Carson Beck has put together some of the worst quarterback play Georgia Bulldogs fans have seen in almost a decade this season. He’s also had some phenomenal moments, but it’s getting harder and harder to justify some of the decisions he makes. And yet, Kirby Smart vehemently defended Beck following Georgia’s sloppy 34-20 win over the Florida Gators on Saturday.

Despite Beck throwing three more interceptions, bringing his total to 11 in just the last five games alone, Smart seemed happy with several plays from his quarterback:

“We dominated most of the field position, most of the stats in terms of yards, but we all know turnovers. And some of those are on Carson [Beck], some of them aren’t. And we’ve got to do a good job helping him, because when he’s needed to play well, and we needed him to step up, once again tonight, backed up–I don’t know what it was, 3rd and 5 maybe–he made plays and he did a great job.”

It is true, Georgia dominated in the yards and field position departments overall, doubling Florida’s yardage production when the game was finished. However, Beck’s critical mistakes nearly ruined Georgia’s team success.

Smart was asked what he and others can do to help support Carson, and coach had this to say:

“Well, [Carson Beck] did some really good things. There’s things that go unnoticed. What he can’t do is throw the ball late over the middle. And we’ve got to do a better job protecting him. He got hit one time, and the ball went up in the air. But the two plays he would want back were late, scramble, throw-it-up plays. And to be honest with you he hasn’t done that much. He’s always been smart. He’ll take off and run, just throw it away and live for another day. I thought he pressed on those two plays, but he also made some really good plays.”

Both of Beck’s horrible interceptions were ridiculously late throws over the middle, bad decisions where Beck was just trying to force things. But unlike what Coach Smart suggested, on one of the interceptions in particular there was no issue in “protecting” him. Beck just made the wrong read and a bad throw, which you can see in ESPN College Football’s post below.

Pressure nearly got to Beck about three seconds into the snap, but he had plenty of time to make a much better decision with the ball, or perhaps could have just rolled out of the pocket. Instead he threw a crucial interception.

This habit of bad post-snap reads from Carson Beck has been an issue all season long, dating back to the Alabama game. The processing and decision-making absolutely has to improve, otherwise Georgia is going to lose a game that they shouldn’t sooner than later.

The third and final interception wasn’t completely Beck’s fault since he was hit as he threw the ball, but he still made the poor decision to even attempt a throw with a defender already on the verge of smoking him up the middle.

Even though Beck’s handful of terrible decisions and inaccurate throws were what likely stood out to many Georgia fans, Kirby Smart did have a point on one thing. Beck’s unnoticed adjustments pre-snap were a huge part of Georgia’s improvements and key conversions late in the ball game.

The play of the game was a direct result of Beck getting his pass protection in the right place as the play clock was dwindling down. the pass pro adjustments allowed Arian Smith’s long-developing deep crossing route to find the open spot in the zone, giving Beck a wide open window to drop the ball into for the 34-yard gain.

Georgia, of course, would go on to score on that drive, inevitably leading to the Bulldogs pulling away late for the win over Florida. It’s little things like that key 3rd down conversion that should give Georgia fans hope for Beck moving forward.

It’s clear why Kirby Smart still has confidence in his quarterback. But Beck has to clean up the silly turnovers. If he doesn’t, Ole Miss is going to absolutely embarrass the Bulldogs next week.

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