LEXINGTON, Ky. — Carson Beck was wrapping up his postgame press scrum on Saturday night, a Georgia official signaling Beck needed to go. Reporters pulled away, but Beck lingered a moment, reaching down for his water bottle. A friendly photographer patted Beck on the back.
“You all right?” he asked.
Beck just looked away, and let out a sigh, long and dramatic. That said enough.
No. 1 Georgia did enough to win a football game on Saturday night, and time may tell that the manner in which it did, rallying to eke out a 13-12 win at Kentucky, proves fortuitous.
“I don’t know much about this team, but I found out more tonight than I’ve known to this point,” coach Kirby Smart said afterwards.
So maybe this was good. Maybe it was needed. But if Georgia is going to survive tougher opponents — starting with Alabama in two weeks — it needs something else: an offense that stops playing with fire.
There is some thought that Georgia won’t be that great at scoring points this year. David Pollack, the former ESPN analyst and Georgia linebacker, made an observation during the game that echoed what others have whispered.
This will be very unpopular amongst Georgia fans. I see a lot of really good players on offense but I don’t see a lot of great.
— David Pollack (@davidpollack47) September 15, 2024
Pollack and others may end up having a point. Georgia may sorely miss Brock Bowers (a first-round pick) and Ladd McConkey (an early second-round pick). After all, when those two were limited in last year’s SEC championship game, you saw what happened. There may not be That Guy on this year’s offense, which may prove to be this team’s undoing.
But there have also been enough moments so far this season to show that what Georgia does have can be good enough. After starting slow against a very good Clemson defense, Beck lit up the stat sheet with throws to a bevy of receivers. After an even slower start against Kentucky, the Bulldogs found enough to scrounge out a touchdown. And when they needed to ice the game, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo felt confident enough to call passes on two consecutive second downs, with Beck connecting with Dominic Lovett and then Oscar Delp for two key first downs.
It’s true, there doesn’t appear to be a sure first-round pick among this year’s receivers, tight ends and running backs. But there also aren’t any weak points. Georgia has five veteran wide receivers who can win in single coverage and make big catches: Lovett, Dillon Bell, Arian Smith, Colbie Young and London Humphreys. It has at least two tight ends who can do that, too: Delp and Lawson Luckie. And tailback Trevor Etienne can make plays in the passing game.
The optimistic case for the Georgia offense: It’s well-rounded, led by an experienced and good quarterback, and has shown it can turn it on when it matters most. Plus, as long as the Georgia defense is very good, the offense doesn’t have to score 30 points every game.
The pessimistic case: You’ve seen the schedule, right? If Georgia keeps starting slow and keeps putting pressure on the defense to buy it time to figure things out, it will pay the price in future games, plural. Two games, maybe three.
Smart was asked Saturday night whether his offense was playing with fire, and while he understood the question, he took it a different direction.
“I wouldn’t call that playing with fire, I’d call that not playing,” Smart said. “I guess you’re talking about dangerous, I’m talking about playing with your hair on fire. I do think they play hard. I think we have a really good offensive staff, we have a good offense, we’ve got good people around him and we have a good quarterback. We’ve got to do a good job to go out and execute.”
The offense never found a rhythm in this game, as Smart said, and even when it got going, scoring 10 points over its first two possessions in the second half, it stalled in the third possession, allowing Kentucky to stay in the game.
You can’t blame Bobo for his in-game adjustments this year. He went pass-heavy against Clemson once he saw the run game was going to be tough, and the result was a runaway win. Instead of running the ball with under three minutes left against Kentucky, he called a deep shot to Lovett, knowing again the run game wouldn’t get it done.
Maybe you cam blame Bobo for the offense starting slow in both games. Or maybe the offense is still finding its identity in the post-Bowers/McConkey world, one in which there is no clear No. 1 receiver and the No. 1 tailback is new to the team. In the meantime, the offense has plugged away, and taken care of the ball, with zero turnovers in three games.
Beck was clear that he thought the offense should have played better Saturday night, but he also pointed out the team adjusted to the circumstances. Those circumstances were a physical Kentucky defense that played well, motivated by all the shots it took after a 31-6 home loss to South Carolina.
“You don’t need to make any excuses, we didn’t come in here and play our brand of football,” Beck said. “I mean, a lot of credit to them, they played phenomenal. They challenged us over and over again. It is what it is. But we pulled out the win.”
Yes, they did. But how many more can they pull out with slow starts? And will the offensive line, expected to be one of the best in the nation, be more consistent, even if it has to be without right guard Tate Ratledge for an extended period? (It’s not clear how bad his knee and ankle injuries are, Smart said afterwards.)
It’s also possible this is focusing too much on the offense. If the defense keeps preventing touchdowns — the last team to find the end zone against the Bulldogs was Alabama in last year’s SEC championship — then the offense can get by with ball control and well-timed big plays. But as great as the defense looks, nobody expects it to keep Jalen Milroe, Quinn Ewers, Jaxson Dart and Nico Iamaleava all in check. This is today’s college football. People score points. The best defense is still a good offense.
And Georgia may still have that, as ugly as it looked Saturday.
“I actually think they have a really good defense,” Smart said of Kentucky. “And I think Clemson has a really good defense. And I think we’ve got a really good offense. We’ve got to do a better job of starting faster.”
(Photo: Carter Skaggs / Imagn Images)
