Gunner Stockton, Mike Bobo need to let it rip to keep streak alive in Knoxville
By Sam Ranson
Published:
I said in the preseason that I didn’t think Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton needed to be special for the Bulldogs to reach their goals this season. I continue to believe that.
But let me expand a bit more on what I meant: Stockton doesn’t need to carry this team. He doesn’t need to measure up to Georgia legends who came before him. He doesn’t need to put up a damn-near 5:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio the way Stetson Bennett did. He doesn’t need to throw for 4,000 yards the way Matthew Stafford and Aaron Murray (nearly) did. He doesn’t need to be a Heisman contender.
What he does need to do is to be willing — to be confident enough in this offense and in what he’s seeing — to hit his back foot and let it rip. He needs to be willing to make a mistake.
If Stockton remains the Checkdown Charlie he’s been in tuneups against Marshall and Austin Peay, then 1) Georgia will almost certainly not reach its lofty goals of an SEC championship and a deep playoff run, and 2) Stockton may not be the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback come mid-October.
I like Stockton. I think he has moxie, and I know he has the trust and respect of his teammates. Frankly, it’s wild to me how quickly some — most? — seem to have forgotten that it was Stockton who entered a tense, low-scoring SEC Championship Game against Texas last December and rallied an offense that looked dead in the water.
But there does seem to be a disconnect right now between what Stockton likes to do — and is confident in doing — and what offensive coordinator Mike Bobo is asking him to do. It’s no help that Georgia’s offensive line, my most burning question (I’ll see a doctor if it doesn’t clear up soon…) in the preseason, is already banged up 2 weeks in, and a makeshift right side had trouble communicating and working cohesively in pass pro against what should have been an overmatched FCS foe in Austin Peay. To quote a balding young man in a New York City elevator: “Not great, Bob!”
Here’s what I want to see from Stockton this weekend in Knoxville: 22-for-34 for 268 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
“Two interceptions?!”
Alright…I don’t want to see 2 picks. But you bet your last Garage beer I’d live with 1, particularly if it’s the right kind of interception. What’s the right kind of interception? One that’s 45 yards downfield as he’s trying to hit Colbie Young, Dillon Bell, or Noah Thomas on a deep post to blow the game open. If it’s thrown off a good read, and a Tennessee DB happens to make a play, I’m not mad at it. That’s a punt. That’s a mistake that won’t kill you. Now a pick-6 to an edge rusher who’s timed up Georgia’s RPO hitch route, which almost happened a couple times last weekend…? That’s a killer. That’s the kind of interception you can’t tolerate.
What that hypothetical stat line would mean is that Stockton trusted it — he trusted his pass-catchers and, most importantly, he trusted himself — and looked to make plays down the field. He looked to take advantage of the high-end receiving talent Georgia brought in over the offseason. He looked to take advantage of a bevy of talented tight ends (please, God…). He attacked the game. He attacked the damn day. (Georgia fans know what I’m talking about.)
Here’s what I don’t want from Gunner on Saturday: 22-for-29, 168 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions. That’s our old friend Checkdown Charlie. And here’s the thing about Charlie: checkdowns — or RPO hitch routes — aren’t always safe when your opponent knows you’re checking down. Aggressive defenses will start to sit on that. Austin Peay started to sit on that. So Georgia — and Stockton — cannot be that predictable against a much more talented Tennessee defense, who will be buoyed by a raucous, liquored-up home crowd in Knoxville.
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I’ll end on a positive note: I’ve actually liked the way Georgia’s offensive line has run-blocked in the first 2 weeks (in spite of the constant shuffling and re-shuffling necessitated by early-season injuries); it sounds like veteran tackle Earnest Greene and mammoth freshman guard Juan Gaston may return this weekend; starting tailback Nate Frazier was putting his foot in the ground and getting vertical after an unfortunate early fumble last week (and is being productively pushed by the thunder and lightning combo of Chauncey Bowens and Dwight “Peanut” Phillips); and Georgia’s pass catchers look ready to make plays provided they’re given the opportunity. The ingredients are there to make a meal, particularly if the Dawgs get some good news on Greene and/or Gaston.
It doesn’t take a football savant to boldly predict that Tennessee will look to neutralize Georgia’s run game early and force Stockton to make big-boy throws in a hostile, ‘shined-up Neyland Stadium. Tennessee will also likely sit on the hitch routes, stop routes, and running back flairs the Dawgs have so heavily relied upon in Weeks 1 and 2. What is offensive coordinator Mike Bobo — and more importantly, what is Gunner Stockton — willing to do early to open things up and get those Tennessee safeties out of the box? Opportunities should be there to at least try. Is Georgia’s first-year starting quarterback ready to let it rip?
He’s going to need to be, because this Tennessee team looks explosive — it hung 72 on East Tennessee State this past weekend and 45 on a Power 4 foe in Week 1 — and frankly may have done some addition by subtraction in replacing Nico Iamaleava with former Appalachian State star Joey Aguilar. The Vols are hungry to get over the hump in this series, one they dominated throughout the 90s, but one in which they’ve now lost 8 in a row and 13 of the last 15. (In fact, Georgia hasn’t won any of the last 8 by fewer than two scores.) I trust Kirby Smart’s and defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann’s record against Josh Heupel’s offense. But Georgia won’t win this game without a vertical passing threat. Now’s the time for Stockton to let his receiving talent eat. If he does, the Vols may stay hungry — and dangerously drunk on moonshine — this Saturday.
