Despite the win over historic rivals, the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs were not fully pleased with their performance against the Florida Gators. Kirby Smart was visibly frustrated with many elements within his offense. In particular with Nate Frazier’s excessive celebration which resulted in a penalty. After the game, Smart sent an emphatic message, and warning, to his players.
As Georgia trailed Florida 6-13 midway through the third quarter, freshman running back Nate Frazier rushed into the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown. However, it was no cause for fireworks or celebration from Kirby Smart. Frazier celebrated with a Gator Chomp and a throat-slash gesture, which earned him an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty—and drew Smart’s ire.
After the game, Smart was asked on the heated exchange he had with Frazier on the field and the Dawgs head coach expanded on what he thought of the freshman’s conduct for doing the infamous celly in college football against the Gators.
“Just told him, ‘Don’t be stupid, man. We’re not selfish people at Georgia,” Kirby Smart said, via On3. “We don’t, I mean, I’m not interested in all the shenanigans. We’re meat and potatoes. We roll our sleeves up, we go to work every day. I’m not interested in you gator-chomping and throat-slashing. It’s not respectful.“
“I mean, I want to be respectful of the game and the people we play. And I think the best way to attack somebody is beat them.”
Smart on Carson Beck’s struggles
Georgia’s 2024 NCAA season has been hindered repeatedly by the QB’s woes. Although the team remains on top of the SEC and among the favorites to the National Title, Beck’s struggles have been a headache for Smart and the offense. However, Smart is confident on him and has sent him a strong message after another multi-turnovers outing.
“He continues to grow and mature. He’s not perfect,” Smart told media after the game. “I think that he puts a lot of pressure on himself, and we got to to continue to help him. I mean, he did some really good things. There’s things that go unnoticed.
“What he can’t do is throw the ball late over the middle, and we’ve got to do a better job protecting him. But the two plays that he would want back were late, scramble, throw-it-up plays. And to be honest with you, he hasn’t done that much, you know? He’s always been smart.“
Beck’s stats
Through eight games in the season, Carson Beck has had a very irregular performance. The Bulldogs QB is the fifth QB with the most INTs thrown in college football. Beck leads the SEC in that category. So far, Beck has passed for 2,302 yards, 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
For reference, he only threw six interceptions in the 2023 season. With (at least) four games to go in the season, Beck has almost doubled his INT total. Moreover, the QB is on a big slump as of late: over the last five games, Beck has thrown 10 touchdowns against 11 turnovers.