How Georgia can overcome QB troubles

In their huge win in overtime against Texas in the SEC Championship the Bulldogs still had one major loss.

Senior quarterback Carson Beck went down during the final play of the first half with an elbow injury, his timetable is unknown, which means the Georgia Bulldogs may be without their starting quarterback as they embark on a College Football Playoff run.

Leading the Bulldogs to SEC supremacy was sophomore quarterback Gunner Stockton who went 12/16 for 71 yards, but one interception after coming on in relief of Beck.

This would be enough, with plenty of aid from Trevor Etienne, to knock off the Texas Longhorns to secure a bye in the playoffs and to give some much-needed confidence to Kirby Smart’s team after a long, close game with Georgia Tech just a week before the championship.

Smart’s team beat this Texas team earlier in the year 30-15, just under two months later, the dogs bite again as they continue their winning streak since their loss at the hands of Ole Miss.

Georgia will face the winner of Indiana and Notre Dame, on Jan. 1 in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, in New Orleans, after their bye week.

Georgia would have an interesting matchup against the Hoosiers, facing the number one run defense in college football, allowing only 2.5 yards per carry, which could present problems for a backup quarterback.

To understand if Georgia can live up to their hopes of a national championship, we first need to understand who Gunner Stockton is. Stockton was a 4-star recruit from Rabun County High School, he was a part of the 2022 recruiting class.

The high school All-American chose the Bulldogs over South Carolina and Auburn. Stockton in his senior year at Rabun High threw for 4,134 yards, 55 passing touchdowns and just one interception, along with 956 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns.

If Kirby Smart can tap into the high school version of Gunner Stockton then maybe this Georgia team can restabilize and at least make the College Football Playoff semifinals which could be a faceoff with the Penn State Nittany Lions coming off of a loss to the Oregon Ducks in the Big Ten championship.

No matter what Georgia’s chances are, they depend on the legs of Trevor Etienne and Nate Frazier. The blocking of the big Georgia Bulldogs offensive line is important. They will be forced to throw the ball some on some downs, and defenses will be prepped to take advantage of the inexperienced quarterback.

If the backs can continue to get chunk yardage and break down the defense then Stockton’s passing lanes will open up and be able to get Georgia’s athletes into the open field and hopefully be able to outrun the athletes of Indiana or Notre Dame.

The Georgia Bulldogs open as 6.5 point favorites over the Indiana Hoosiers if they were to face in the Sugar Bowl per DraftKings, and adversely they would be 2.5 point underdogs against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

We will see if Gunner Stockton will be able to settle in and overcome Georgia’s challenges to raise another National Championship trophy.

Massimo Manfra is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email mgm6116@psu.edu.