There were multiple victories scored by Georgia here at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday. The biggest one — a 22-19 overtime win over No. 2 Texas — comes with that oversized SEC championship trophy that now will be housed with the others in the Butts-Mehre football complex in Athens.
The other victories logged by the No. 5 Bulldogs are less tangible but every bit as significant. Let’s review:
Gunner Stockton can play. Who knew? A third-year sophomore quarterback from Tiger, Stockton barely has been on the field all season. But he came off the bench in relief of the injured Carson Beck in the second half and rallied the Bulldogs from another first-half deficit to get the game into overtime. In an Hollywood ending of impeccable symmetry, Beck had to come in for the game’s last play because Stockton lost his helmet on what was deemed a non-targeting hit on the previous play. With his future uncertain and his mangled right arm presumably still throbbing, Beck managed a clean handoff on what would be the winning play.
Trevor Etienne’s triumphant return. That the game-winner was recorded by Etienne was another piece of dramatic art. It was revealed in the postgame celebration that the junior transfer from Florida, who missed the past three games with a rib injury, spoke to the team in Athens this week and declared that he wasn’t going to miss this game for anything because of his desire to compete for a championship. Not only did Etienne play, he led the Bulldogs with 94 yards rushing and scored two touchdowns, including the game-winner.
Some time off. With the conference title came a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff and, for this team, that might have been the most coveted prize. The Bulldogs won’t have to play again until New Year’s Day in the Sugar Bowl. If there ever was a team that needed a break, it’s this battered-and-bruised bunch. They arrived with a laundry list of injuries and left with a few more.
Still king. A founding member of the conference where it just means more, Georgia won over the big-hat-wearing team that just rode in from the Southwest intent on taking over the SEC. For one year at least, that narrative gets kicked down the road.
Sleep in Sunday. Georgia doesn’t need to wake up early and get into place in front of a TV set to listen to CFP’s selection committee justify its decisions. Last year, the Bulldogs left their fate in the hands of that august body and found themselves exiled to the Orange Bowl and outside the playoff. Had they lost Saturday, no one can be sure what might’ve happened.
Kirby Smart, who won his third SEC Championship as Georgia’s coach (and Georgia’s 15th overall), didn’t really know where to start when it came to recounting theatrical spectacle he’d just participated in. Suffice it to say he was pleased with the resiliency of this never-say-die 2024 team.
“This is an unbelievable event and venue, just incredible in terms of the atmosphere and the opponent you play,” said Smart, who is 3-4 in it over the last eight years. “Typically it’s a play-in or play-out game for us. ... But our team never quit tonight, our fan base helped us and I’m really proud of the win.”
For a long, long time, it looked like it wasn’t meant to be. Though only down 6-3 at halftime, it didn’t bode well for Georgia that it had managed only 54 yards offense to that point, that Texas had gone for 260 and that the Bulldogs’ star quarterback had to be helped off the field to the locker room.
Beck suffered an injury of unknown severity to his right arm when he tried to heave a Hail Mary pass on the last play of the first half. The Bulldogs chose that rather than have Peyton Woodring attempt a 59-yard field goal.
That proved a bad decision. Beck was sacked by outside linebacker was sacked by outside linebacker Trey Moore, who forced a fumble when he grabbed Beck’s arm just as his arm came forward. Linebacker Anthony Hill scooped up the loose football after an 18-yard loss and returned it 23 yards before lateraling it to a teammate, who then lateraled to Georgia’s Dylan Fairchild to end the play.
After being examined for an extended period on the field, Beck’s right arm was gingerly held by trainers as he made his way to the locker room. Smart revealed that the Bulldogs knew by the time Beck walked through the doors that he wasn’t going to play anymore in the game.
Enter Stockton, who’s game experience includes mop-up duty in games against Tennessee Tech and Massachusetts. Yet, it was buoyant and re-energized team Georgia team that regathered with the Bulldogs set to receive the second-half kickoff. Stockton responded by leading the Bulldogs on a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive that included two third-down conversions and ended on Etienne’s 10-yard TD run. Just like that, Georgia led 10-6.
“Of course, it’s never good when your starting quarterback goes out,” said senior guard Tate Ratledge, one of Beck’s closest friends. “But I think it was big for everybody in the locker room to let Gunner know that we believed in him and had full confidence in him to get the job done.”
Said junior cornerback Daylen Everette: “Before he went on the field and told him, ‘don’t be nervous; we’ve got your back.’ And he went out and did a great job.”
He did until he didn’t. Stockton staked Georgia 16-13 with 2:30 to play after Everette’s interception staved off what looked like the Longhorns final offensive threat. But on third-and-13 at the Texas 31 — well within Peyton Woodring’s field-goal range — the Bulldogs sent Stockton back to pass. Then, the only thing that couldn’t happen did. Quickly pressured, Stockton tried to get rid of the football in the right flat and instead found Texas cornerback Jahdae Blue, who took it 17 yards the other way.
Georgia’s defense forced a 37-yard field with 18 seconds remaining. But now the teams were headed to the first overtime in SEC Championship game history.
“I feel like that was partially on us,” Smart said of having the inexperienced quarterback make a passing-game decision in such a high-stakes situation. “We didn’t get the call out to him fast enough, he didn’t have time to evaluate what they were doing and we were down on the shot-clock. But the kid played tough as nails.”
Stockton’s toughness came to the forefront in overtime. His run on a quarterback draw — he ran the ball eight times — ended with his helmet getting knocked off by safety Andrew Mukuba on a violent hit at the 4-yard line. Initially flagged as targeting, the personal foul was surprisingly overturned by official review. That meant that Stockton had to sit out having lost his helmet on the play.
While freshman Ryan Puglisi had been warming up and was poised to come in, Smart and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo made the call to send Beck back in instead. While his arm hadn’t miraculously healed, Beck assured the coaches he’d be able to hand off the football.
He did, and Etienne plowed in through a big hole at right guard for the game-winning score.
“I thought Mike and them had a really good plan on that play and executed a really physical play,” Smart said. “It was a quick decision because we had already burned our timeout on defense.”
The Georgia heroes were many: Beck, Stockton and Etienne on offense. Everette was named the game’s MVP, Malaki Starks had eight tackles and CJ Allen seven. Georgia lost punter Brett Thorson to a leg injury in the game, so the Bulldogs ran a successful fake punt from their own 30 late in the game.
Now, finally, the Bulldogs can rest.
“Man, we’re beat up, we’re tired, we’re talking about how to practice this week,” Smart said. “It was just an absurd week for Sark and I because we’re trying to sign a recruiting class during championship game week, which is one of the craziest things ever. But Mike said it, ‘this is one of the mentally-toughest teams we’ve ever coached.’ And it is.”
