Georgia QB Gunner Stockton shows ‘composure beats chaos’ in win at Auburn
ATHENS — Like those who bet on Auburn on Saturday, Georgia coach Kirby Smart did not want Gunner Stockton to score on what proved to be Georgia’s final touchdown.
When a simple slide would have won the game by letting Georgia run out the clock, Stockton leapt for the end zone and thus the final points in Georgia’s 20-10 victory.
“We won the game,” Smart said. “So they’ll be sending people to investigate that one because that’s a 3 to 7. It’s a 3 to 10 (final point margin). But we were thinking, ‘Slide, slide.’ He didn’t hear us say that. We told all the players that we’re gonna get the ball. And Gunner thought we meant if we score, we win.”
Stockton’s scramble picked up the 3 yards Georgia needed to convert a fourth third down on the drive. His previous three passes all had been completions, one going to London Humphreys, one to Zachariah Branch and another to Nate Frazier.
He also found Humphreys for a fourth-down conversion on the 16-play, 8-minute and 45-second drive. Had Stockton slid instead of scored, Georgia would have been able to run out the clock, though it would not have covered the point spread.
“It was like a bootleg,” Stockton said. “Yeah, I got the edge, and I just ran and scored a touchdown.”
Stockton finished the game as Georgia’s leading rusher, netting 26 yards with sacks factored in. He completed 24 of his 37 pass attempts for 217 yards.
It was the first SEC game in which Stockton did not have a touchdown pass, something that also happened in the win over Marshall.
But it wasn’t for lack of trying. Stockton, particularly in the second half, began to push the ball further downfield. Deep passes to Colbie Young and Elyiss Williams fell just incomplete, the ball bouncing off their fingertips while they tried to make contested catches.
Stockton did hit Noah Thomas for a 30-yard gain, which saw Thomas get taken down at the Auburn 2-yard line. Running back Chauncey Bowens scored on the next play, tying the score at 10-10.
For a Georgia offense that had only 20 yards when it took over for its final drive of the first half, it was a turnaround so stunning that the Auburn crowd truly was silenced.
“It went about as wrong as it could’ve gone for us, but we found a way,” Stockton said. “That’s what the best part about this game is. We just found a way and kept fighting.”
Georgia outscored Auburn 17-0 in the second half. The physicality of Auburn’s defense was notable, as was the enemy crowd. Stockton took some significant hits over the course of the evening. He was sacked on Georgia’s opening drive of the game, a sign that it was going to be a long night.
On Georgia’s first scoring drive, Stockton drew both a roughing-the-passer penalty and a targeting foul. The latter came against Kayin Lee, a onetime Georgia commit from Ellenwood and Auburn’s best defensive back.
Despite the onslaught, Stockton kept getting up.
“My dad, he always taught me when I was younger: If you’re on the ground, you’re useless. So I just tried to pop right back up,” Stockton said.
Saturday was only Stockton’s second road start as Georgia’s starting quarterback. It would have been easy to come unglued, especially as Georgia once again fell behind 10-0.
But Stockton was never rattled. Unlike Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold, he never put the ball in harm’s way, and Arnold’s fumble proved to be a major factor in the game.
While Arnold seemed frantic, especially as the Auburn offense fell apart in the final 30 minutes, Stockton seemed at ease.
“Coach Smart harped on composure beats chaos, and he was the most composed out of all of us,” Young said. “He made sure we were in the right formations, right checks. He got us into the great checks and got us a great score.”
The win for Stockton was special. Not so much because of any particular play but because of the history of this rivalry.
Stockton’s grandfather had been arrested during the 1986 Georgia-Auburn game for being on the field postgame during the water hose incident. Georgia won that day, with the offense also scoring 20 points.
Stockton’s late, Cam Newton-esque, dive through the end zone ultimately wasn’t necessary. Smart would lament the extra defensive snaps that were needed to ice the win.
To this point, it’s Stockton’s ability to make the routine plays that has Georgia sitting inside the top 10 with a 5-1 record at the midpoint of the season.
“I mean, Gunner’s huge. He breaks contain and just takes it for 6,” center Drew Bobo said. “And it was awesome. I’m so happy for the guy.”
About the Author
Connor Riley has been covering the University of Georgia since 2014 before moving to DawgNation full-time before the 2018 season. He helps in all areas of the site such as team coverage, recruiting, video production, social media and podcasting. He graduated from the University of Georgia in 2016.
