Grading Carson Beck’s performance in Georgia’s Week 3 win over Kentucky

There were plenty of things that went wrong for Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs in their 13-12 Week 3 win over Kentucky. It was such a concerning performance that Georgia, despite winning its 42nd consecutive regular season contest, fell from No. 1 to No. 2 in the country this week. 

The SEC opener did not go as planned for the conference favorites, trailing 9-3 late in the third quarter, it looked like Georgia could take a loss before reaching the gauntlet that includes road trips to No. 1 Texas, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Ole Miss and a visit to Athens from No. 6 Tennessee. However, the Bulldogs veteran quarterback was able to make just enough throws to keep his team in it and escape with a win. 

For the many issues on Saturday night, Carson Beck wasn’t one of the biggest. That’s why for Week 3, he grades out surprisingly well. 

Beck didn’t throw a touchdown pass in Lexington after tossing four against Kentucky in a 51-6 win against the Wildcats a year ago. That performance was arguably Beck’s coming out party in his first season as the Georgia starter and began a rise that culminated in him being the consensus top NFL prospect at the position heading into this year. While he wasn’t great against Kentucky in 2024, there wasn’t much reason for evaluators to change their minds about Beck’s future in the league. 

He finished just 15/24 for 160 yards passing, but he didn’t leave a ton of meat on the bone. Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo had a very conservative game plan that was wrecked by Kentucky’s physical defensive line and an early injury to Georgia’s All-American right guard Tate Ratledge. 

For the game, Georgia ran the ball on early downs 63% of the time and produced just a 35% success rate on those 26 carries while on Beck’s 15 early down passes, the Bulldogs generated a 53% success rate. The lack of traction on the ground often left Beck in third and long situations which explains him creating just two third-down conversions through the air. 

Beck still deserves to be dinged a bit for a lack of late-down success. For the game, Georgia was 5-11 on third down and 1-1 on fourth, but on late-down dropbacks, Beck generated 0.07 EPA/pass, and one of his two conversions through the air was a pass that went through the hands of a Kentucky defender before Dominic Lovett plucked it out of the air for a first down. 

Georgia’s first trip to the Kentucky side of the field came with 4:45 left in the second quarter courtesy of a fumble recovery by its defense. After three plays and Beck throwing into double coverage for an incompletion on third-and-3, was forced to kick a field goal. 

The Bulldogs were down 9-3 when Beck first touched the ball in the second half and Bobo was clearly more aggressive. Beck missed an open deep shot on the first snap, but on the very next play bounced back layering a throw into the second level of Kentucky’s defense to Lovett while under pressure for a 33-yard gain. That was followed by a five-yard loss on a first-down run, a theme with Bobo, and a false start that set up second-and-20 when Beck ripped another accurate pass over the middle of the field to Dillon Bell, who he had missed three plays earlier. 

That drive eventually stalled out for a field goal, but again that had to do with Georgia’s offensive line allowing pressure and getting no push in the run game. Trevor Etienne finally got going on the ground on Georgia’s next possession before a Branson Robinson three-yard touchdown run gave Georgia its 13-12 lead. 

Beck made a few more impressive throws but didn’t need to do more than he did to close out the game. Georgia’s passing game was far from perfect, but if Smart wants to avoid more close calls, he must implore Bobo to put the game in Beck’s hands more often and allow him to throw on early downs to avoid constantly being behind the sticks.