We don’t know if Carson Beck will be available for the College Football Playoff. Kirby Smart’s last update came more than a week ago, when he described Beck as looking “somber” after an MRI. There is, however, a reason Smart and his Georgia Bulldogs shouldn’t be somber or sullen or just plain sad.
The first lesson we learned about the CFP was this: You can win with a backup quarterback.
Ten years ago, Cardale Jones stepped in for all-conference quarterback J.T. Barrett, injured during Ohio State’s victory over Michigan. (Barrett began preseason as the Buckeye’s QB2, but Braxton Miller — twice the Big Ten’s offensive player of the year — was lost to shoulder surgery in mid-August.)
Step 1: Jones led Ohio State to a 59-0 victory over Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship, a victory so emphatic it enabled the Buckeyes to jump TCU in the final CFP rankings.
Step 2: In the Sugar Bowl semifinal against No. 1 Alabama, Jones helped his team — Ezekiel Elliott had a little something to do with it, rushing for 230 yards on 20 carries — spring the first playoff upset.
Step 3: Underdogs again, the Buckeyes routed No. 2 Oregon and Marcus Mariota 42-20 in the first CFP final.
Over his first three collegiate starts, all essentially elimination games, Jones completed 46 of 75 passes for 742 yards and five touchdowns. He averaged 9.9 yards per pass, which is stellar. He rushed for 90 yards. (And he was, it must be said, never that good again.)
We don’t know if Gunner Stockton can do as Jones did. We know Stockton, like Jones, was a 4-star recruit. We know Stockton, like Jones, was once third-string. (Stockton backed up Beck and Brock Vandagriff last season.) We know Stockton, like Jones, grabbed our attention in a conference title game.
Against Texas, Beck was injured on the first half’s final play. The third quarter began with Georgia trailing 6-3 and a guy who’d seen action in only six collegiate games, all of which the Bulldogs won by at least 28 points, under center. Stockton completed three passes in leading Georgia to the touchdown that changed the game. He completed three more and ran for a vital first down on the winning possession in overtime.
Being SEC champs gives the Bulldogs 24 days to prepare for the Notre Dame-Indiana winner on New Year’s Day. Had Georgia lost, it would have had 12 or 13 days to ready itself for a Round 1 game. The difference in prep time cannot be overstated. We can assume the Bulldogs already know who, come Jan. 1, their QB will be. We can assume they’ll have him as ready as is possible.
For argument’s sake, let’s say Stockton is that quarterback. It stands to reason that Smart and Mike Bobo won’t overwhelm him with permutations. If anything, the Bulldogs figure to lessen the new man’s load by doing something they didn’t do much this season — run the ball.
Only one of 16 SEC teams had fewer rushes than Georgia. Only eight of 133 FBS teams threw more passes. In the national championship season of 2021, the Bulldogs averaged 36.1 rushes and 27.1 passes. This year, they’ve averaged 37 passes and 30.8 rushes.
Much of that is a nod to reality. The Georgia of 2021 averaged 5.3 yards per carry; these Bulldogs average 4.2. Teams do less of what they don’t do well. Also: These Bulldogs spent considerable time trailing — the 2021 bunch did only against Alabama — and teams with a lead throw less. Still, the thought has occurred: With Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey playing on Sundays, should Beck have been slinging it quite so much?
It helps that Trevor Etienne is healthy. He missed four regular-season games — one while suspended, three while hurt — but had his best Georgia performance in the SEC championship. He gained 94 yards and scored both touchdowns, the overtime winner included. Just as Jones needed Elliott, Stockton will need Etienne.
Ten years ago, Urban Meyer and offensive coordinator Tom Herman won the CFP with a backup QB by feeding the ball to a powerful back — in three games without Barrett, Elliott rushed for an astonishing 696 yards — and allowing Jones to throw off play-action. As complicated as we try to make football, sometimes it’s simple. You’ve heard it before. Here it is again.
Run the ball, Bobo.
SUGAR BOWL (CFP PLAYOFF)
Georgia vs. Indiana-Notre Dame winner at New Orleans, Jan. 1, 8:45 p.m., ESPN, 750 AM, 95.5 FM
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