Aaron Murray was in the broadcast booth Saturday in Starkville calling Mississippi State’s game against UMass while Georgia football quarterback Carson Beck’s rough outing in Jacksonville crossed his radar.
Beck threw three more interceptions in the 34-20 win against Florida, which was going on at the same time as Murray’s SEC Network game.
Here’s what the former Georgia quarterback’s reaction was as he watched replays.
“Frustration,” Murray said. “I know and I think a lot of people know how good he is and how good he can be. We’ve seen that last year, we’ve seen that at times this year. It’s a little frustrating because, listen, it’s the No. 1 responsibility of the quarterback to take care of the football. He didn’t have that problem a year ago.”
After having just six interceptions all of last season, Beck now has an SEC-high 11 interceptions heading into Saturday’s game at No. 12 Ole Miss, all in the last five games. He’s had multiple interceptions in four of the last five games including three at Alabama, Texas and against Florida.
Murray dove into the coach’s tape of the Georgia game on Sunday morning and came away thinking Beck’s showing wasn’t as bad as he thought it might be on a day Beck went 25-of-40 for 309 yards and had two touchdowns.
“A lot of big-time throws were made,” Murray said. “I thought the offense moved the ball, really, really well. It’s just three plays. There were a couple of other plays too, that you’re like, ‘Man, why are you throwing the football there,’ but overall 80 percent of the game, I’d say it’s like good, winning football.”
Beck also had a near interception and two passes batted down at the line of scrimmage, but coach Kirby Smart saw it like Murray. Smart gets with coaches including offensive coordinator Mike Bobo after each game and saw a lot to like from Beck despite the turnovers.
Smart said “decision-making,” is what’s led to Beck’s interceptions.
“I think that’s the bottom line,” Smart said. “I was more pleased after watching the tape than anything. I mean, he got 73 snaps, he had 68 winning decisions, really good decisions, and 68 of 73 is pretty good in any sport I’m in. The concern is the mistakes can’t be catastrophic.”
That’s a word that Bobo has used through the years including to Murray when he coached him and Murray referenced it earlier in a phone interview when talking about Beck.
“I think he feels he has to be Superman and I don’t think he has to be,” Murray said. “Right now, if he plays within the system I think they’ll be fine. The receivers are playing better. You’re seeing more consistency from them. …Bobo used to tell me all the time, don’t turn a bad play into a catastrophe.”
Smart said Beck’s two interceptions on passes over the middle “weren’t great looks defensively against that call, like we were expecting something else. So when that happens, you’ve got to play for the next down, right, the most common thing in football. You’ve got to be willing to concede a down and move on. Especially when it’s first down and both of those were.”
Beck’s 11 interceptions are the most for a Georgia quarterback since Murray had 14 in his second season in 2011. That came during a season in which he threw for 3,149 yards and 35 touchdowns.
“I know the stresses of playing quarterback at Georgia,” said Murray, the SEC’s career leader in passing yards and touchdowns. “At times, I pressed, too, and made some pretty bad mistakes so I get it.”
Only three FBS quarterbacks have more interceptions this season than Beck and only Syracuse’s Kyle McCord with 12 has more among Power 4 quarterbacks.
“Carson Beck’s regression is real,” former ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay said on “The McShay Show,” podcast.
McShay said Beck “misses the comfort level of Ladd McConkey and the security blanket of Brock Bowers. …For some reason, he does not trust his weapons.” He said he doesn’t see Beck “pressing, but I don’t see an awful lot of care for protecting the football in certain situations. There’s just throws you can’t make, man.”
Said Murray: “He just has to learn at times, too, those guys on defense are on scholarship, they’re going to make plays. Florida is an improved defense. Ole Miss this weekend is a really good defense. At times, it’s just not going to be there. There’s nothing wrong with just throwing the football away, eating it, checking it down, punting the football. You don’t have to score 40 points to win. We’re not Miami.”
Murray said Beck needs to trust the pass catchers.
That’s something that the SEC Network’s Jordan Rodgers pinpointed during SEC Nation on Saturday morning because of route-running issues.
“He doesn’t trust where they’re going to be and when they’re going to be there,” Rodgers said. “That’s causing him to play slow, throw some interceptions and some uncharacteristic times of throwing the ball into coverage.”
Beck was considered the possible QB1 for the NFL draft this summer, but draft analyst Dane Brugler at The Athletic tabbed Beck as a third-round pick this week.
“Beck has NFL tools,” Brugler wrote. “But when things haven’t gone according to plan, he has struggled to make second-reaction plays and create.”
Beck bounced back after three interceptions to complete 12 of his next 14 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns.
“He’d probably have 12 or 13 completions in a row if the guys would get their signals and know what they’re supposed to do in the perimeter,” Smart said after the Florida game.
Georgia had a third-down incompletion in the fourth quarter where there appeared to be miscommunication with Dillon Bell, something that has occurred more often this season with Beck and receivers.
“It doesn’t take but one,” Smart said Monday. “You can do 52 of those right and you do one wrong and the one wrong is the one that people talk about.”
Beck and Georgia have found ways to win every game except for one this season.
“There’s a quality now when you look across the NFL, when you look across all sports, you look across the quarterback position, resiliency is a huge trait,” Smart said. “The one thing this guy has done when he’s had to, he’s gone out with his back against the wall and made some throws.”
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