So much went wrong for Georgia in their shocking loss to Auburn on Saturday. Their defense couldn't find an answer for Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown's legs and their run game struggled to be consistent enough throughout the game. Gunner Stockton also had one of the worst games of his career as he was responsible for three turnovers on Saturday.
Kirby Smart however wasn't willing to put any blame on Stockton even though he deserves it.
“We wouldn't have been in the position we were in if it wasn't for Gunner,” Smart said via 247Sports.com. “We wouldn't have been able to do some of the things we did if it wasn't for Gunner. He was 6-12 on third down. That's efficient against these guys. I'm really proud that he's growing up and getting better. He had all the success last week, and so many people want to reach out and talk about it. It's so tough. He did no difference in his preparation. He didn't do anything different.”
Stockton doesn't deserve all the blame for this loss, but he absolutely deserves some of it. No quarterback can be responsible for three turnovers and get by without any blame for a loss, but it sounds like that's what Smart is attempting to do.
Sometimes a quarterback's turnovers aren't their fault. Maybe an interception occurs because a wide receiver made a mistake, but that wasn't the case on Stockton's two interceptions. He made two horrific throws that Auburn took advantage of, and he deserves blame for them. Stockton also deserves blame for fumbling the ball on their final possession of the game when they were one first down away from kicking a field goal to avoid this upset.
Instead Smart is choosing to praise Stockton for the great moments he had during the game. He deserves credit for getting Georgia back in the game, but if he didn't play poorly throughout the game then Georgia wouldn't have needed him to lead them on a comeback in the first place.
Gunner Stockton’s heroics don’t make up for his careless mistakes
Smart is praising Stockton for erasing their 10-point deficit late in the game. He deserves some praise for that, but if he had played better early in the game this comeback wouldn't have been needed. Stockton shouldn't get too much praise for solving the problem he contributed to.
Coaches will always have their quarterback's back and that is what Smart is doing. This is fine to do to a certain extent, but at some point he needs to admit that Stockton didn't play good enough for Georgia to win.
Stockton doesn't deserve sole blame for this loss. Everyone contributed to this defeat including Smart himself who was out-coached at points throughout the game, but Stockton is one of the reasons Georgia lost this game and the fact that he almost won it for them in the end doesn't change how poor he played for most of the game.
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