Getty Image / Jeffrey Vest
We’re less than two weeks until the first full weekend of college football. The Georgia Bulldogs named their starting quarterback on Saturday, but other top ten teams like Ohio State, Alabama, and Penn State have yet to do so.
Going into last season, many of the top national title contenders had established starters heading into the year. Ohio State had CJ Stroud, Alabama had Bryce Young, and Georgia had Stetson Bennett returning.
This year, that’s obviously not the case. Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, and Penn State are four of the top seven teams in the AP Preseason Poll, and all four had open quarterback competitions this fall.
On Saturday, the defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs became the first team of those to name their starting quarterback when they gave the job to fourth-year player Carson Beck over third-year player Brock Vandagriff.
Kirby Smart confirms what was long expected:
“Carson Beck is going to be our starting quarterback. He’s done the best job. We communicated that early in the week to the other quarterbacks.”
— Seth Emerson (@SethWEmerson) August 19, 2023
He will inherit a ton of weapons like Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey as he looks to lead Georgia to the first three-peat in modern college football.
AS for the other three teams previously mentioned, they have some big decisions to make.
Ohio State is deciding between Kyle McCord and Devin Brown. Alabama has a three-way race involving Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson, and Tyler Buchner. And, the Nittany Lions are deciding between a pair of second-year players in Drew Allar and Beau Pribula.
All four of those teams get underway On September 2nd.