ATHENS, Ga. — How well Gunner Stockton will perform is still unclear. But as the world finds out about him off the field, Stockton’s Georgia folk hero bona fides are being filled in: his small-town roots, how he got his name, the fact he drives a 1984 Ford pickup. Now add another: cows.
Stockton keeps four or five cows back home in Rabun County, which has become a running joke with some of his Georgia teammates.
“He’s old school,” said tight end Oscar Delp, one of Stockton’s roommates. “He’s not a materialistic kind of guy. He’s not into the NIL type stuff. He’s just a guy who likes to be around his friends and his cows.”
There is no known direct correlation between bovine ownership and quarterback ability, and in less than a week, Georgia faces Notre Dame in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff. So a few football-centric takeaways from Saturday, the day before Georgia left for New Orleans, as offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and four of his players met with members of the media:
The Stockton game plan
Georgia guard Tate Ratledge forgot something at the team facility one night this week, and when he went back to get it at 10 p.m., he saw Stockton still there, watching film. That wasn’t that unusual, according to Delp, who said Stockton watched film for four to five hours after practices in the regular season, not knowing if he would even play.
But he did know he was the No. 2 quarterback, and Bobo said he could tell Stockton “took to heart” that he needed to prepare each week like he was the starter. That helped him seamlessly replace Carson Beck in the second half of the SEC Championship Game, leading a touchdown drive right away. But it was still with a game plan focused on Beck’s more pocket-passing skills.
Gunner Stockton stepped in for Carson Beck in the second half of the SEC Championship Game and helped lead Georgia past Texas. (Brett Davis / Imagn Images)
“Now, moving into this game prep, things are centered around (Stockton) and his skill set and what he does well,” Bobo said. “So things are a little more specific to him. Questions are asked of him, whether he likes this scheme or play going into practice and whether we carry it or not. We have those conversations, whereas before it was with Carson because he was the starter.”
GO DEEPER
Georgia’s Gunner Stockton has been preparing for this moment since he was 6 years old
The extra time to prepare should be a big help. Before Georgia knew if it would play Notre Dame or Indiana, it had a “back to basics” approach during the first week of practice, according to Bobo, putting Stockton in more situational drills: two-minute, third-down and red-zone situations.
“He’s (had) some of it but not as much as your starter to get,” Bobo said. “So for him to get those reps against our defense, a lot of situations coach Smart can put us in, can only help him.”
It helped Stockton assume full control of the offense, rather than serving as the understudy of this year or the scout-team quarterback of the previous two years.
“Now I can tell he has full control of this huddle,” Ratledge said.
That said, the spark was already there when Stockton came in during the SEC championship. The past few weeks of practice have cemented it.
“Just seeing the way he’s carried himself and done everything the right way in his prior years leading up to this moment, Gunner’s just a guy you want to block for,” Ratledge said. “He’s just a great guy, plays with a lot of emotion, brings everybody with him, and now he has the whole team behind him, ready to roll.”
Bobo: ‘It hasn’t been smooth’
The SEC championship was a good day for the Bobo family: Mike got his first championship ring as a coordinator, something that eluded him during his first stint at Georgia. And his son, Drew, normally an offensive lineman, completed a pass to Arian Smith on a fake punt in the second half, one of the key plays of the game.
Mike Bobo, however, revealed that he didn’t know what his son had done. He was upset the Bulldogs were punting again, looking down at his play sheet, when tight ends coach Todd Hartley elbowed him: “Hey we’re up on offense.” And it wasn’t until after the game that he found out his son had been the one to throw the pass.
“Glad he executed it and didn’t screw it up. Then we’d have two Bobos everyone could yell at,” Bobo said.
The offense hasn’t had a sterling year: Georgia ranks 30th in scoring and 42nd in yards per play. But four of its games have been against defenses ranked in the top 10 nationally with two others in the top 20.
This is Bobo’s second year back as the coordinator. When he met the media this time last year, it was after a better statistical year, but the team didn’t have a chance at a championship. This time, Bobo still has a chance to set the narrative.
“We are a very resilient group as a football team and offensively,” Bobo said. “Kind of all year it hasn’t been perfect. And it’s never perfect. But it hasn’t been smooth. And we’ve kind of embraced that, that things might get hard.”
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Run the dang ball?
Georgia has two new tailback injuries: Roderick Robinson and Branson Robinson are both expected to miss the rest of the Playoff with unspecified injuries sustained during practice. That ends injury-riddled seasons for both players and removes the team’s two most physical runners.
It hasn’t been a great rushing season anyway, as Bobo acknowledged. Georgia is only 11th in the SEC in rushing yards per attempt and 15th in total rushing yards per game. Georgia was in the top three the previous three seasons and was once known as Tailback U., including during Bobo’s first stint as offensive coordinator.
“Obviously it is frustrating,” Bobo said. “We pride ourselves on being able to run the ball. I could sit here and give you reasons but all they’d be is excuses. I could say injuries, I could say this, bottom line they’d be excuses.”
Injuries have been a factor. Leading rusher Trevor Etienne has missed four full games and was limited in a couple of others with a rib injury. Branson Robinson has played in only six games, and Rodrick Robinson played in only two. The offensive line has been missing Ratledge, center Jared Wilson and tackle Earnest Greene for multiple games each.
But the offensive line is pretty much in full health now. Etienne is too, and with Nate Frazier, Georgia has two dynamic options out of the backfield, while Cash Jones is a veteran blocker and pass-catcher. With Stockton at quarterback, a better running game against Notre Dame and perhaps beyond is a necessity, Bobo claimed.
“We’ve got to be able to run the ball if we want to continue to win in these playoffs,” Bobo said. “We’ve got to find ways to move the ball on the ground. We’ve got a good offensive line that I think is the most healthy that we’ve been. Then it’s commitment to the run. We’ve got to be committed to the run whether things are going good or things are going bad. That’ll help us be balanced and ultimately help the pass.”
(Top photo: Dale Zanine / Imagn Images)
