University of Georgia quarterback Carson Beck has received perhaps more unwarranted criticism than any other quarterback in the country this season.
He’s had his moments — good and bad — but has also had to deal with a supporting cast that just so happens to present one of the worst drop rates in the FBS.
And receiver play has affected some of those pesky interceptions Beck has been penalized for. But not all of them are his fault, and there’s also the law of simple math and probability that comes into play in games where the ball is being thrown 35-60 times.
Head coach Kirby Smart has gone to bat for the signal-caller every time he’s been asked about his play, including on Saturday when he was asked about the way Beck had played ‘clean’ football in the past couple of games.
He has not thrown an interception over that time period.
“I haven’t really seen anything different. You guys just look at the stats and say ‘oh, clean game,'” Smart said.
Smart has a different formula for determining what is a clean game and what is not.
“But there were some throws in there (today) that could have been picked,” Smart said. “But there’s also some picks in the other games that shouldn’t have been picked. I look at the way he processes, and I think he processes information really well and he executes the offense really well.”
It comes just one week after Smart made another biting comment about how some of the media has received Beck.
“Carson carries himself well,” Smart said after the Tennessee game. “I’ve been very consistent, even with some of the dumbest questions in the world about out our quarterback, because we see him every day. He gets judged on outcomes and stats, but we don’t judge based on that.”
Beck and the offense played one of their most solid games of the season in Saturday’s 59-21 win over UMass, though the defense struggled to play complementary football with severe tackling issues.
The Bulldogs quarterback had very few miscues, finishing out 20-for-31 passing with 297 yards through the air and four touchdowns.
He’ll face his next test and another chance to keep his 2025 NFL Draft stock rising in Georgia’s upcoming home game against Georgia Tech on Friday night in Sanford Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.