Saturday’s performance against Auburn has to be Gunner Stockton’s worst performance of this season, that's how it needs to be if the Georgia Bulldogs want to accomplish their goals this season.
Stockton’s two interceptions and costly fourth quarter fumble weren’t the only thing that cost the Bulldogs in their 27-24 upset loss, but if he avoids even just one of those plays the outcome probably looks different. That’s football for you.
“Just got to protect the ball,” Stockton said. “At the end of the day you got to— Ball security, it's everybody's livelihood. So I just got to protect the ball.”
Gunner Stockton can't afford to have a turnover problem anymore
Stockton’s first interception came on a promising drive at the end of the first half, where he stared down a London Humphreys go route towards the sideline and safety AnQuon Feagans eagerly swooped in to pick it off and tap the toes. The second was a brutal miss to Ethan Barbour peeling out to the flat right to linebacker Elijah Melendez.
Then of course, the fumble on Georgia’s final possession where he collided with center Drew Bobo. It all but undid a furious fourth quarter comeback where Stockton looked great and brought the Bulldogs back from a 10-point deficit to tie the game.
It was an uncharacteristically rough outing from Georgia’s veteran quarterback, after he had just put up his strongest performance of the season against Alabama.
After the game, head coach Kirby Smart reiterated his faith in Stockton.
“Very unfortunate on the fumble,” he said. “If there's anybody I'd pick to have the ball in their hands, it'd be him because he does a great job with his ball security.”
Gunner Stockton injury speculation
There’s been some speculation that Stockton got injured at some point early in the game and it affected his play. Smart denied any rumors of a concussion Tuesday and said Stockton had a stinger on his shoulder that players deal with all the time.
Frankly, it doesn’t matter if Stockton was playing hurt or not. No matter the reason, he had a bad game.
There was that bizarre sequence in the second quarter where Stockton— the holder– ran off the field before a field goal attempt, only to hastily run back on before the kick was blocked. Smart downplayed that incident too, and said Stockton thought the Bulldogs were punting. He attributed the blocked field goal to a failed attempt at rushing it.
Smart reminded reporters about that Alabama game that Stockton looked so good in. He pointed out that for all the great throws Stockton made in that one, and all the hype he got in the media following it, Stockton still threw an interception and nearly had two.
“He had one, and the other was debatable, right?” Smart said. “So, he played pretty good and had two interceptions. He still did some really good things in the game.”
That’s a fair point to be made, we shouldn’t solely look at the interception total when evaluating a quarterback’s performance. It would behoove us, actually, to watch the game itself.
But for a quarterback like Stockton, whose coach also said his ball security is one of the best things about him, how many performances like this can he afford? He flirted with two interceptions against Alabama, threw a bad one against Oklahoma and had three turnovers plus the botched field goal against Auburn.
Is it time to actually get concerned about Stockton’s ball security? No, not yet. And Smart was correct when he said this team as a whole doesn’t usually beat itself.
But this is worth monitoring as the season continues. These turnovers cannot become a trend.
We’re a few blades of grass away from living in a world where Stockton has four interceptions in his last two games. And if Georgia had lost that Alabama game, who knows what the conversation surrounding Stockton would be?
Of course, neither of those things happened. But this loss to Auburn sure did. There were a lot of things that played into the outcome, bad penalties, blown coverages and a complete abandonment of the running game, but Stockton’s play can’t be ignored.
The Bulldogs know they have to be better. They’ve got to clean up the penalties, run the ball better and make tackles. Their quarterback has to be better too.
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