying to get back in groove
After throwing just six interceptions in 2023, Beck has eight in three of his last four games against ‘Bama, Mississippi State and Texas.
“Everybody will look at stats and everybody will look at other things, and they’ll have things to say and we’ll keep on playing with Carson Beck,” said Smart after his quarterback’s three-interception game against Texas. “I don’t think he’s doing anything different.
“We don’t have some of the same guys, you know what I mean? He’s carrying a lot of that burden with him.”
On Monday, Smart acknowledged Beck isn’t playing perfectly, but also noted, “I don’t think anything’s wrong” with him.”
Beck makes no attempt to sugarcoat his diminished numbers, saying after the Texas win that he was “off” his game and needed to perform better. However, No. 15 remains fully confident of finding the rhythm Georgia needs from him to make an SEC and national title run.
“I just felt like I wasn’t playing up to the standard we have [against Texas] and in turn, the offense wasn’t able to reach its peak,” said Beck. “We got a lot of work in on ourselves during last week and I am encouraged to see what we can do on Saturday.
“It hasn’t gone the way we wanted exactly, but we’re 6-1 and in the driver’s seat to go to the SEC championship. Everything is right in front of us and we have plenty of talent to make a run and go win it again. That’s exactly what I believe is going to happen.”
Given the obstacles awaiting Georgia, it will need Beck playing at a higher level. The next two weeks after Florida are matchups with No. 19 Ole Miss on the road and No. 7 Tennessee in Athens.
Whether it’s getting on the same page with receivers Arian Smith, Dominic Lovett and Dillon Bell, or a Georgia running game ranked 95th nationally (130.3 yards) being ignited by former Gator Trevor Etienne, the Bulldogs and Beck are still trying to find a consistent offensive groove.
“We‘re trying to figure out our identities,” said Beck. “We’re going to figure out ways to win, whether it looks pretty or not. Things are getting better. I think we’re going to find ways to win. That’s all that matters.”
Jackson High football coach Bobby Ramsay, who coached Beck when he led Mandarin to the 2018 Class 7A state title with a five-touchdown performance against Miami Columbus, believes his former star QB will regain top form.
“He’s one of those quarterbacks who thinks he can make every throw,” said Ramsay. “No mistake is going to deter him from trying to make a play when he needs to.
“I know he can protect the football better than he has this year and I think he will.”
Social media power couple
Beck’s stature as a star quarterback for the nation’s preeminent football program, along with a preseason projection as the top NFL draft prospect at his position, brings him plenty of attention.
That spotlight has amped up since July when Hanna Cavinder, the University of Miami basketball star who attracts over 4.5 million Instagram followers with her twin sister, Haley, revealed she was dating Beck. He later confirmed the relationship to ESPN.
While Beck refrains from commenting publicly about them as a couple, he did a post a photo of him and Cavinder staring into each other’s eyes on the football field after an Oct. 5 win over Auburn. In the picture, Hanna is wearing a Beck jersey.
The couple has periodically shared pictures and videos on each other’s social media pages. It only adds to Beck’s whirlwind final year at Georgia, which includes public chatter about how his personal relationship with a high-profile athlete might impact his football performance.
Beck, who has grown accustomed to an intensified media spotlight, remains impervious to the outside noise, whether it’s football-related or something else.
“Whether you win or lose at Georgia, you’re going to get criticized,” said Beck. “It doesn’t matter to us what something looks like to the public eye.”
Beck has benefitted greatly from the spoils of NIL, likely in the millions of dollars, given his position as the starting quarterback of an elite Power 4 program.
He drives a $300,000 Lamborghini and owns a house in Athens that Beck shares with three roommates. Beck’s income figures to take an exponential jump after the next NFL draft, though his stock doesn’t appear to be as high as it was before the season.
Dane Brugler, the draft analyst for The Athletic, believes the prognosis for Beck is getting tougher to project.
When asked via text if he thought Beck was the consensus top quarterback prospect or one of several candidates in the mix, Brugler responded: “No, I don’t think there will be much consensus with this [quarterback] class. [Beck] has work to do in order to be a first rounder.”
Beck is unfazed about any speculation, football or otherwise, on his future. He doesn’t fret over things out of his control.
Money and fame come with the territory of being the most prominent player in Georgia’s program. For now, all that matters to Beck is winning games and leading his team to a championship.
That starts with taking care of business Saturday in what figures to be his last hometown game as a college quarterback.
Carson Raine Beck will have plenty of time to forge an NFL career and earn millions of more dollars.
None of that can buy him one priceless commodity: beating Florida in his own backyard.
Gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540; Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @genefrenette
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville native Carson Beck aims to deliver Georgia another title
