Georgia head coach Kirby Smart noted one area ahead of the season he wanted to see his quarterback improve in, and that was in terms of showing more ‘fire’ and emotion on the field.
While Beck is mentally more of a cool customer than an excitable leader, Smart wanted to see his teammates feed off of his energy.
“That’s not comfortable for him. That’s just not who he is,” Smart said. “But his teammates need to see that fire and grit sometimes too.”
We asked Beck after the game about how he feels he’s lived up to that request. He hasn’t changed his identity but thinks he’s done a good job of making some improvement intangibly at such an important position.
“I think the big thing is that’s just not really me,” Beck said. “That’s never going to be me. Otherwise, it’s fake. But I think there is a level if you’re rating it from one to 10 where you can get a plus two of that emotion. That looks different, that shows different. I think I’ve done a good job of that.”
To Beck, there are good things about being a calmer, more laid-back type of leader — especially when the team gets into tough spots.
“I think I do a good job of staying level-headed and that’s important in my position, especially when things are going badly,” Beck said. “But I think that’s something I’ve been working on is trying to stay more positive and up my energy and enthusiasm. Showing confidence in the guys around me when we do well and instill positive injury into them.”
If there’s anything that’s apparent, it’s that despite some of the criticism Beck has drawn for two multi-interception games — the only two of his career — he has the respect and approval from the two most important groups of people around him. Those are his teammates and his coaches.
And really, it’s hard to fault Beck for throwing multiple interceptions in a game on two occasions. Alabama played up to standard on secondary where it had previously struggled the first time it happened, and the common thread between that game and the win over Mississippi State is that he threw the ball so many times that it looked like Air Raid numbers.
It is the simple law of probability at play.
Beck finished out this game 36-for-48 passing for a career-high 459 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Those 36 completions tied the program record
In the Alabama game, Beck was 27-for-50 passing for 439 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Smart was pleased with him then as well.
“Nobody really understands what Carson (Beck) does in our offense, and you can’t really appreciate it unless you know what’s going on.”
Beck and the Bulldogs will look to stay on the right side of the win column as they’re put to a major test against No. 1 Texas on the road next week.
