It was, of course, an FCS opponent he faced Saturday, but Gunner Stockton started his season off the right way in Georgia’s opening 63-3 win over Tennessee State.
He completed 15 of 16 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns before subbing out after five drives leading Georgia’s offense. The Bulldogs scored a touchdown on all five possessions.
“I think we executed well,” Stockton said. “Definitely, there's stuff we need to clean up. But I think everybody did their job, came out here and started fast.”
Gunner Stockton showed vast improvement compared to 2025’s season opener
Stockton hit nine different receivers on his 16 pass attempts, and the offense averaged 12.9 yards per play when he was in the game. He looked considerably more comfortable than he did a year ago making his second-ever collegiate start against Marshall.
In that game Stockton was 14 of 24 passing for 190 yards and two scores. Not a bad day by any means as he also scrambled quite a bit and would bail from the pocket when he felt any pressure. Stockton ran the ball 10 times for 73 yards and two touchdowns against the Herd.
Against Tennessee State Stockton didn’t run the ball one time and was comfortable navigating the pocket. He was hardly pressured at all, sure, but that restraint still shows a considerable jump in his poise as a passer.
He never tried to do too much and took what the defense gave him, and because Georgia was playing an FCS school the Bulldogs’ athletes did the rest.
Gunner Stockton’s arm passed its first test of the season
Stockton was also more aggressive targeting the intermediate area of the field than he was earlier in the season last year. That part of his game is arguably the most important aspect of his development to watch out for from 2025 to 2026.
The Bulldogs’ tight end room showed out on Saturday as well. Jaden Reddell, Elyiss Williams, Kaiden Prothro and Ethan Barbour combined to catch six passes for 100 yards and three touchdowns.
Reddell also had a 29-yard rush and another touchdown which got called back that Stockton characterized as “insane”.
For a team looking for more pass-catching production after the departure of Zachariah Branch, Saturday provided the first look at how the Bulldogs could look to exploit mismatches with their tight ends.
“They're physical and can go run great routes and they can do everything,” Stockton said. “I thought they did a great job with that.”
You never want to read too much into a season opener against an FCS school. It'll get much harder from here on out. But Stockton and the Bulldogs’ offense did just about everything that was asked of them, and put up some eye-popping numbers.
It looks like this could be an explosive offense. And if Stockton has made a leap from last year, this could be a memorable season between the hedges.
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