Carson Beck’s season is officially over.
Georgia’s starting quarterback underwent successful surgery to repair his UCL in his right elbow on Monday, the school announced. He’s expected to make a full recovery, but this means that Beck will miss the entirety of College Football Playoff.
Beck initially went down in the first half of Georgia’s win over Texas in the SEC championship earlier this month. His arm was hit hard by a Longhorns defender as he tried to make a final throw before halftime, which knocked the ball loose and left him curled up in a lot of pain on the ground.
Beck missed the second half of the game, though backup quarterback Gunner Stockton took over and led the Bulldogs to the win in overtime. That secured them a spot in the College Football Playoff and an automatic bye to the Sugar Bowl. They’ll take on Notre Dame in the quarterfinals on Jan. 1.
Georgia has reportedly been preparing to be without Beck in the playoffs ever since the injury, and had considered his return “unlikely.” Beck will finish the year having thrown for 3,485 yards, 28 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
It’s unclear how the injury will impact him in the pre-draft process. Beck was not listed in the first round of Yahoo Sports’ latest NFL mock draft, though there aren’t a ton of great quarterbacks in this draft class. If Beck can throw ahead of the draft in April, his stock could theoretically rise — though this injury will undoubtedly make that much more difficult.
Stockton went 12-of-16 for 71 yards and threw an interception against Texas in the SEC title game. Trevor Etienne ran in a 4-yard touchdown in overtime to seal the 22-19 win, though Beck returned for that play to hand the ball off. Stockton has appeared in three games this season, and has thrown for 206 yards and completed 25 passes. The sophomore was a four-star Rivals.com recruit and the No. 2 quarterback in his class coming out of high school.
Stockton is expected to get the start against the Fighting Irish in the Sugar Bowl. Notre Dame, which rolled over Indiana 27-17 in the first round, is listed as a 1.5-point underdog against Georgia in the quarterfinals on BetMGM.
While the Bulldogs’ chances at a third title in the last four years are undoubtedly diminished with Beck’s absence, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has had plenty of extra practice time to get Stockton ready to go.
“Well, I would say just experience [helps Stockton], right?” Smart said on Monday, via The Athletic. “I do think knowing when you get ready for an opponent like Notre Dame, you need time. … We prepared for some of that prior to that because we knew it would be one of two opponents. But I think the biggest thing is just competition and practice. The situations we put him in. All those things allow him to get better as a quarterback.”
