Billy Napier, Kirby Smart Talk Carson Beck Before Florida-Georgia Homecoming

Georgia's Carson Beck will make his long-awaited return as a starting quarterback in Jacksonville this weekend, set to take on a Florida squad that once vied for his services.

It's homecoming week, not for Florida or Georgia, but for Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck, who will make his first start in the annual rivalry game held in the heart of his hometown against a team he considered joining within the state's borders. 

Beck's imminent debut as a collegiate quarterback in Jacksonville has been a long time coming. He last took the field in Duval County in Oct. 2019, when his Mandarin Mustangs defeated the Fletcher Senators one week before a first-round playoff exit ended Beck's high school career. 

His services were coveted by both Florida and Georgia specifically, among other programs, before and through the 2020 signing period, when his nine-month verbal commitment to the Bulldogs was finalized in ink. He was at one point before that pledged to UF baseball, and to Alabama for both sports in between those commitments.  

"You can see why [Beck] was one of the better quarterbacks in the country coming out,” Billy Napier, Florida's head coach following the staff that recruited Beck to Gainesville, said on Wednesday. 

Beck was the consensus No. 9 quarterback in the class of 2020, per 247Sports. 

Over two seasons at Mandarin, Beck tossed for 5,489 yards and 59 passing touchdowns. He produced 41 total scores during the Mustangs' 2018 state championship run in his first year with the school, a season after it went 2-8 and missed the playoffs. 

"What we liked was his leadership," Smart recalled of Beck's recruitment to Georgia on Monday. "He won a state championship in the toughest classification of Florida at a school in Jacksonville that had not had many teams win. 

"That level of competition, it was very impressive what he was able to do there at Mandarin in terms of leadership and playing quarterback at a high level playing against some really good high school football teams. And the demeanor and approach that he has to the game was something that attracted us to him."

It took three seasons of development and observation of former Bulldogs quarterback Stetson Bennett IV before Beck could begin to prove his high school scouting report correct.

The tradeoff, all things considered, was worth it for Beck. He was able to sharpen his skill set at his own pace while Bennett and the star-studded Georgia roster won back-to-back national championships. 

Fast forward to now, Beck has helped elongate Georgia's SEC record 19 consecutive weeks atop the AP Top 25, and its program record 24-game winning streak, in an effort to become the first team in college football history to win three national championships in a row.

Having completed 73.6% of his passing attempts, Beck has thrown for 2,147 yards and 12 touchdowns with four interceptions in his first year as a starter, leading a Georgia passing offense that ranks No. 2 in the conference. He's added three scores on the ground.

"He’s gotten comfortable in their system. I think he’s got arm talent; he’s very accurate; and certainly he’s done a nice job of making some plays with his feet," Napier described Beck. "He’s gotten better every week as he gains more experience and gets comfortable. You can see his confidence grow." 

In Georgia's lone ranked matchup of the season so far, against No. 20 Kentucky two games ago, Beck posted single-game career highs with an 80% completion rate, 389 yards and four touchdowns passing. 

Smart's view of Beck's progression with Georgia's first-team offense is similar to Napier's.

"He continues to work on the things that will help us win," Smart noted. "Him being accurate, him making good decisions, him putting us in the right plays. He’s a bright kid. He sees a lot of defense in the offseason and walk-throughs here. So, when you see a lot of defense and have been exposed to a lot of things, I think that gives him confidence."

Beck carries the noted increase in confidence, multiple important streaks for Georgia and direct ties to both the opposition and the city where the game will be played into the weekend of the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, making it no ordinary matchup for the Bulldogs' quarterback.

He'll also look to become just the second Dawgs passer of the past 10 to emerge victorious in their first start of the yearly series. Jake Fromm holds the only other such win in that stretch, Georgia's 42-7 triumph in 2017. 

Florida's defense will be tasked with keeping not only Beck in check on Saturday, but an offense that seemingly has no shortage of weapons and protection. 

Injuries to two Week 1 starting offensive linemen, Amarius Mims and Xavier Truss, have yet to significantly hinder the unit. The rushing attack, spearheaded by Daijun Edwards, ranks No. 5 in the SEC for averaging 172.4 yards per game. In the passing game, Beck has only taken five sacks. 

Wide receivers Dominic Lovett, Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint and Rara Thomas have combined for 65 receptions, 871 yards and four scores this year as supplementary targets to Midseason All-American tight end Brock Bowers. 

And while the looming absence of Bowers due to an ankle injury may appear advantageous for UF, the Gators' defense must account for his backup, redshirt freshman Oscar Delp, who has scored twice this season and will fill in as the starter.

"He knows it's not all on him," Smart said about Beck and Georgia's overall offensive operation. "He’s got people around him to help him." 

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