There was no white smoke coming out of Georgia’s football facility on Tuesday night. All eyes are focused on the quarterback battle during Spring camp for Georgia. Although we didn’t get an answer on who is winning or leading the competition, we instead got to hear from the contenders. Carson Beck and Brock Vandagriff spoke to the media on Tuesday after practice. It was the first time the media was able to hear from the quarterbacks. It no longer seems to be a three-way competition at quarterback. Gunnar Stockton is now working with mostly the twos and threes. Before we dig into what each quarterback had to say, here was Kirby Smart’s assessment of the Georgia quarterback competition after the team’s first scrimmage on Saturday.
Kirby Smart: Ebb and Flow
Turn the page. That was the message when the Dawgs Spring camp started. The 2022 season is over. There are 21 new faces working in Spring camp that were not an active part of the team when the confetti rang down at SoFi stadium in January. The team held its first scrimmage on Saturday. Although pleased with the team’s effort, Smart found the first scrimmage to be like many of the first scrimmages in his previous seasons: in need of work. “We don’t tackle well, a little lackadaisical. Probably more penalties than I am used to having on the first scrimmage. Administrative penalties, signals getting in, delay of game, communication, things that you shouldn’t have but we typically have in the first scrimmage.” As for the quarterback competition, he saw both good and bad things in his quarterbacks. Some things were really good, but others still needed some work.
Smart praised Beck’s command of the offense. “He understands it inside and out, communicates it, and gets things correct. He had a couple of poor decisions and choices today, but he also made some plays, made some really good throws.”
Smart commented on Vandagriff’s playmaking ability during the scrimmage. “He (Vandagriff) made some plays getting out of the pocket and some good throws. And he had a couple of downfield throws that I think he wished he had back, to give us a chance in some 50/50 situations. He did a really good job in two-minute.”
Carson Beck: Deep Breaths
Beck spoke of the importance of being the backup last year and having the opportunity to get in-game reps. “Last year was really big for me. Stetson (Bennett) had a great year and went out on top, which was awesome. But, you know, he did really well, in certain games, and we got up big, I got to, you know, get some experience and a few of those games.” The nation got a chance to see Beck during the 4th quarter of the National Championship game. Rather than come in and just hand the ball off, Todd Monken allowed Beck to throw a little bit. Beck completed 2/3 passes for 31 yards. Overall, he completed almost 75% of his passes for the season for over 300 yards and four touchdowns.
Beck has worked on dealing with and handling adversity during Spring camp. Something that he has had to work on overtime as a quarterback. “I was really bad at it. Sometimes I still get pretty upset but I think I’ve learned how to tone it down in a sense and kind of figure it out.” Beck said he has worked this Spring on Taking a deep breath and getting out of his own head.
Brock Vandagriff: Control the Controllable
Quinn Ewers wasn’t the only one to get a haircut this Spring. Vandagriff still has his beard but looks like he trimmed his hair heading into Spring practice. Vandagriff was asked how he is handling the competition. He responded by sharing that his focus is on trying to control the controllable. “Everybody’s gonna say that they have belief and trust in themselves and I base a lot of my life on my faith. I believe that God has a plan for me, regardless of where I’m at, or what I’m doing. I’m gonna be here and I’m gonna do my job every day and what’s asked of me and control the controllable.” Vandagriff focus is on the reps he is given and doing his best job.
Vandagriff is the son of a football coach. Greg Vandagriff is the head coach at Prince Avenue Christian School in Athens. Vandagriff shared a piece of advice his dad gave him on the Georgia quarterback competition. “The best advice that my dad ever gave me was just you have to take coaching. Look my coaches dead in the eye and say yes sir. Whether you like it or not. If you have the explanation if they were wrong, you can tell them in the meeting room they don’t want to hear it on the field.”
Competition: The Georgia Way
Neither quarterback shied away from questions about the Georgia quarterback competition. Beck was asked if he felt it was “his turn” to be the quarterback after being a backup for four years. Beck was quick to respond that each year is different and he would have to earn the spot. “Since I’ve been here, it’s been constant competition since my freshman year. We have a very deep quarterback room. We have deep rooms all over the place. We’re at the University of Georgia, we’re one of the best programs in the country. Every position has competition, that’s what brings the best out of all of us.”
Vandagriff spoke of how the competition can help in learning and growing as a quarterback. “We have three or four dudes that are just biting at the nip every time their out there. After a play, if I got a question, I can turn around and ask somebody what do they see what do you see in this play? And it’s just a really healthy competition because everyone’s pushing the others to be great. Then you can turn around in the meeting rooms and say, Hey, I think could have done this but what do you see on this play? And it’s just a group good environment.”
Looking ahead
The Georgia quarterback competition will be on display for the fans and on ESPN2 on April 15th at the G-Day Game. The two will continue to split reps with the ones and neither will likely be a named starter at the end of camp. The competition is likely to continue into the season. Georgia has a soft opening with Tennessee Martin and Ball State to start the season in 2023.
Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK
