The Georgia Bulldogs, preparing to face Notre Dame in the Allstate Sugar Bowl in a little less than 10 days as the College Football Playoff continues, made it official on Monday: they won’t have quarterback Carson Beck for that game, or for any future games this season.
Beck injured his elbow, his right elbow and throwing arm, during the Bulldogs’ Southeastern Conference Championship Game against Texas in Atlanta on Dec. 7. Beck left the game but did return to make a handoff on a run play late in it, but his status for the CFP has been in question since then.
It’s no longer in purgatory. Beck had surgery Monday to repair what’s called the ulnar collateral ligament, and won’t be available, for sure, when the ‘Dawgs (11-2) face the Fighting Irish (12-2) in New Orleans on Jan. 1, the final game of New Year’s Day, and the final game of the CFP’s second round.
Beck was replaced in the 22-19 overtime win over Texas by prized Georgia recruit and former in-state high school star Gunner Stockton. Georgia trailed 6-3 at halftime, and Stockton, who didn’t burn it up (he was 12-of-16 for just 71 yards, an interception and no touchdowns), is likely to be a little more efficient for his first-ever start for UGA on Jan. 1.
Stockton was injured, too, in the game against the Longhorns, but only briefly after a running play near the Texas goal line, a hit that knocked his helmet off and into the air. That was when Beck came in to hand off to Trevor Etienne for a 4-yard score that would win the game, and the SEC Championship for Georgia.
The Bulldogs had a first-round bye as a result, and were awaiting the Notre Dame-Indiana winner. Notre Dame blasted Indiana, 27-17 (the game was much more decisive than the final score: Indiana scored two touchdowns in the last 1:25).
Beck, 22, was thought to be an entrant in the 2025 NFL Draft at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, but now, with the injury, who knows? Beck had passed for 3,485 yards, 28 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 2024.
