Three questions for Georgia football on Carson Beck, Dillon Bell and defensive starts

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — If Georgia football crushed Tennessee’s face with a Hobnail Boot 22 years ago on a David Greene-to-Verron Haynes touchdown pass, the Bulldogs under Kirby Smart have buried the Volunteers under a parking lot outside Neyland Stadium.

In four games under Smart, Georgia has outscored Tennessee 163-41.

The latest drilling was 38-10 Saturday.

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“I don’t know how many first-round draft picks they’ll have,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. “They’re so big, long, athletic, physical, play with great fundamentals, technique. It’s a good football team. To do what they’ve done, you have to be a good team.”

Here are three questions for the Bulldogs heading into Saturday’s regular season finale at Georgia Tech

Is Carson Beck in the conversation for the Heisman Trophy?

Well, in the third quarter of the Texas-Iowa State game Saturday night, Fox Sports threw up a Heisman watch graphic with Washington’s Michael Penix, Oregon’s Bo Nix and Georgia’s Carson Beck.

“All Carson Beck does is continue to win and win and be unbelievably efficient,” Fox analyst Brock Huard said.

He said Beck’s game against Alabama in the SEC championship game could be defining in his Heisman chances.

Beck completed 24 of 30 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns against Tennessee.

His 196.4 efficiency rating was his second best of the season behind only the 51-13 win against Kentucky.

Beck now has 21 touchdowns and five interceptions with 3,320 yards passing.

It didn't sneak up on him.

“No surprise,” Beck said. “I have super high expectations for myself. They’re only going to continue to get higher.”

Georgia was 9 of 13 on third downs and 5 of 5 in the red zone Saturday with a touchdown on every trip.

Getting to New York would be quite an accomplishment for the first-year starter. That means getting in the top four vote getters.

Did Dillon Bell’s TD pass trump Kenny McIntosh’s in the Orange Bowl?

I asked that question to Bell in the cramped interview room after the game.

Here’s what he said: “Nah, I wouldn’t say all that. That’s my dog.”

Bell’s 18-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint was the first by a Bulldog wide receiver since Terry Godwin threw to Malcolm Mitchell for 44 yards in the Taxslayer Bowl in the 2015 season. It was the first by a non-quarterback since running back McIntosh's pass to AD Mitchell for 18 yards in the Orange Bowl in the 2021 season.

On a day when Ladd McConkey played sparingly with an ankle injury and Rara Thomas left the game with a foot sprain, Bell came up big.

The sophomore had five catches for 90 yards and a touchdown on a 4-yard catch, returned a kickoff 25 yards and completed the TD pass to Rosemy-Jacksaint.

“That’s my guy,” Bell said. “It’s like a secret connection. So that was pretty fun.”

Bell played some wildcat quarterback during high school in Houston.

"Great competitor,” Smart said. “When his number is called, he’s ready. He made plays on back-shoulder 50-50 balls, made a great play that Bobo put together for him with the opportunity to get the toss pass, and the runs after the catch were big. So, he stepped up big today and we continue to have guys do that when other guys are down."

Beck said he pitched the ball to Bell “and looked out of the corner of my eye and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s a touchdown.’”

Georgia football, defer or not defer?

Given Georgia’s problems yielding touchdowns on its first defensive possession, will Smart choose to receive the ball to start the game if it wins the next coin toss instead of deferring and getting the ball to begin the second half?

That’s doubtful. Smart would surely say he still has confidence in his defense which still gave up just 10 points and 277 total yards Saturday.

Coaches also love getting the ball to start the third quarter.

Georgia has surrendered touchdowns on its opening defensive possession five games in a row. It won the toss and deferred three times during the stretch including against Tennessee. Ole Miss and Missouri won the toss and deferred in the other two games.

Tennessee burst up the middle and scored on a 75-yard touchdown run by Jaylen Wright.

"I talked to (Glenn) Schumann before the game, 'Just let them score so we can get this over with,'" Smart said.

Tip the waiters. He’ll be here all week.

Smart turned more serious.

“We probably got a little aggressive there, and didn’t fit a play right,” he said. “It’s simple. We just didn’t have a guy in the gap and the secondary has to get the guy on the ground.”

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Is Georgia football QB Carson Beck in the Heisman Trophy conversation?