The big discussion surrounding Georgia football ever since they defeated Texas in the SEC Championship game was if Georgia is capable of winning a National Championship without Carson Beck.
As everyone knows, Beck was injured at the end of the first half in the SEC Championship game, and it sounds more than likely that he will not return for the College Football Playoff. So that means Georgia's hopes of winning a National Championship falls on the shoulders of backup QB Gunner Stockton.
While this is a little scary, Stockton did lead Georgia to their win over Texas while trailing at halftime, so he has proven himself already on a massive stage. But the consensus is that Georgia will struggle more with Stockton under center than they would have with Beck.
That sentiment however is not shared by CBS Sports college football expert Josh Pate.
“What you perceive as a weakness could end up being a net strength.”
“What you perceive as a weakness could end up being a net strength.”
— Aaron Leicht (@aaronleicht) December 18, 2024
-Josh Pate on Gunner Stockton.
He believes that Georgia could be MORE dangerous in the playoffs because of what Stockton brings out of this team. #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/5ZRKCYOCvn
Gunner Stockton will bring out the best in everyone else
In the two minute long video above that Georgia fans should take the time to watch, Pate explains that Georgia could be in a better position to win a National Championship with Stockton than they would have with Beck.
Pate does clearly say that he thinks Beck is the better player, which is hard to argue against, but even though Pate thinks Stockton is a step back at QB, he thinks this change will cause the rest of the team to take a step forward. His rationale behind this is that the rest of the Georgia team will see that they are without their starting QB and step up and play much better to make up for that loss. This will result in Georgia playing much better as a team, even without their star QB.
And it's hard to argue against Pate's hypothesis, because everyone saw this very thing happen in the SEC Championship game.
Georgia's defense played extremely well in the second half after Beck went down with an injury. UGA's offensive line also played their best half of football this entire season in the second half of the SEC Championship game. Even Georgia's wide receivers and running backs stepped up after Beck went down as well.
So wether you think Georgia is better off with or without Beck, it's hard to argue against the fact that UGA can still win a National Championship this season with Stockton under center. Georgia already proved they can beat an elite team in Texas without Beck, so why can't they win a National Championship without him too?