What latest Carson Beck injury update means for Georgia’s CFP title hopes

Georgia may be blessed with a No. 2 seed in the College Football Playoff, but with Carson Beck’s injury looming over the Bulldogs hope for a national championship, how does it affect their chances?

According to Pete Nakos of On3, Beck suffered a UCL injury to his elbow in his throwing arm. He missed the second half of the SEC championship game, leaving Gunner Stockton to come in for relief. 

Beck returned for the game’s final play to hand the ball off to Trevor Etienne for the game-winning touchdown run in overtime. But he clearly was in no state to throw a football. He came in after Stockton took a massive hit the play before. 

The good thing is the Bulldogs have time for Beck to get healthy and not make a decision one way of the other. The downside is if the news isn’t good, they’d have to turn to Stockton or someone else in the most important game of the season. 

Will Carson Beck be available for the College Football Playoff and what does it mean?

According to Zach Klein of WSB in Atlanta, he said it’s more likely Beck will be out of the Sugar Bowl with the UCL injury, but nothing is official from UGA following the MRI. 

Which means for all intents and purposes, the Bulldogs will be preparing for at least one College Football Playoff game without Beck. That might not be a bad thing. 

Stockton provided a jolt for the offense when he started the second half. He scrambled around, extending plays and even threw a touchdown pass. He did have one interception. With more preparation, he might not be a bad replacement. 

He enrolled at Georgia three years ago and as a redshirt sophomore, has the experience with the program to not be a massive drop off. While he definitely looked rusty in the SEC title game, without an abrupt call to go into the game, he should look better. 

This season, Beck has been inconsistent. In big games, he’s typically regressed. Entering the Ole Miss game, he had nine interceptions — three apiece — in games against Alabama, Texas and Florida. 

The Bulldogs lost to Ole Miss, scoring just 10 points. And in the final game of the season, he was outplayed by Georgia Tech’s Haynes King. They needed eight overtimes to get past the Yellow Jackets. 

Georgia’s defense and supporting cast is as good as any other team in the country. So Stockton filling in shouldn’t be too drastic of a change. Sure there will be a grace period where he’ll need to get in sync with the receivers, but that should get cleared up a bit in the practices leading up to the Sugar Bowl. 

This could be a good scenario for the Bulldogs too. This will give them an opportunity to see if Stockon is ready to take over the program next year as Beck is likely to declare for the NFL Draft. 

And if he can lead the Bulldogs to a CFP playoff win, it will be all the confidence Smart and the Bulldogs need they not only have their guy, but can go on a run.