In case you missed the news, backup QB Gunner Stockton will officially be taking over for an injured Carson Beck during Georgia football’s upcoming showdown against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff.
A lot of the discourse surrounding this news has been that Georgia is in trouble because they will be having a first time starter under center. However, this isn’t the first time this has happened to Georgia against Notre Dame.
Back in 2017, Georgia QB Jake Fromm got his first start at Notre Dame in a game everyone was doubting UGA in for similar reasons. However, Fromm led Georgia to a one point victory when no one was giving him a chance.
So Fromm is one person that Stockton could learn a lot from heading into this game on Jan. 1. And thankfully Fromm offered a lot of advice recently in a message he gave to Stockton as well as the entire fanbase.
“Is Gunner going to go out there and throw for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns? I have no idea and probably not,” Fromm said via dawgnation.com. “The reason I say that is because Kirby is going to do all that he can to protect Gunner and to make sure he puts him in a position to succeed not only for Gunner but the team as well. Get him in a position to use his legs when they want him to use his legs, find easy completions.”
“This is going to take all three phases, offense, defense and special teams to win this national championship. Gunner is going to play a huge factor in that. But they’re not just going to give Gunner the entire team right out of the gate and say, ‘Hey we’re going to put everything on your shoulders.’”
Fromm says Stockton doesn’t need to be perfect
The most important message from Fromm is that Stockton shouldn’t be expected to win this game on his own. Is Stockton talented enough to win this game on his own? Maybe, but he doesn’t need to be perfect for Georgia to win.
It’s going to take a complete effort from Georgia if they want to come out on top. The Bulldogs’ defense and special teams are going to have to be at their best, and the rest of the offense will have to help Stockton out in any that they can as well.
Thankfully they all proved they are more than capable of beating a really good team with Stockton after they did so in the second half of the SEC Championship game against Texas. But they are going to have to have an equally good performance if they’re going to beat Notre Dame.
But the important thing to remember is that it is not all on Stockton to win this game, just like it wasn’t all on Fromm to beat the Irish in 2017.