In just a few short days, Georgia football will learn who their opponent is in their quarterfinal College Football Playoff matchup as Indiana is set to face Notre Dame this Friday, Dec. 20. But one thing that is known already is who the starting QB will be for Georgia when they do suit up for the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1.
After Carson Beck was injured in the first half against Texas in the SEC Championship game, his status for Georgia's CFP run was unknown. However, it looks more than likely that he won't be available for their game on Jan. 1, so that means it's time to turn to backup Gunner Stockton.
Thankfully for Georgia, Stockton has some experience after leading Georgia to their comeback victory over Texas in the SEC Championship game. Everyone learned a lot about Stockton from this game, both as a player and as a leader.
And that is what former Georgia defensive lineman David Pollack discussed in a recent post about Stockton and what he brings to the table as a leader.
“I am not saying Carson Beck is not good…but Carson Beck is absolutely a flatliner,” Pollack said via ugawire.usatoday.com. “He is not emotional…When my quarterback gets juiced up, I love it. I rally behind it. When Gunner runs to the right on his first drive and runs a guy over instead of running out of bounds and the sideline is jumping up and down like crazy, it infuses your team.”
Pollack loves the juice that Gunner Stockton brings
Pollack made the point that Beck is not someone who is easy to rally around during games. Maybe he is different in the locker room, but Beck hardly ever shows much emotion during the game. Stockton on the other hand was the complete opposite during the SEC Championship game.
Pollack pointed out the play in the first drive of the second half when Stockton ran over a Texas defender in front of the Georgia sideline. The play itself only picked up a few yards, but it helped turn the tide for Georgia in a game they had really been struggling in up to that point. That play gave Georgia a lot of juice on both sides of the ball and ended up being one of the plays that turned the tide in this game.
With Stockton being under center for an entire game in a few weeks, it will be interesting to see if he plays with this much emotion again. But one things for certain, if he does then he will once again provide that spark that the entire team will be able to feed off of.