Gunner Stockton is likely to be Georgia starting quarterback for the Bulldogs’ College Football Playoff quarterfinal matchup in the Sugar Bowl against either Indiana or Notre Dame.
Stockton was forced into action in the SEC Championship game against Texas when Carson Beck was knocked out with what has now been confirmed to be a UCL elbow injury.
Stockton filled in for Beck and completed 12-of-16 passes for just 71 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. He, himself, was knocked out of the game due to a huge hit he took in overtime. Beck came back in for one play, which was a handoff to Trevor Etienne for the game-winning touchdown.
After the contest, head coach Kirby Smart made it sound like there’s no reason to worry about Stockton’s heath moving forward.
“No, I think he’s fine,” Smart said, according to On3. “He was prepared to come back in the game. We won the game on the play that he was out. So he was fine.”
He’s fine, but Beck is not, which for all intents and purposes means that Georgia’s national championship hopes rest on the arm of the 6-foot-1, 215-pound redshirt sophomore from Tiger, Georgia.
So who is Stockton, exactly?
He was a four-star recruit in high school, ranked as the No. 7 quarterback in the 2022 class. He committed to Georgia over Alabama, Ohio State, Ole Miss and LSU, so he was undoubtedly a big-time recruit.
Stockton has been the backup quarterback at Georgia for the past two seasons, with most of his action coming in “garbage time” with the Bulldogs holding onto a huge lead. He completed 6-of-10 passes for two touchdowns in Georgia’s 63-3 win over Florida State in the Orange Bowl last season.
He was also able to squeeze in a few passes earlier this season in Georgia’s blowout wins over Tennessee Tech and UMass.
This is all to say that Stockton doesn’t have a ton of experience outside of being thrown into the fire against Texas, but he did lead the Bulldogs to an overtime win in their biggest game of the season, and that’s all that matters.
“This kid’s a winner. This kid’s special. He’s a winner,” Smart said of Stockton after the SEC Championship win, according to On3.
We’ll now see if that sentiment will translate into the CFP.
