NEW ORLEANS — Georgia tight end Oscar Delp knows Gunner Stockton better than most.
The two, along with reserve center Drew Bobo, are roommates.
“Super clean. Brings good food to the house always,” Delp said. “He’s a great guy. We just hang out in the living room. We all play games, hang out and have fun.”
Bobo echoed Delp’s perspective, noting Stockton’s down-to-earth nature.
But they also shared that Stockton isn’t so nice once he steps onto the field as Georgia’s quarterback.
“It’s completely different,” Delp said. “Not a lot of people get to see it just because of who he is in the locker room. He’s a super-calm, cool, genuine guy. A lot of our team didn’t get to see it until that first run and hit he had on the sideline (against Texas in the SEC title game) where he started yelling in that dude’s face. It’s like ‘OK, that’s who Gunner is when he plays.’ It’s exciting. He fires up everyone around, and it brings the team closer. We’re excited to see him do his thing.”
Much of the college football world got their first taste of Stockton in the SEC Championship game, as he was able to lead Georgia to a come-from-behind win over the Longhorns. But Stockton is not a complete unknown among those who follow Georgia high school football, as he broke Trevor Lawrence’s state record for touchdown passes.
After sitting behind Carson Beck and Stetson Bennett for the past three seasons, Stockton will make his first career start when second-seeded Georgia takes on seventh-seeded Notre Dame on Wednesday in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal in the Sugar Bowl.
“I think you see everybody having confidence in him,” safety Malaki Starks said. “When you see him step out and, you know, he’s running guys over or whatever, that’s just the confidence that he has in his game. And that’s another reason why it makes it so easy to follow him. When you see someone like that who’s so confident, it’s hard to not be confident in them as well. So he’s been doing a phenomenal job. And just the guy he is on and off the field, I mean, it’s amazing.”
Bobo and just about every teammate notes that Stockton brings an extra jolt of energy to the team. While Stockton isn’t Beck as a passer or processor, there is not the underdog feel about the Bulldogs as there maybe should be, given how important Beck was to the offense’s success this season.
“I just think he’s a gamer. He loves the competition. He loves to go out there and play,” freshman quarterback Ryan Puglisi said. “Off the field, he’s a down-to-earth kid and always smiling and having a good time. Just a happy kid overall.”
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