Kirby Smart insists Georgia’s path to another title is not solely dependent on Carson Beck
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Having a Heisman-caliber quarterback on your team definitely helps when it comes to winning a national championship, but it isn’t a make or break attribute.
Kirby Smart knows that well, and he isn’t worried that his starting quarterback Carson Beck isn’t on the top of any Heisman lists.
Beck has had a solid start to the season with 1,497 yards and 7 touchdowns, but he has certainly had his first-year-starter moments, too. Kirby Smart knows that Beck will need time to grow as a player, and even though he isn’t a Heisman-caliber quarterback yet, the Bulldogs can still win a 3rd-straight championship.
Instead, Smart recognizes that it’s a team effort.
“I think when you start talking about national title hopes, and putting it all on one player, I think that’s a little far-fetched, I just don’t think we won the ones we won just because of that position,” Smart said during the SEC coaches teleconference Wednesday. “That position’s a growth position and Stetson (Bennett) certainly was more experienced and better the second go around than the first. But neither one was because of him, and whether we do or don’t this year is not going to be because of Carson Beck.”
He continued…
“I do think the quarterbacks have moxie and presence and you obviously, everybody’s wanting a quarterback that has that, sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t, it’s not a trait that you can identify really easily,” Smart said. “It’s one that you grow to and experience. He’s got a lot of growth and reps under pressure and I think he handles that well. There’s a lot of things he can do better but in terms of a clutch gene, there’s probably ratings or stages of clutch, 1-10, I don’t know that there’s a gene that you have it or you don’t.”
Beck got some high-pressure reps in on Saturday as Auburn took the Bulldogs down to the wire, and he helped lead them to a big win in the clutch. Moments like that will be important as Beck continues to develop.
