Georgia's season ended in disaster last year as they lost to SEC rival Ole Miss in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. Losing at that stage in the playoff is bad enough already, but losing to another team in the SEC is about as bad as it can get.
But Gunner Stockton isn't letting that loss drag him down. In fact, he has found a way to be appreciative of that loss as it has helped motivate him and all his teammates this offseason.
"I think kind of everybody has a bad taste in their mouth from the way it ended last year."
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 20, 2026
Georgia QB Gunner Stockton shares how the team is using last year's season as motivation 💪 pic.twitter.com/KPW0s4KVxF
Gunner Stockton is using Ole Miss loss as key motivator this offseason
Stockton was asked about this loss live on ESPN on Monday. This obviously could be a sensitive subject because who wants to talk about how their season ended just a few months ago?
But Stockton handled the question like a champ and didn’t seem bothered whatsoever. In fact, he weirdly gave Ole Miss a shoutout for beating them as he believes it has helped him and his teammates be more motivated this offseason.
Obviously they would’ve much rather won that game, so they aren’t thankful for losing. But since that was the result of the game all they can really do is use it as motivation as they get ready for next season.
Georgia has now gone three years without winning a playoff game. Sure this stretch has come after winning back-to-back national titles, but this is nowhere near good enough at Georgia.
So the goal for this season is quite clear, make a deep run in the playoff. Even if Georgia doesn’t win it all it will still be a successful year if they make a deep run in the playoff, but the ultimate goal is to win a title.
Accomplishing that will be difficult, but Stockton showed they have the right mindset going into this season to put themseleves in position to compete for a National Championship.
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