ATHENS — When Gunner Stockton entered the game as Georgia’s quarterback in the second half of the SEC Championship game against Texas on Saturday, things looked pretty bleak for the Bulldogs.
At that point, Georgia had only minus-2 rushing yards and 54 yards of offense. The next pass that Stockton threw was going to be the biggest of his life, as it was his first significant action at quarterback for the Bulldogs.
Stockton finished the game with 71 passing yards on 16 pass attempts. But the sophomore did help open things in the ground game.
The Bulldogs finished with 141 rushing yards, the only statistical category where Georgia held an edge in the 22-19 win Saturday. Texas had only 31 yards on 28 carries.
And what Georgia coach Kirby Smart said to the Georgia offensive line during halftime before Stockton’s entrance played a key part in the win.
“Yeah, I got on ‘em at halftime. I was disappointed,” Smart said. “I think we got a good offensive line. We got good backs. It wasn’t that they were stoning us. We couldn’t get the run game going. I didn’t feel like it was just mashing us. We would get three or four. It’s hard to run the ball in the SEC. They’re the No. 1 defense in the country for a reason. Man, if we were going to have a chance to win, we are going to have to rally around Gunner, we are going to have to be able to run the ball. We challenged the offensive line.”
The Georgia offensive line rose to the challenge. The Bulldogs largely rolled with Xavier Truss at right tackle, Tate Ratledge at right guard, Jared Wilson at center and Dylan Fairchild at left guard. Earnest Greene played six snaps in the win, but largely it was Monroe Freeling playing the left tackle position.
Georgia has opted for stability on the line of late with Truss, Ratledge, Wilson, Fairchild and Freeling since Greene began dealing with an arm injury during Georgia’s game against Ole Miss on Nov. 9. In the earlier parts of the season Georgia would alternate at both guard and tackle.
The continuity that those five have built helped Stockton as he moved into the role of QB1.
“Kind of just talked to him about what we’re saying, how the linebackers are playing, playing up front on the combos, stuff like that,” Ratledge said on what his message to Stockton was. “Keeping him confident and trust in us eventually knowing one is going to spit.”
The Bulldogs scored a touchdown on their opening drive of the half, with Trevor Etienne running it in from 9 yards out.
Etienne once again had his best game of the season against the Longhorns. While he did not hit 100 rushing yards in the game, his 94 yards and two touchdowns powered Georgia to victory.
Etienne’s status had been in question to start the game as he had not played since the Ole Miss loss because of a rib injury.
“I mean, it meant a lot, you know, just being available for my team, you know, doing what I can to help us win no matter what it was,” Etienne said. “You know, and I’ve been chasing that 100-yard game all season, man. I don’t know what it is, but I want to give a huge shoutout to the O-line. They played well. Great tonight. You know, that last touchdown doesn’t happen without them.”
Etienne didn’t do it alone though. Georgia also got important contributions from running backs Nate Frazier and Cash Jones on the ground.
It is going to have to be a group effort moving forward in the event that Stockton remains the Georgia quarterback. While quarterback Carson Beck was able to enter the game for the final snap, a handoff to Etienne for a 4-yard touchdown, his status for the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 is very much in doubt.
Stockton is not the same passing threat that Beck is at this point. But Stockton’s mobility and willingness to run does open things up for the Georgia offense. Stockton finished the game with eight rushing attempts and picked up an important first down in overtime using his legs.
If the Georgia offense, which has not consistently run the ball well this season, is able to provide enough around Stockton, the Bulldogs can weather the Beck injury.
It will fall on Etienne and the offensive line to do so.
“Everybody can find skilled players, everybody can find quarterbacks, receivers, DBs,” Smart said. “But the mass in the defensive line and offensive line is the difference in there. Tonight ours helped us in the rushing game. It’s probably the only stat we outperformed them in, was rushing.”
Many have suggested that offensive coordinator Mike Bobo take a page out of Georgia Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner’s playbook and use Stockton as the Yellow Jackets use Haynes King. The Tech quarterback torched Georgia, rushing for 110 yards and throwing for 303, in the loss Nov. 29.
While it might be a stretch to expect a potential first-time starter to replicate those numbers in the College Football Playoff, Stockton did enough to take down a Texas team that had the No. 1 defense in the country in terms of yards per play. And the Longhorns are one of the 12 teams in the CFP.
Georgia does have time to not just build around Stockton but continue to get healthy on offense. That is the benefit of the bye week afforded by Georgia winning the SEC championship.
“He functions and operates really well within our current offense,” Smart said of Stockton. “We don’t think we have to change much in terms of that. He does give us the capability of doing some different things with his athleticism, and I thought Mike and those guys did a good job using that. The team has a lot of confidence in Gunner. He’s very smart, very intelligent. So I don’t know that it’s a lot of change. It’s probably more picking the volume correctly in terms of not having everything that we have with Carson, but having things that fit Gunner.”
Trevor Etienne talks UGA ground game after SEC Championship
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