Kirby Smart: ‘Far-fetched’ to put title hopes solely on Carson Beck or past ones on Stetson Bennett

ATHENS — Kirby Smart shut down talk that Georgia’s national title hopes this season are on Carson Beck’s shoulders.

“I think when you start talking about national title hopes and putting it all on one player, that’s a little far-fetched,” Smart said on the SEC Coaches Teleconference on Wednesday.

“I just don’t think we won the ones we won just because of that position.”

Georgia plays host to Kentucky at 7 p.m. on Saturday night in Sanford Stadium in an early SEC East showdown of unbeaten teams.

But to Smart’s point, two of the past three games with the Wildcats provide evidence of Smart’s assertion, as Bennett failed to pass for a touchdown and was intercepted in Georgia’s wins over UK in 2020 (14-3) and 2022 (16-6).

“That position is a growth position, and Stetson was certainly more experienced and better the second go-round than the first,” Smart said, referring to Bennett’s marked improvement between the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

“But neither one (championship season) would be because of him, and whether we do or don’t this year is not going to be just because of Carson Beck.”

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