Entering Saturday’s game against Western Kentucky Gunner Stockton had the 16th-best odds to win the Heisman Trophy. Georgia isn’t a program that cares all that much about individual awards and that’s been seen with Stockton not taking a snap in the second half for the second week in a row.
But after a five touchdown performance he deserves to be firmly in the Heisman race.
Gunner Stockton’s lack of playing time could cost him the Heisman
Stockton led Georgia to a dominant 70-20 victory over Western Kentucky. He however only played the first 24 minutes of the game, but he still competed 13 of 16 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns.
Imagine how much better his stats would be if he played just one more quarter let alone the rest of the game. If he played the entire game he would be on pace for 10 touchdowns which would have him near the top of the Heisman Teophy race, but instead he was sidelined for the final 36 minutes of the game which could cost him the Heisman.
Stockton doesn’t seem like the type of person who cares about that. Kirby Smart definitely isn’t a coach who cares about individual awards either. They would rather get Stockton the rest he needs to avoid injury to be better prepared to make a run at another SEC Championship, so with the game already out of reach halfway through the second quarter it made sense to take him out.
Gunner Stockton’s best chance to make a run at the Heisman begins next week
Even though Stockton may not care all that much about winning the Heisman he’ll have a chance to begin his run at it next week. The Bulldogs have their two easy non-conference games out of the way now and in front of them is nine straight SEC games. There isn’t much of a chance that Georgia will be up enough to pull Stockton in the first half anymore, so he’ll finally have a chance to play an entire game.
Big games against other Power Four teams looks better to Heisman voters as well. If he can consistently have five touchdown games against SEC teams then he more than likely will slowly climb up the Heisman odds rankings.
At the end of the day it may not matter to him or anyone in the football building if he wins the Heisman or not. Georgia fans would love to see him make a run at it though because they don’t have a winner to celebrate in the modern era of college football. A Heisman winner likely means Georgia is finding a lot of success as a team too which ultimately is the most important thing.
Up next for Georgia is their first road game of the season against Arkansas. This could be one of their easiest SEC games of the season, but life on the road in the SEC is tough no matter who you play. The Razorbacks will be Georgia’s toughest test to date, so log Stockton can have a big game it will help cement himself as a legit threat to contend for the Heisman.
Add us as a preferred source on Google