How Carson's Beck's First Six Games Compare to Other Georgia Greats

Carson Beck is through his first six games as Georgia's starting quarterback and he's currently the fourth leading passer in the nation.

Kyle Funderburk | Oct 12, 2023

How Carson's Beck's First Six Games Compare to Other Georgia Greats /

We're halfway through with the 2023 Georgia football season, it's time to check on first-year starting quarterback Carson Beck.

144-of-196 passes (73.5-percent)
1,886 yards
13 total touchdowns; 11 passing touchdowns
9.6 yards per attempt
Two comeback victories in SEC play
SEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week, October 7

Those 1,886 yards are the fourth most in the nation and second most in the SEC. His 73.5-percent on completions is sixth best in the nation on an SEC-leading 196 pass attempts.

Beyond the numbers, he's becoming Georgia's next great quarterback. His second-half performance at Auburn is the stuff of legend, that's not recency bias, his 8 of 10 performance on third down is enough to prove it. He slaughtered narratives against Kentucky and put the nation on notice.

Beck has entered his name into the conversation as being one of the best quarterbacks in the nation this season, but how does he stack up against some of the best quarterbacks in Georgia football history through their first six games?

Stetson Bennett

"The Mailman" is a Georgia legend today, but he wasn't six games into his time as Georgia's starting quarterback. In fact, six games in, the wheels fell off Bennett's first season as the starters, and the legend of "The Mailman" was nearly snuffed out.

Bennett's first three games, including the Arkansas game where he led a comeback off the bench, were really good. He shredded Auburn's and Tennessee's defenses for two big rivalry wins. After those three games, Bennett had 689 yards on 53-of-84 passing with six total touchdowns. That's the Stetson Bennett Georgia fans know and love.

The next three games were where the doubters were most vocal. Bennett had his worst stretch of games the following three weeks, Georgia lost two of those games and J.T. Daniels was the starting quarterback the next time the Bulldogs took the field. Bennett got his redemption, but those first three weeks were a mixed bag.

thens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Stetson Bennett (13) looks downfield against the Kentucky Wildcats during the first half at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Jake Fromm

Stats weren't Jake Fromm's strong suit during his first five starts. heck, he only had 84 passing yards in a 41-0 whipping of Tennessee. Through those first five games, the Notre Dame game was the only one in which he attempted more than 15 passes (29), and the Mississippi State game was the only one in which he exceeded 165 yards (2017) However, Georgia won and he didn't cost the team anything. Fromm only tossed two interceptions and he made the few plays he needed to so he could assist Nick Chubb and Sony Michel.

However, much like Beck, start number six was the breakout game. Against Missouri, Fromm went 18-of-26 with 326 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He completed passes all over the field and to a variety of targets.

Aaron Murray

Murray was a bright spot in an otherwise awful stretch of games early in his redshirt freshman season. After six games, Georgia sat at 2-4 with embarrassing losses to Colorado and Mississippi State. While Murray's youth showed at times, he certainly wasn't to blame for the four-game losing skid. He didn't even have AJ Green for three of those losses.

In the 17-6 loss to South Carolina, Murray led two should-be touchdown drives. One included a dropped pass in the end zone leading to a field goal, and the other ended with a fumble at the goal line. A week later, Murray led two fourth-quarter touchdown drives to erase a 24-10 deficit, though the Razorbacks answered with a game-winning touchdown in the final minute to win 31-24.

After two more losses, Murray and the Bulldogs unloaded their frustrations on Tennessee with a 41-14 victory. Murray went 17-of-25 with 266 yards and a pair of touchdowns, on top of seven carries for 41 yards and two more touchdowns.

Those six games may have been rough, but Murray was efficient going 97-of-157 with 1,366 yards and 14 total touchdowns. These games were the genesis of what would become a record-setting career for the Tampa, Fla. native.

DJ Shockley

Carson Beck's journey at Georgia is most reminiscent of DJ Shockley's. Both waited for years behind beloved, championship-winning quarterbacks. Beck never entered the transfer portal; and while the portal didn't exist in the early 2000s, transferring was certainly still an option for Shockley.

After all that time, when they finally earned the starting job, both quarterbacks dominated. Shockley's numbers weren't as impressive as Beck's, but he still threw for 1,464 yards, ran for 224, and scored 14 total touchdowns. The Bulldogs were undefeated and highly ranked after those six games.

One difference between the two, however, was their first starts. While Beck started slow against UT-Martin, Shockley torched Boise State in his debut. he scored six touchdowns (five passing, one rushing) with 289 passing yards and 85 rushing yards. It helps that he had experience, Mark Richt utilized Shockley a lot throughout 2002-to-2004. All of Beck's stats entering 2023 were in garbage time.

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Published Oct 12, 2023