ATHENS — Carson Beck is preparing for a homecoming start that has been a long time overdue.
The No. 1-ranked Bulldogs have a bye this week before traveling to Jacksonville, Fla., to face the rival Gators in the annual neutral site series at EverBank Stadium at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 28.
It’s a 340-mile trip from the Athens campus for the Georgia players, but for Beck it’s going home.
“It’s super cool, growing up their my whole entire life,” said Beck, who led Jacksonville’ Mandarin High School to a Class 8A state championship in 2018, winning the state’s coveted ‘Mr. Football’ award in the process.
“The last time I played in that stadium I was 11 years old for the city championships.”
The stakes this time are much higher.
Georgia will put its top ranking on the line along with trying to maintain control of its own destiny playing without All-American Brock Bowers, who is sidelined indefinitely after suffering an ankle injury last Saturday that required surgery.
Florida, coming off a momentum-shifting 41-39 road win at South Carolina, was the last team to beat the Bulldogs in a regular season game back in 2020.
That Georgia team, like this one, was dealing with the loss of a future College Football Hall of Fame in the previous game, as Outland Trophy winner Jordan Davis had suffered an elbow injury that required surgery.
The Bulldogs were also without preseason All-SEC pick Richard LeCounte, who suffered serious injuries in a Halloween Night motorcycle crash after posting a career-high 13 tackles in a 13-3 win at Kentucky earlier in the day.
The Gators seized the opportunity to pounce on the wounded Bulldogs, coming from 14-0 down to beat Georgia 44-28 en route to winning the SEC East Division.
Read more at DawgNation.com
