Georgia OLB Robert Beal accepts East-West Shrine Bowl invite
Georgia outside linebacker Robert Beal accepted an invite to the 2023 East-West Shrine Bowl on Monday according to the official Twitter account of the pre-draft spotlight game. The East-West Shrine Bowl is the longest running college all-star football game in the nation and gives players the opportunity to showcase their skillsets for professional scouts on hand.
Beal is in his sixth and final season at Georgia. He redshirted in 2017 after signing with the Bulldogs before playing in 11 of 14 games in 2018 and finishing with 15 total tackles. He had four of those, including a 12-yard sack, and two quarterback pressures on the road against LSU. Beal’s production then took a step back in 2019 and 2020 before he emerged as a major contributor once again in 2021. The Norcross, Ga. native played in all 15 games that season, starting two, and finished with 23 tackles including a team-high 6.5 sacks.
So far this season, Beal has played in all 10 games, starting in wins at South Carolina, versus Tennessee and at Mississippi State. He’s been asked to step into a bigger role as of late with Nolan Smith suffering what’s believed to be a season-ending injury to his pectoral muscle. Beal has 13 tackles and 11 quarterback pressures on the year.
“Robert has done a great job,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said about Beal earlier this season. “He has one of the best plays in a game the other night on a goal line play where they almost scored. We ended holding them to a field goal. He is playing really physical, playing more snaps. He had more opportunities last year. Again, sacks are a number that statistics look at, but we don’t sit there and say — you don’t get a lot of opportunities. We haven’t had a lot of third down and longs. Had more last week than in the past maybe where you get an opportunity to do that. That’s just the way it’s gone this year. Very pleased with how Robert is playing, how he is practicing. He is playing more snaps now than he did last year in terms of at this time, because his opportunities came much later.”
Initial invites for the bowl were sent on November 2. The game is set to be played at Allegiant Stadium, home of the Raiders, in Las Vegas on Thursday, February 3, 2023.
Beal and the Bulldogs go on the road this week to take on Kentucky. Georgia is 10-0 on the season, ranked No. 1 in all three major polls (AP, Coaches, College Football Playoff) and has already clinched its spot in the SEC Championship Game on December 3rd. Kickoff time for Saturday’s game is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.
