WATCH: Kirby Smart postgame comments after Notre Dame loss
Kirby Smart spoke to the reporters after Notre Dame loss in the Sugar Bowl
It appears Carson Beck isn’t done with college football after all.
The quarterback has reportedly reversed course after announcing Dec. 28 he was declaring for the NFL Draft and will enter the transfer portal instead after five seasons with Georgia football, On3 and ESPN.com both reported on Thursday.
Beck’s 2024 season ended with a right elbow injury sustained in the SEC Championship win over Texas.
He underwent surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament and wasn’t with the Bulldogs during their preparations for the Sugar Bowl CFP quarterfinal until before the game against Notre Dame in New Orleans.
Georgia is returning Gunner Stockton and Ryan Puglisi as its top quarterbacks.
Beck threw for 7,912 yards with 58 touchdowns and 20 interceptions at Georgia where he was a two-year starter.
He was considered a top quarterback prospect and perhaps even a No. 1 overall pick before the season, but threw 12 interceptions this past season along with 28 touchdowns and his completion percentage fell from 72.4 in 2023 to 64.7 in 2024.
“Obviously, when you look at the stats, they aren’t the same stats as the year before, but the goal is, if you’re in this league, is to win the SEC Championship,” Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said before the Sugar Bowl. “And he was the quarterback of that team that got us to that game and put us in that position. And everything is not going to be pretty, every game, but his resiliency throughout a game, whether it went good or bad, to overcome those things, whether of his own doing, of my doing as a play caller, of a drop or an execution, to be resilient and find a way to help us win football games.”
Beck was still rated a second-round quarterback by ESPN’s Matt Miller in December.
He is expected to begin throwing in the spring, Georgia had announced after his surgery.
It’s unclear if Georgia and Beck talked about returning to the Bulldogs in 2025, but coach Kirby Smart before the Sugar Bowl sounded like he liked what Stockton brought to the position and the team.
“All the players play harder for him,” Smart said. “Do you make the players around you better is what you look for in a quarterback. I think he raises the skill level of everybody around him because of who he is.”
(This story was updated to add new information.)
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