Georgia football is officially in New Orleans for their College Football Playoff quarterfinal showdown with Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. The game is still a couple days away, but Monday morning was the first opportunity Georgia got to meet with the media to discuss their upcoming matchup with the Irish.
Kirby Smart took center stage and answered a bulk of the questions about the upcoming game, which included a lot of questions about backup QB Gunner Stockton who will be making the first start of his career. One of the questions Smart was asked is what makes Stockton a great QB, and the answer Smart gave is one of the best things you could hear about a QB.
“I think the players play harder with him in there. He raises the skill sets of the players around him. That’s what makes him a good quarterback.”
“I think the players play harder with him in there. He raises the skill sets of the players around him.
— Brooks Austin (@BrooksAustinBA) December 30, 2024
That’s what makes him a good quarterback”
- Kirby Smart on Gunner Stockton
Stockton makes everyone around him better
This comment from Smart is nice and all, but it doesn't mean all that much without any on field evidence. Thankfully Stockton proved he is this type of player in the second half of the SEC Championship game against Texas.
The Bulldogs really struggled in the first half against Texas and only scored three points. There are a lot of things you could blame for these struggles, but Carson Beck's play deserves some of that blame. But then the second half began with Stockton under center, and the team looked completely different.
The offense was finally moving the ball, the offensive line played arguably their best half of the season, and even Georgia's defense stepped it up a notch as well. How was this possible after such a short amount of time knowing that Stockton would be taking over Beck?
The reason all of this occurred is because of the way Stockton plays and handles himself on the field. Nobody plays with more emotion than Stockton, and that emotion lit a fire under every other Bulldog on both sides of the ball. And the one play that demonstrates this the most was when Stockton ran over a Texas defender during the first drive of the second half. The play itself didn't earn too many yards, but that big hit woke the entire sideline up, and Georgia was able to ride that wave for the rest of the game.
Stockton may have a lot of work to do to become the best technical QB he can be, but one thing he has already mastered is how to lead a team and make everyone around him better. And that is one of the best qualities for any QB to have.