Georgia didn’t allow the new SEC member to leave the conference powerhouses in their dust. The Bulldogs defeated Steve Sarkisian and Texas in a close 22-19 OT win in the SEC Championship game. But at what cost? Kirby Smart’s crown star QB Carson Beck suffered an ugly injury on his throwing hand. Georgia is now a guaranteed playoff team, but what’s their play caller’s status? Will he be back for the playoffs?

On December 9, The Next Round posted a video of Kirby Smart addressing their unstable quarterback situation. The concerned HC said, “There’s no good script for losing a quarterback… but this situation does give you time if that’s what has to happen. There is time there. But experience is so valuable, and you can’t really get experience in this amount of time.” Does this mean we could be seeing a change from Carson Beck to Gunner Stockton in the playoffs? 

Let’s rewind to the first half of the SEC Championship game. It was intense, ugly, and wild. Texas’ outside linebacker Trey Moore hit Carson Beck on his throwing hand, forcing a fumble, which the Longhorns LB Anthony Hill Jr. recovered. Beck was only able to complete 7 of 13 passes for 56 yards before he exited. The injury left him out for the remainder of the game as his backup QB, Gunner Stockton, took his place. 

As of Saturday, there had been no details about Beck’s status and if he’d be returning. But Kirby Smart told ESPN that Georgia is still waiting for the result of the MRI scan that was done on Sunday morning. He stated, “I think he was pretty somber. A tough deal for him in terms of not being able to go out there and finish in the second half. But he’s also excited for his teammates and happy that it ended the way it did.” But there’s no time to hold on to expectations, and Kirby Smart is trying to find optimism in his redshirt sophomore backup if the worst case happens. 

Kirby Smart believes in Gunner Stockton 

In situations like this, the fate of a team lies in the hands of the backup player, and Gunner Stockton nailed his 30 minutes of spotlight. He took the reins in the second half and led Georgia to its first touchdown drive. Talk about a backup’s luck! But he isn’t without some costly plays. He completed 12 of 16 passes for 71 yards with an interception. 

Kirby Smart said, “The team has a lot of confidence in Gunner. He’s very smart, very intelligent. So I don’t know that it’s a lot of change.” Still, as he mentioned earlier, the lack of experience could be a problem. But at least they have time on their hands. Georgia will play the winner of Indiana vs. Notre Dame on January 1. 

Georgia’s still got three weeks in their hands. By that time, a clearer picture will form on whether Carson Beck will fully recover or if Stockton will be the playoff QB after all.