Kirk Herbstreit breaks down Gunner Stockton’s play leading into Georgia-Tennessee showdown
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Kirk Herbstreit played the quarterback position, and he did it at the highest level of college football while at Ohio State.
It was a long time ago, but Herbstreit knows the tools of the trade, and on Saturday morning during ESPN’s College GameDay the former Buckeye signal-caller broke down what he’s seen so far from Gunner Stockton during his first season as Georgia‘s starting QB.
“When you watch him, it reminds me more of a style of offense, it might be more of a Stetson Bennett kind of offense than what you saw from Carson Beck,” Herbstreit said. “I still think they’re defining themselves offensively. The toughness that he showed in the SEC Championship Game (last season), and the other thing is the mobility, the running game that he’s a big part of in the Mike Bobo scheme. He knows he can get out on the outside. Tennessee has to keep him contained, they can’t let him create with his feet.”
So far this season, in victories over Marshall and Austin Peay, Stockton has thrown for 417 yards with 2 touchdown passes and 0 interceptions. He’s also run for 86 yards and 2 TDs on the ground in 2025, which is what Herbstreit was talking about with Stockton’s ability to hurt defenses with his legs. That will be put to the test on Saturday in Knoxville.
Stockton got some action last season, filling in for an injured Carson Beck, but 2025 is his true baptism, and on Saturday he’ll play his first true showdown game as the starting quarterback when No. 6 Georgia visits No. 15 Tennessee in a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ABC.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
