CFB insider blames Kirby Smart’s Georgia for Carson Beck’s rough 2024 season: “Didn't operate as smoothly”

Carson Beck will play for the Miami Hurricanes next season. The former Georgia Bulldogs quarterback transferred to the program in the winter window after struggling in 2024.

On Thursday, college football insider Greg McElroy spoke on his "Always College Football" podcast and said that Beck's struggles were not all his fault.

"Carson (Beck) was unnecessarily the recipient of a ton of blame," McElroy said. "A lot of things around him did not operate as smoothly as they could have."

Beck entered last season with high expectations placed on him. He was considered a Heisman Trophy contender and one of the best quarterbacks in all of college football. This came after he recorded strong numbers in the 2023 season, his first as the Bulldogs' starting quarterback. Georgia was also expected to play for a national championship.

Beck threw for 3,485 yards and 28 touchdowns. While these are solid numbers, he also had 12 interceptions, along with multiple games with three. These came against the Texas Longhorns, Alabama Crimson Tide and Florida Gators. These were all must-win games for the Bulldogs, and the mistakes made by Beck could have put them in jeopardy if not for the performance of the rest of the team.

However, Beck had no standout wide receiver target, and the team heavily relied on the run game to get yardage. While Beck did not play at his best, he was not given the tools by Georgia to succeed, as McElroy suggested.

Miami coach Mario Cristobal on Carson Beck

Miami coach Mario Cristobal spoke about the team's plans next season with Carson Beck.

"He fits it perfectly," Cristobal said on Thursday, via 'Always College Football.' "He’s gonna be surrounded by some really talented skill guys as well. "

Beck has the potential to be better with the Hurricanes than at Georgia, especially if he stays healthy.

About the author

Ben Tredinnick is a journalist who covers college football and college basketball at Sportskeeda who is currently studying for a masters in Data Science. His degree in Psychology has helped him gain an in-depth understanding of the minds of coaches.

Ben has been involved in sports writing since 2022 and covered the NFL previously. His strengths include providing in-depth profiles of athletes and coaches, with a particular focus on development, and looking at which teams could be in the hunt for today's college stars.

Ben enjoys following college sports more than the NBA or NFL because there is more variation in terms of playstyles. The tournaments are often more competitive than the major leagues, and due to the constant turnover of players, there are rarely any "superteams" in college sports.

He prioritizes research, looks at multiple sources and publications to make sure he gets the full picture of the story before writing. He tries not to write from a one-sided perspective to allow the reader to be able to make their mind up on their own.

A Texas Longhorns fan, as well as a massive New York Giants fan, some of his favorite college players of all time are Arch Manning, Tim Tebow and Reggie Bush.

When he is not working, Ben enjoys watching films (especially Godzilla) and spending time with his cat.

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Edited by Victor Ramon Galvez