ATHENS — Gunner Stockton’s first full season as Georgia’s starting quarterback ended in a familiar spot.
As was the case in January 2025, when Stockton saw his team fall in the Sugar Bowl. The Bulldogs lost, 39-34, to Ole Miss on Thursday.
From a statistical standpoint, Stockton’s numbers were strikingly similar to those of what he did against Notre Dame, which doubled as Stockton’s first career start.
Stockton completed 18 of 31 pass attempts for 203 yards and a touchdown against Ole Miss. A year ago, he completed 20 of 32 pass attempts for 234 yards and a touchdown. Stockton added two rushing touchdowns for Georgia this time around, picking up 20 yards on his 13 carries. A year ago, his 10 rushing attempts netted minus-23 yards because of sacks.
“When there’s time on the clock, we feel like we’re still in the game,” Stockton said after the loss. “And I mean, that’s what we did. And I mean, just playing, just playing for everybody on the team and just trying to give my best effort.”
As Georgia enters the long offseason, it will be easy to nitpick if Stockton’s best effort is good enough to win a national championship. Such are the stakes when you’re the quarterback at Georgia.
Stockton was not perfect against Ole Miss. The 6-foot-1 quarterback had four passes batted down at the line of scrimmage — a consistent problem when he tried to throw over the middle of the field.
He also took some massive hits in the game. At least twice, Stockton left his feet while making a pass only to get slammed into the stadium turf. Stockton got up both times, with both passes leading to first downs. But Stockton has to find a better way to protect himself.
Credit: Hyosub Shin / Hyosub.Shin@ajc.co
Credit: Hyosub Shin / Hyosub.Shin@ajc.co
He’s too important to Georgia’s team success to get hurt.
“We’ve got a great quarterback back there. We’ve got a great leader,” wide receiver Colbie Young said. “He’s shown that he can do it before. He’ll do it again. He’ll do it in the next level. He’s a great person. So, I feel like under pressure, he’s the most composed person I’ve ever seen. So, we go off of him, so we’re not under that pressure.”
Stockton was at his best when Georgia was in the fourth quarter, leading the Bulldogs on scoring drives after falling behind 34-24. The problem is that the Georgia offense had squandered what had been a 21-12 lead.
After Daylen Everette’s scoop-and-score touchdown, Georgia’s next five offensive possessions saw Georgia gain just 73 yards of offense and three first downs. One came via a pass interference penalty. A second was a fake punt pass from Landon Roldan to Lawson Luckie.
The fifth drive ended with Stockton getting stripped on a calamitous fourth-down play that gave Ole Miss the ball at the Georgia 23-yard line. Two plays later, Ole Miss scored to go up 34-24.
Stockton flashed moments of brilliance during the season, and even during Thursday’s loss. His toughness cannot be questioned.
The next step, a necessary one for any player looking to go from good to great, is to become more consistent. Stockton needs to raise his floor so the Georgia offense doesn’t experience prolonged offensive droughts during the course of games.
“I have the utmost respect for him as a player and as a person,” Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch said. “He kept fighting every single day, every single play, every single foul. He’s putting his body on the line. He’s taking crazy hits pretty much every game, and he’s getting up because he loves the team. So that’s something that’s really important for us as an offense and as a team. So I’ve seen that from him all season. He fought hard, and we just didn’t end up coming with a victory. But that’s my guy right there, man, and he’s going to continue to be successful.”
Stockton said prior to the SEC championship game that he hadn’t thought much about his future, as he was focused on what was still on the table for the 2025 Georgia team. He has another year of eligibility and it’s hard to see him not using it at Georgia.
The pieces around Stockton will look very different. Young confirmed he played his last college game on Thursday. Branch has an NFL decision to make, as he is a draft-eligible junior. He set the single-season school record for receptions with 81.
The non-Branch and Young Georgia receivers on Thursday caught just one pass, a 20-yard reception via Sacovie White-Helton. Oscar Delp, Stockton’s best friend on the team, is off to the NFL as well. He was the lone tight end to catch a Stockton pass against Ole Miss.
It would help the Georgia offense greatly to have a more balanced set of pass catchers. Especially in the event of an injury, as we saw with Young.
Stockton finished a season that surpassed individual expectations by a healthy margin. He threw for 24 touchdowns, ran for another 10 and had just five interceptions on the year. He finished seventh in Heisman Trophy voting.
Yet there are still strides to be made for the Georgia quarterback. Stetson Bennett got better in his second season as Georgia’s starting quarterback and the Bulldogs won a national title. Carson Beck did not, leading to a largely unfun 2024 campaign.
Where Stockton falls between those two will depend on how he and the Georgia offense take shape over the coming months. Stockton has to get better. He knows as much.
But given all he’s already shown in his first season as Georgia’s starting quarterback, those around the program feel more than comfortable betting on him to do so.
“Genuine people, I feel like, tend to go far in life, not trying to switch things up,” Branch said. “If they get certain accolades and things like that, they get to trying to change their character and things like that. He’s a high-character guy. He shows a lot of respect to his players and things like that as well. So I definitely have a lot of confidence in the way that he works and the way he carries himself as a person.”
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