To the surprise of quite possibly literally no one on planet Earth, Georgia dismantled Tennessee Tech on Saturday 48-3. Carson Beck tied a single game record for Georgia as he jumped back up to Heisman Trophy pace. The defense looked utterly immovable. So once the game was clearly in hand Kirby Smart decided to start bringing in the backups earlier than usual.
And this time, Gunner Stockton–the potential heir apparent to Carson Beck at quarterback–got almost an entire half to show off his skills. With over 11 minutes remaining to go in the third quarter Beck went to the bench. Stockton took the field.
Stockton looked calm, composed, and executed the offense without any issues whatsoever as he completed 10 of his 12 passes for nearly 100 passing yards. When asked about Stockton’s performance after the game, Kirby Smart seemed excited about the young quarterback’s development and extended opportunity on Saturday.
“Yeah, I thought Gunner [Stockton] played with more confidence. If you remember, Gunner had to play a lot of games last year in mop up duty where it was just clock management, run the ball, get out the game. And just today he got to play a little more, like he did against Florida State. He did some good things, made some good decisions. Continued to improve that. He played well with the guys around him. He made them look good. He makes good decisions. He’s getting wiser, and we need it.”
This was the first chance Stockton has really had to open up the playbook and run the show as if it were a neutral game script situation (even though it really wasn’t). And while he didn’t necessarily “wow” with some incredible throws Stockton looked more than ready to step up when called upon as the potential quarterback of the future for Georgia.
Stockton, just like Carson Beck, has been waiting patiently for his opportunity to start for the Georgia Bulldogs and Kirby Smart. He was a top notch four star quarterback recruit back in 2022, and it looks like he may not get his first real shot to start until year four just like Beck. Stockton brings with him much greater mobility to accompany his rocket arm, so it will be interesting to see if he opens that up in future clean-up work this season for Georgia.
The decision on who the true replacement for Carson Beck is going to be after he is inevitably selected inside round one of the 2025 NFL Draft is far from settled, but Stockton clearly took a big step towards proving he’s more than deserving of the opportunity. If Georgia continues running over everyone they face this season he should get more chances like he did on Saturday to show Bulldogs’ fans that he’s the quarterback to trust in future seasons.
