ATHENS – It's not the first time in Kirby Smart's Georgia career that his quarterback has attended the world's largest cocktail party under some form of duress.

Whether it's Jake Fromm in 2018 or Stetson Bennett in 2021, Smart has seen his quarterback face plenty of questions ahead of Georgia's biggest rivalry game.

There were no more questions, especially after these two games. Fromm was flawless in the 2018 win over the Gators, while Nolan Smith made it very clear that Bennett would be Georgia's quarterback going forward.

Smart once again notes that his team needs to defend its quarterback's play, albeit for a different reason. Unlike 2018 or 2021, neither Justin Fields nor JT Daniels are on the roster.

For Beck, it's a case of him simply not living up to his own high standards, which has welcomed the idea that there's something wrong with the quarterback.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with him. He didn’t play perfectly, but nobody does,” Smart said. “I’m very pleased with where Carson is at in terms of his leadership, his practice habits and the things we’re asking him to do. I think he’s doing a good job of that.”

Beck opened the door to some questions as he spoke to reporters after Georgia's 30-15 win over Texas. The senior quarterback was intercepted three times in the game. He has now thrown eight interceptions in Georgia's last four games.

“I was just off, it felt like the whole game,” Beck said. “I think it started right for the most part in the fourth quarter, but I mean I was just off. I mean, of course it's really difficult. I mean, I'm not saying games like this are going to happen, but, you know, games, you know, I can't control everything. I can control what I can control and I have to go back and watch film and I have to improve. I have to be better for this team.”

Smart didn't go all in on Terrell Owens in his defense of Beck, but he did acknowledge why Beck would say something like that.

“Well, I guess this will be his anyway. If you ask a kid that, they’ll say they need to play better,” Smart said. “We have to train better, we have to act better. We need the people around him to play better. That’s the responsibility a quarterback takes on, and I wouldn’t expect him to answer those questions any differently.”

Since every game seems to be for Beck these days, this upcoming one is significant for him. He is from Jacksonville, Florida, where the game will be played on Saturday. He was once a baseball player at Florida and really toyed with the idea of ​​playing football for Florida.

But he ended up at Georgia, a move that paid off big for the talented quarterback. Beck told reporters last year that the game against Florida meant a lot to him personally. He responded by throwing for 315 yards and two touchdowns to make the score 43-20. Georgia was also without star tight end Brock Bowers for the game.

Beck has become accustomed to dealing with adversity. Some of it was self-made this season. Beck only had six interceptions all of last season. The Georgia quarterback has already broken that number this season.

Georgia demands a lot from Beck. He didn't always get the help he needed, whether it was through poor offensive play against Kentucky or drops against Texas.

And this Georgia team knows that while there are plenty of outside questions when it comes to Beck, the Bulldogs know there is no one better to lead them into Saturday's game against Florida.

“He does everything he needs to do for us as a quarterback, like checking or making sure we're in the right run or in the right protection,” wide receiver Arian Smith said. “I'm sure he talked about things like he missed a throw on offense or we missed a catch or something like that. He took responsibility because that's the person is who he is. So I probably wouldn't say anything. We just have to play better on offense and have all eleven of us on the same page to make the game work.”

Jacksonville has a way of getting the best out of Georgia quarterbacks. Beck could really use some of that on his second homecoming.

At least to show those outside the Georgia locker room that he can be the player he was promoted to be before the 2024 season.

What Kirby Smart said about Carson Beck attending the Florida game