ATHENS — Georgia fans will have the gift of football before them at Sanford Stadium on Saturday with the playing of the annual G-Day Game.
Most all eyes will follow the football, and on offense play funnels through the quarterback, making it the most popular and talked about position on the team.
The Bulldogs are no different, with returning starting quarterback Stetson Bennett a local legend with his rise from walk-on status to CFP Championship Game MVP last January.
Backup quarterbacks get talked about, too, and that’s especially the case at Georgia with former Alabama commit Carson Beck and Oklahoma commit Brock Vandagriff.
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Coach Kirby Smart has been especially pleased with the growth and development in the quarterback room, making it one of the strongest position groups on the team entering Saturday’s action.
“I feel like Carson and Brock have really moved in terms of their ability to make decisions, to handle the offense, to handle everything that goes into being a quarterback with our offense,” Smart said Tuesday on the Buck Belue Show on 680 AM.
“That’s lot of decision-making, a lot of protections, a lot of communications and they both have done a really good job of getting better with that.”
History suggests Smart will pair Bennett with early enrollee freshman Gunner Stockton on one team, giving Bennett the vast majority of the reps, and have Beck and Vandagriff split reps on the other team.
Nothing is set in stone, however, and Smart has made it a point to make sure the backups have been getting plenty of work.
Injuries have led Georgia to start multiple quarterbacks each of the past two seasons, derailing a potential national championship season in 2020.
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Indeed, as good as the Bulldogs’ defense was in 2021, the 2020 team also had elite cornerbacks Eric Stokes and Tyson Campbell, and even more defensive line depth with Jermaine Johnson and Malik Herring.
Smart has made it a point to provide opportunities each spring to build difference-making depth.
“You only get better by taking the reps,” Smart said “so thank goodness we have been able to get them (Beck and Vandagriff) a lot of work.
“Carson and Brock …. have both grown immensely, and from start to finish, Gunner Stockton has.”
Beck, a third-year player from Jacksonville, Fla., has appeared in five games the past two seasons, with career stats of 10-of-23 passing for 176 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions and five rushes for 15 yards.
Beck was 22-of-31 passing for 236 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in last year’s G-Day Game, exiting spring drills as the No. 2 quarterback.
Vandagriff, a second-year player from nearby Bogart, Ga., appeared in two games last season and is 0-for-1 passing.
Vandagriff was 6-of-9 passing for 47 yards in the G-Day Game last year.
The Bulldogs open the season on Sept. 3 against Oregon in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
