Grading Carson Beck’s brutal performance in Georgia’s Week 5 loss to Alabama

After throwing for nearly 4,000 yards in his first year as Georgia’s starting quarterback, Carson Beck could have left for the NFL and been selected on either Day 1 or Day 2 of the 2024 draft. However, Beck decided to come back, not just to boost his draft stock, but to beat Alabama after the Crimson Tide stole the SEC Championship from the undefeated Bulldogs and a spot in the four-team College Football Playoff along with it. 

In Week 5, the fifth-year QB and second-year starter got his chance at revenge, and in the first half, it couldn’t have gone worse. Georgia trailed 30-7 at the break before Beck led a furious comeback that ended with his fourth turnover of the night. Alabama held on and even punched back after Georgia grabbed the lead late in the fourth quarter, and now if Beck wants another shot at the Crimson Tide, he’ll need to ensure his team is there to meet them in the SEC title game or the 12-team CFP. 

Beck’s performance against Alabama could have been the worst of his career, and without some second-half heroics, there would be no question about it. Even with a stronger second half, NFL evaluators are beginning to rethink Beck’s place among the 2025 QB class and the college football world is scrambling to recalibrate to a world where Georgia, after 42 straight regular-season victories, can finally be had. 

Let’s dive into Beck’s night in Tuscaloosa and grade his four-turnover outing against the Crimson Tide. 

There’s an alternate universe where Georgia gets off to a hot offense start and wins this game on the road. Georgia’s overly conservative offensive coordinator Mike Bobo came out firing, letting Beck rip a throw over the middle to Dominic Lovett for a gain of 15 yards on Georgia’s first offensive play. 

Then, on the ensuing first-and-10, Beck took a deep shot to Arian Smith, who he had one-on-one down the sidelines and Smith flat-out dropped an excellent throw. Two plays later, after Trevor Etienne nearly fumbled the possession away, Beck hit Lovett for 24 yards on a slot fade with another excellent throw, but Lovett pushed off his defender and was called for offensive pass interference and disaster followed.

Beck did not get much help from his receivers in this game and he routinely faced third-and-long with an average distance on late downs of 6.20 yards, but still, he was arguably Georgia’s worst player. Yes, if Smith made the catch or Lovett didn’t get flagged, maybe Beck gets into a rhythm and isn’t forced to play from behind, but those things did happen and when the fifth-year quarterback faced adversity in the first half, he compounded his teammate’s mistakes with worse ones of his own. 

On Georgia’s second possession, Beck began the drive with a rollout, was fooled by Alabama’s zone coverage, and nearly turned the ball over with a bad throw. Two plays later it appeared that Smith ran the wrong route when Beck was intercepted, so even if we absolve the quarterback of that blunder, he still had more than enough to go around. 

Beck had never been credited with more than two turnover-worthy plays by PFF in any of his starts. He finished Week 5 with six. His worst stretch of play came just before the end of the first half. 

Georgia stopped the Crimson Tide on fourth down to give the ball back to Beck on his own 35-yard line, and on the very next play, he inexplicably threw an interception right to an underneath linebacker. Even if Beck had the touch to lay it over the top to his receiver, he was running him right into an over-the-top safety. 

Georgia’s defense again, got the ball back, turning over Milroe by the goal line, and after Deontae Lawson dropped a sure pick-six that Beck practically handed him, he was pressured and heaved a throw out of the end zone to nowhere and was called for intentional grounding and a safety. 

Yes, Carson Beck led a heroic comeback in the second half, but there were very few impressive throws during it and he added two more turnovers. Down 30-7, he could play with reckless abandon, and his downfield aggressiveness paid off with big plays that, combined with repeated defensive stops after Kirby Smart’s halftime adjustments, got the Bulldogs back into the game, and eventually into the lead. 

For the game, Beck only completed 52.9% of his throws (27/51), and on his staggering 17 attempts of over 20 yards downfield, he completed just five, which accounted for 199 of his 439 yards. 

So, yeah, maybe Beck could’ve had a great game if things went right on the first two drives of the game, but it also could’ve been a whole hell of a lot worse if Alabama’s defense was able to hang onto a few more of his interceptable passes and if Georgia’s defense didn’t find an answer for Bama’s quarterback run-game with Milroe. 

This was the worst game of Carson Beck’s career at Georgia and should be very alarming for NFL evaluators who expected him to be a first-round pick this spring. The Bulldogs can’t match Texas, Tennessee, or Alabama’s talent at wide receiver, and if you thought the quarterback was good enough to make up for it, you were proven wrong on Saturday. If Smart is to win another SEC title, the big games need to be played in the 20s, not the 30s and 40s, because his offense can’t keep up without the risk of crippling turnovers.