ATHENS — Carson Beck shrugged off his worst throw of the night. Throwing 4 touchdown passes and a career-best 389 yards allows you to do that.
“I was definitely feeling myself. I tried to fit that one in there a little bit,” Beck said of his third-quarter interception. “I missed a little bit high. It happens, it’s football. It’s all good.”
Beck is quickly showing why expectations were so high for the fourth-year quarterback at the start of the season. He’s topped 300 yards passing in three straight starts. Aaron Murray was the last Georgia quarterback to do that back in 2013.
Unlike previous starts, Beck didn’t wait until the second half to get going against No. 20 Kentucky on Saturday. He ended each of Georgia’s first three drives with touchdown passes.
“I’m proud of Carson. I told Carson he’s shooting out there like Steph Curry,” running back Kendall Milton said. “He’s been talked about so much, he’s been doubted, overlooked. For him to come out and have a game like this, I’m happy for him.”
Beck completed his first 13 passes of the night and finished the first half with 307 passing yards on 21 of 26 pass attempts. The Bulldogs led 34-7 at halftime.
His first real error came in the third quarter when he tried to fire in a third-down pass to Dominic Lovett. The pass was intercepted by Kentucky’s Maxwell Hairston. The ensuing return helped set up Kentucky’s final touchdown of the night.
Beck got back to basics though and for a second-straight week hit Brock Bowers for a touchdown on his last pass of the game. His day was done as the Bulldogs led 44-13 at the end of the third quarter.
“It gets everyone going. The offense is flowing and executing,” Bowers said of Beck’s play. “Everyone is having a good time out there and good things happen.”
Beck played a stellar second half against Auburn last Saturday, quieting many of the critics Milton referenced. Georgia put forth its most dominant offensive showing on Saturday, racking up 608 yards of offense and 51 total points.
The Georgia quarterback downplayed the idea of any carryover when speaking to reporters after the game. As his coach often says, the goal is to win every moment and not let previous plays impact future ones.
Beck did that more often than not on Saturday against Kentucky. A week after Kentucky’s defense had its best defensive performance of the season against Florida, Beck skinned the Wildcats. Consider that last year Stetson Bennett completed only 13 of his 19 pass attempts for 116 passing yards.
Georgia’s regular season is half over at this point. Beck is running out of things he hasn’t done this season. He’s made his first career start. He’s gone on the road and won for the first time.
Saturday was his first game against a ranked team. Beck aced that test.
Yet as his interception showed, this offense still has another gear to reach. More aspects to improve on if the Bulldogs are going to win a third-straight national championship.
Beck continues to look like the guy who is more than capable of doing that.
“We’re starting to mesh more and starting to find that bond between each other, find that execution piece,” Beck said. “The running game was working well tonight, the pass game works well. Those kind of feel off of each other and obviously that only benefits me and the offense.”
