ATLANTA—Carson Beck’s drive for a national championship last season for all intents and purposes was halted on the Mercedes-Benz Stadium field in an SEC Championship game loss to Alabama on Dec. 2.

The way Beck told it at SEC Media Days in Dallas this summer, that’s when he knew he was returning for another season as Georgia football starting quarterback rather than declare for the NFL draft.

Fans had to wait a couple of weeks for Beck to say that publicly, which he did with the comfort of NIL deals in place. His motivation was to get the national title that eluded him last season.

“That was probably the main reason of me coming back,” he said four days before returning to the stadium. “Coming back and finishing the job and winning that national championship.”

Beck got Georgia started right Saturday in a 34-3 knockout of No. 14 Clemson.

The fifth-year senior from Jacksonville was 23 of 33 for 278 yards with two touchdowns — both in the second half — and no interceptions. He also rushed for 19 yards on 3 carries.

“Definitely a different feeling walking off the field this time compared to the last time we were in this staduium,” he said, comparing Saturday to the 27-24 loss to Alabama.

Ten months earlier in the same venue, Beck finished up media interviews and saw his mother, Tracy, and sister Kylie on the field. He looked at the scoreboard and got emotional, he told SiriusXM radio in July.

“I think about it every day,” he said.

Kylie, a sophomore, is now a UGA student, also. She’s a member of the Dance Dawgs and Georgettes.

Beck added a tattoo this offseason on his left leg with an image of a shuttle and the message:

“Sky’s the limit.”

Said Beck, “If you shoot for the sky, there is no ceiling.”

Beck — he with the private charter plane NIL deal and pitchman for Powerade and Beats by Dre among other products — is a top Heisman Trophy candidate and a contender to be the No. 1 overall NFL draft pick.

Beck had by all accounts a strong first season as starter after three years waiting in the wings.

Coaches would like Beck to display more emotion. He did after the Bulldogs were held to two field goals after going 1 of 6 on third downs in the first half and holding a 6-0 lead.

“I thought he got a little passion and energy there,” coach Kirby Smart said Saturday. “We started early and didn't have third-down conversions in the first half, and I thought he responded well to that. He came in, sat down with the iPad, and he told me, ‘When we come out second half, we're going to go in there and score, Coach,' and sure enough, we did,” Smart said. “I thought he really handled that well.”

Georgia scored touchdowns on their first two second-half possessions and on four of five in the half total.

“They just freaking kicked our tails in the second half,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said.

Wide receiver Dillon Bell said Beck was “nice and poised. He kept the team going. During the huddles, he was giving us motivation, ‘Let’s keep going and keep going.’ …We just had to stay patient and believe in our quarterback and the coaches.”

Beck would love to play two more games in Mercedes-Benz this season — the SEC championship game in December and the national championship game in January.

He said Georgia needs to do what it did for Clemson — zone in on the Tigers when game prep began, which was Aug. 22, the Thursday before game week.

He saw a “sense of urgency,” he said, and attention to detail.

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

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Why Carson Beck's last trip to Mercedes-Benz Stadium motivated him