Gunner Stockton stayed true to form, and true to himself, after Georgia’s 23-10 loss to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl on Thursday.
“I’ll have to always get better,” Stockton said, asked about his performance against the Fighting Irish. “Just watch the tape, the little stuff, just watch it back, I know I can play better.”
Stockton played well enough to win, whether it was his first start, or not. The sophomore was 20-of-32 passing for 234 yards and a touchdown, running the ball six times for 16 yards while getting sacked four times for minus-39 yards and a fumble on a blindside hit.
Georgia’s left tackle missed the block on Notre Dame’s R.J. Oben on the critical turnover, leading to a 13-3 lead on the strength of the Irish’s only offensive touchdown of the night shortly before halftime — something coach Kirby Smart noted in his postgame comments following the season-ending defeat.
Current Georgia QB group
Time will tell how the Georgia quarterback situation plays out in the spring and into the 2025 season. So far, there are few clues, other than incumbent Carson Beck having declared himself for the NFL draft.
Scholarship quarterbacks Ryan Puglisi and Jaden Rashada remain on the depth chart behind Stockton, and Georgia welcomes four-star prospect Ryan Montgomery and three-star QB Hezekiah Millender to the group as part of the 2025 class.
The portal window remains open for Georgia — as a CFP quarterfinal team — until Tuesday, five days after the end of its season. The next transfer portal window comes April 16-25.
Smart expressed confidence in Stockton in the lead-up to the Sugar Bowl.
“The No. 1 thing a quarterback has to have is decision-making skills, and he makes really good decisions,” Smart said of Stockton. “The No. 2 thing for a quarterback is accuracy, not necessarily arm talent, but accuracy, he has accuracy. Athletic ability and talent takes over third, and he has those traits, all the intangibles in terms of toughness and character.”
Postgame review
Smart had a positive assessment of Stockton after the loss to Notre Dame, noting the lack of adequate pass protection on the costly strip sack at the end of the first half.
“Gunner did some good things, (but) any time you don’t have pass pro, it’s tough, (and) he had some tough moments out there,” Smart said. “When it’s your backside and you can’t see it coming, it’s tough. I thought he tucked it down and ran. He got us out of a couple sacks with his feet and legs, threw the ball away.”
Smart, speaking philosophically on the challenges of keeping a quarterback group together, noted there are always options.
“Everybody is looking for Cam Ward, Joe Burrow, these guys that can go and be successful,” Smart said. “So we’d like to grow ours in-house and have them develop and be part of the team and have relationships with everybody, but that doesn’t always give you the best guy.”
Stockton, asked what he learned about himself since assuming starting quarterback duties, responded modestly.
“Just being able to lead a little different in the position, being a starting quarterback, and just what that demands,” Stockton said. “And still having my core values and being Gunner Stockton.”
Stockton stands up
Stockton made sure to take accountability for his fumble, even though it was obvious he was a victim of circumstance, not seeing the onrushing defender close in on him from his blind side.
“I just have to speed my feet up,” Stockton said, “and get the ball out.”
The Bulldogs were at their own 25-yard line with 30 seconds left in the half when UGA coaches decided to go into their “two-minute” offense with hopes of adding a score.
Stockton had thrown the ball effectively to that point, hitting Arian Smith with a 67-yard pass that set up Georgia’s opening field goal.
Smith was not targeted again, however, as play calls led to Dillon Bell being thrown to 12 times, with the result being six catches for 33 yards.
“I thought they were physical,” Stockton said of the Notre Dame defense, which held UGA to 2-of-12 on third-down conversion attempts and 0-for-3 conversions on fourth-down attempts. “And they did a good job up front.”
Indeed, Georgia shifted its offensive line at halftime in an effort to provide better run and pass blocking, and UGA managed a five-play, 63-yard scoring drive on its second possession of the second half that made the score 20-10 with 9:36 remaining in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs’ next three drives, however, ended with Georgia turning the ball over on downs — at the Notre Dame 42 (fourth-and-2), the Notre Dame 9-yard line (fourth-and-6) and at the UGA 17 in the game’s final moments.
Pride of Rabun County
Stockton praised Georgia’s departing players, noting the senior class has the most wins of any class in school history, and offered support and compliments for his teammates at each turn.
“I think everyone battled the whole year, we had the hardest schedule in the country,” Stockton said.
“That’s the cool part of our team, we always feel like we’re not out of it, we keep fighting.”
To Stockton’s credit, he kept his head in the game even when backing up Beck, who suffered an elbow injury on the final play of the first half of the SEC Championship game Dec. 7.
Stockton entered that game with a 6-3 deficit and promptly drove Georgia 10 plays for 75 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in a 22-19 overtime win over CFP-semifinalist Texas.
Stockton, who had been buried on the depth chart his first two seasons behind Beck and eventual transfer Brock Vandagriff, certainly has felt the ups and downs associated with the position.
“It was a little bit of a roller coaster, just trying to ride it,” Stockton acknowledge, “but I thought I handled it pretty well, my teammates helped me out a lot.”
Stockton could have used more support Thursday, as the Notre Dame defensive front had its way with the Bulldogs’ line, while the Irish defensive backs proved sticky in coverage.
Is this Stockton’s team now, the Georgia quarterback was asked.
“Yeah,” he replied, “I mean, when I stepped on the field, I thought it was.”
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