With Carson Beck status in limbo, can Gunner Stockton help lead Georgia to a national title?

Posted by Admin December 9, 2024 Football

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It’s the MRI results that have Georgia football fans hitting refresh for updates on the status of starting quarterback Carson Beck going forward.

The waiting game continued Monday, a day after coach Kirby Smart said in the early afternoon “we should get the results here in the next few hours.”

What we know for certain is that Beck has a right elbow injury and Georgia plays in the College Football Playoff in three weeks and two days away on Jan. 1 in the Sugar Bowl.

Meanwhile, nothing from Smart’s media session with reporters on Sunday indicated that good news is coming.

Neither is the delay in the school putting out more information on Beck’s injury. Beck and his camp also have his NFL future to think about. On3 reported on Monday that Beck is dealing with a UCL injury and getting second opinions.

If Georgia does have to turn to Gunner Stockton, how does it impact the No. 2 seeded CFP team?

Stockton became a folk hero of sorts for his gutty performance in the second half in Georgia’s overtime win over Texas on Saturday night in the SEC Championship Game.

Can the Bulldogs win three playoff games even with a favorable path that could start with Notre Dame and end with No. 1 Oregon?

In the days before Georgia played a CFP semifinal in 2021, offensive coordinator Todd Monken strongly put his faith in Stetson Bennett as being good enough to take the Bulldogs where they wanted to go.

“There’s no doubt in my mind we can win the national championship,” Monken said. “There’s no doubt in my mind we can win it with Stetson Bennett. There’s no question.”

Similar questions will now come up about Stockton if he’s thrust into a starting role.

Bennett was coming off a shaky outing in an SEC Championship loss to Alabama, but the former walk-on had 15 starts under his belt and went on to win back-to-back national titles.

Stockton, a redshirt sophomore, would make his starting debut in the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame or Indiana in the CFP quarterfinal if Beck is out.

His body of work is limited, but he has played on big stages — the SEC Championship Game when he stepped in during a second half when Georgia scored 13 points after being held to just 3 in the first with Beck at the helm, and in the blowout win against Florida State in the Orange Bowl last season.

Stockton led Georgia on a 75-yard touchdown drive to start the second half after Beck was injured on the final play of the first half and managed to hold onto the ball on a designed run in overtime on a hit so hard it knocked off his helmet.

“The team has a lot of confidence in Gunner,” Smart said. “He’s very smart, very intelligent. I don’t know that it’s a lot of change. It’s probably more picking the volume correctly in terms of not having everything that we have with Carson, but having things that fit Gunner.”

Beck has passed for 7,912 yards with 58 touchdowns and 20 interceptions over five seasons, the last two as the starter.

Stockton, a four-star recruit out of Rabun County, has played in eight games, completing 37 of 51 passes 354 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He has also rushed for 73 yards on 22 carries and on Saturday showed how his legs can put him in position to make throws on the move.

“I think his strengths are somewhat different than Carson’s obviously,” Smart said. “We’ve known that. There’s not a game we don’t go into that we don’t have a plan for Gunner if he were to have to play. When you’re the backup quarterback, he’s got to be ready to play. He functions and operates really well within our current offense. We don’t think we have to change much in terms of that. He does give us the capability of doing some different things with his athleticism. I thought Mike [Bobo] and those guys did a good job of using that.”

There will be hot takes now about what this all means for Georgia — some already surfacing over the weekend.

“I like Georgia’s chances a little more with Gunner Stockton at QB,” Skip Bayless, formerly of ESPN and Fox Sports, posted on X. ”Gives ’em Stetsonish spark.”

Georgia showed it could win on some of Beck’s worst days this season.

It would need its defense to rise up like it did against Texas to help ease Stockton.

“I mean, the kid played just tough as nails,” Smart said. “He hasn’t gotten to play much this year. That’s the hardest part. You don’t get a chance to play these guys. The Florida State game is probably the most he’s played. But can’t say enough about his toughness, character, whatever you want to say. The guy is a phenomenal leader. He made some good plays. I think everybody else rose up around him.”

If Beck is out, Georgia’s players will need to rise to the occasion again in the Sugar Bowl, then again should Georgia advance to the Orange Bowl in the semifinals and then one more back in Atlanta on the same field —this time with a national title on the line.