AFLAC KICKOFF GAME: CLEMSON VS. GEORGIA

August 31, 2024

Carson Beck

Jalon Walker

Georgia Bulldogs

Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Press Conference

Georgia 34, Clemson 3

Q. Carson, Coach said you told him before the second half we're going to get a touchdown here, Coach, right away. Tell me what obviously besides confidence did you guys make some adjustments at halftime that you felt very good about being able to execute in the second half?

CARSON BECK: Yeah, I think just coming out in the first quarter, maybe there was a little bit of nerves. Maybe guys were just trying to get warmed into the game.

I mean, once we got in that second half, looking at the iPad, seeing what they were doing against us, it was everything that we saw on film that we watched from last year. So we just kind of deciphered which ways we wanted to attack them and maybe tried to be a little bit more aggressive coming out at the half, and I think we did a really good job of that. We got on the perimeter, had some good perimeter runs and were able to throw the ball down the field a little bit, and that ultimately ended up opening things up for us.

Q. Jalon, back-to-back tackles for loss in the third quarter and two sacks on the next drive. What allows you to make plays like that both at outside linebacker and inside linebacker on this defense?

JALON WALKER: Just honing in my preparation throughout the week: Like Coach Smart was saying, we do have various packages where I'm at inside backer and then there's packages where I'm at outside backer. I feel like I had a great week of practice doing that, keying in on those details of what I really need to do, and I felt they paid off today.

Q. Carson, how did it feel having Coach Smart in your ear all game with the new communication in the helmet?

CARSON BECK: Yes, actually Coach Bobo is the one that's communicating with me. He's up in the box. So he's down there calling the whole entire game.

It was definitely different. I liked it a lot personally. There's still some times where you look over to the sidelines and we're not going -- we're going slow, we're not going fast, and you still look at the signal, confirm everything. But I definitely think it picks up the pace of the game and allows us to play faster on offense, play to play.

Q. With two different perspectives, what was your reaction, and did you see Malaki Starks' interception?

JALON WALKER: Let me tell you about that. I'm on the field and I'm just covering my guy and then I see K throw the ball, and I'm like, okay, this is a 50/50 ball with Malaki and the receiver, and I looked, and I seen him twist and catch that ball, and I just took off in a sprint. That's probably my fastest GPS time I probably had all game. That was insane. That was an incredible catch.

Me and Malaki had a moment before then, and we told each other, I said he's going to get one and I'm going to get one. And we did. I appreciate him and I'm proud of him. Much love.

CARSON BECK: Yeah, I didn't see it live. I was over there watching the last drive, and I just heard the whole stadium go crazy. I'm like, well, someone did something crazy, and I see Malaki jump up. I'm like, he definitely just did something crazy. I'm running out there on the field and I'm looking up at the Jumbotron, and Tate is right next to me looking up at it, too, and he jumps up, he catches it, and me and Tate look right at each other, lock eyes, and we were like, oh, my gosh. It's crazy what he's able to do. He's very talented. So very proud of him.

Q. At the beginning of the week you were asked about the last time you guys played each other and you said it was 10-3 and that the defense played really well. There was a similarity even though these teams are very different now, your team didn't allow any touchdowns today. What can you say about how they played today?

CARSON BECK: Well, I have to play against our defense every single day, and I don't enjoy it very much, either. They're phenomenal. The things that they're able to do and the multitude of defense that they're able to play, that's a credit to their intelligence on the defensive side of the ball, and then not only that, but going out there and executing the plan and Coach Schumann calling the plays and the players actually going out there and performing, like I said, I absolutely hate playing against our defense every day, but I think that's what makes our offense get better and better. But to watch them go out there, it makes our job a little bit easier. We have good field position and we're really not too worried about the other team scoring.

Q. Two of your transfer receivers made some big catches for you today. What's it been like working with those guys and contributions today?

CARSON BECK: Absolutely. I think that wide receiver room has so much depth and I've been saying that -- everyone wants to say guys left and there's no talent in there, but there's so much talent, and we have so much confidence in every single guy that goes out there and steps out there on the field from -- you look back to spring ball to summer to fall camp, all the countless reps, we do a lot. Really there's a lot of accumulated reps with those guys and a lot of confidence that I have in them.

For them to come out first game and be able to make some plays, that instills more confidence for me into them, and obviously it's a good moment for them, so super proud of them.

Q. You talked this off-season about your motivation to come back to Georgia after the last game you played here. I wonder what it was like to walk off the field with a big win for Georgia today, and do you think that you saw things from this team that you might be able to come back here a couple more times?

CARSON BECK: No, definitely a different feeling walking off the field this time compared to the last time we were in this stadium. I'm just super proud of this team. I think the preparation that went into this game, you could see from -- we started last Thursday prep for Clemson, you could see the sense of urgency pick up, you could see the attention to detail of guys locked in, focused on the plan and what they needed to do and just flying around during practice. We had some really good practices leading up to that.

I think for us, if we can just be consistent in that and each week have that same exact approach, then we'll have the success that we need to have to get back here.

Q. The first 3rd down conversion you had to London where it's 3rd and 10 and you guys are up in the third quarter 13-3, can you walk me through what you saw on that play and firing that pass in there?

CARSON BECK: Yeah, so they played a very similar coverage on a couple 3rd downs in the game, so Coach Bobo went to a play that he's on an in-breaking route. He did a great job of breaking the corner off, coming back negative underneath the linebacker, which first and foremost, I have to have a lot of trust in him that he's going to run the route right, that he's going to win so that I can let it go on time, and that comes with reps and continuously doing it over and over again.

No, I think that was a huge play for us in the game and really catapulted us as an offense, especially on 3rd and long. It definitely changes the momentum.

Q. This is for both players. To win 43 regular season games, that means you guys have got to be very focused. You have a lot of different situations. But the results have been the same. What do you attribute that to why you guys have been able to keep that focus?

JALON WALKER: Our culture being our culture, what they instill in us at the University of Georgia, being moment led, doing moment by moment. We focus on each game individually. We don't skip ahead in the season. We don't backtrack. We don't do anything. We be where our feet is planted, and I feel like we do a great job of keeping the main thing the main thing. Next week we go into our next game, and we'll do so again for that game.

Q. Carson, what did you think of Nate Frazier's performance today. Obviously a big game from him?

CARSON BECK: Yeah, I think he did a great job. I think it's super cool opportunity for him. Obviously he came here in the summer so he's only been in Athens for two, three months, which is crazy to me. But we have a lot of confidence in him. We were able to see what he could do in practice. Obviously he translated that to the game, and that's usually how it works.

That running back room had a huge day, him, Cash is someone that you haven't seen much of in the past that really stepped up for us today, as well.

Those guys being able to step into their roles, I'm excited to see what they're able to do as the season goes on.

Q. Carson, when you talk about Nate right there next to you, with having a young player that hasn't been there very long next to you, what was the communication like between you and him pretty much all day I would imagine?

CARSON BECK: Yeah, there was a couple guys out there for the first time starting or -- you could say starting, not starting, but there was a couple guys out there playing for the first time in a Georgia uniform. For me, being a starter last year, coming back and being my second year, just communicating to those guys like lean on me. If there's an issue or problem out on the field, if you don't know something, if you need help, come to me. I have confidence in understanding our game plan, what we need to do, so I'm going to handle what I need to handle, and that's going to get done. But if you need help, come to me, I can manage that.

I think that's something that I've really been trying to do as I've stepped into my second year.