Not much went wrong for Carson Beck in No. 1 Georgia’s 51-13 win over No. 20 Kentucky on Saturday.
Beck set career highs in passing yards, completions, and touchdowns. The Jacksonville, Fl., native completed 28-of-35 passes for 389 yards, four passing scores and one interception in the win.
Beck felt as if the offense had a very balanced attack, saying the pass and run games fed off each other.
"I mean, as we continue to play I think, not even just me individually but us collectively as an offense, we’re starting to mesh more and starting to find that bond between each other, find that execution piece," Beck said after the game. "The running game was working well tonight, the passing game works well. They kind of feed off of each other and that only benefits me and the offense."
In total, Georgia racked up a season-high 608 yards of total offense. Beck and backup quarterback Brock Vandagriff combined to pass for 435 yards and five touchdowns, while 10 different Bulldog rushers totaled 173 yards on 31 carries (5.6 yards per attempt) for one score.
Georgia scored on nine of 11 offensive drives, another season-high at 82 percent. The Bulldogs also scored on four drives of over 70-plus yards, with touchdowns being the end result on all of them. Their offense was also perfect in the red zone, scoring on all six trips inside the UK 20-yard line.
Beck also finished the first half 21-for-26 passing for 307 yards and tied his career high with three touchdowns. He is the first Bulldog quarterback since Aaron Murray in 2013 to have three straight games of 300-plus passing yards. Beck also completed his first 13 passes against the Wildcats.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was impressed with how his offense scored on every drive in the first half.
“It’s incredible. You’re in the rhythm and you don’t realize that you score every possession. I knew the offense was lacking and they ate up a lot of the clock because we actually didn’t play great defensively in the first half,” Smart said. “Our offense had the ball the whole time. Great job by our offensive staff because they had a great game plan. I had challenged them because this defense had given us fits. We have really struggled with Kentucky’s defense, and they attacked them.”
Georgia struggled earlier this season with slow starts and scoring touchdowns inside the red zone, but in the last two weeks against Auburn and Kentucky, those two areas of its offense have vastly improved. The Bulldogs are slowly starting to gain confidence offensively as the season progresses.
Georgia (6-0, 3-0 SEC) currently ranks second in the conference in average yards per game (502.33), third in passing yards per game (349.67) and third in points per game (40.67) through six weeks.
According to Beck, the offense performed at its “highest level” and nothing could have gone wrong.
"I think the biggest thing for us each week is obviously to go out there and execute at the highest level, and come out with a win no matter the score,” Beck said. “Tonight, it felt like we couldn't go wrong with any play that was called in. We did what we did. We were able to execute at a high level, and then once we get the ball in the guy's hands, then they're making plays after the catch, which moves the ball faster and you get down the field faster. It just ends up turning into touchdowns."