Georgia quarterback drama, heroics steal the show for SEC Championship storylines

ATLANTA, Ga. — Backup quarterbacks have been a scary thing for Georgia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Twice the Bulldogs have lost when the opposing team was forced to go to its second string signal caller, but on Saturday, it was UGA on the other side of that fortune bringing a quarterback off the bench into a championship setting.

Starting quarterback Carson Beck suffered what Georgia head coach Kirby Smart described as “an upper extremity injury” on the final play of the first half. With one second left, the Bulldogs were looking to send one to the end zone instead of kicking a 59-yard field goal. Beck was hit by a Texas defender in the hand, fumbled and stayed down on the field for a few moments after the chaos that ensued was all settled.

Smart told ESPN’s Holly Rowe that Beck got hit on the hand and they would need to get a look at it. In the locker room, he was not able to grip and throw a ball and was ruled out.

“Basically, we looked at it in there, and it looked okay, but he couldn’t have grip strength and throw the ball in the locker room,” Smart told reporters postgame. “So it was a little bit painful for that.”

In came backup quarterback Gunner Stockton. The redshirt sophomore had never been in a game with the margin less than a 21-point Georgia lead. With just seven prior appearances and his most extended action in last year’s Orange Bowl (6-for-10, 96 yards, two touchdowns, seven carries, 46 yards), it was an unknown of what level of play the Bulldogs could expect to get from the backup quarterback.

Stockton quieted those fears early, leading Georgia on its first touchdown drive of the game to open the second half. He completed three of his four passes for 36 yards, converting a pair of third downs including one with his legs. It was running back Trevor Etienne that found his way into the end zone to give Georgia its first lead, but Stockton’s response was certainly noted among his teammates.

“I think Gunner did a great job stepping up when he had to. Him coming into the game I think made everybody realize that this was new juice and we’ve got to come out of the second half with it,” offensive lineman Tate Ratledge said. “I think everybody did a great job with that … Of course it’s never a good thing when your starting quarterback goes out, but I think it was big for everybody in that locker room to let Gunner know we believed in him and had full confidence in him to get the job done.”

“I kind of talked to him before stepping on the field and let him know, ‘We all got your back. Don’t be nervous. You got this,'” defensive back Daylen Everette, who won the game’s MVP award, added. “He did that and did a great job of stepping up.”

Stockton continued his strong play for more than that first drive. There were moments he looked like somebody that hadn’t seen significant action. See his fourth quarter interception that led to Texas’ game-tying field goal with 18 seconds left. There were also others he delivered like a poised veteran. His overtime scramble to risk his body to put Georgia at the 4-yard line was exactly that.

“Incredible. I mean, the players believe in Gunner. They love Gunner. The juice that he brought and the passion and energy – and he lives with three or four of those guys, Drew (Bobo) and Oscar (Delp) and some of them – and it was like it gave us an added boost of energy,” Smart said on Stockton. “They were fired up. They were trying to keep him composed, and I thought the offensive staff did a good job helping Gunner out, with the way they call the game. He did a good job executing.”

“The only mistake he had, and I feel like it was partially on us, is we just didn’t get the call in. He got the call in early. He didn’t get the call out. He didn’t have time to evaluate what they were doing. If he sees that, he can pick it up and do some things with it. But again, we were down on the shot clock, and he had the third down, he throws the pick there that could have been costly. But, man, the kid played just tough as nails,” the head coach continued. “I mean, and he hadn’t had to play much this year. That’s the hardest part is 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’s a phenomenal leader. He made some good plays and everybody else rose up around him.”

Stockton finished 12-for-16 for 71 yards, adding 8 yards on eight carries as well. Remove sacks from that rushing total and it’s 26 yards. On his final scramble, his helmet popped off, and Georgia was forced to another quarterback once again, and who other to turn to than Carson Beck once again.

“I can’t remember what game it was this year, we had a target somewhere where a helmet came off and the officials came over and told us that the kid could stay in if it was confirmed targeting, and he had to come out if it wasn’t. And so it immediately came to my mind, when it happened with Gunner, I just assumed he’d be able to stay in because I thought I was gonna be targeting, and then I saw the replay, and realized he led with his shoulder and we were gonna have to take a snap with another quarterback, which we were prepared to put Ryan Puglisi in, and he knows the system. He knows what to do. But we felt like, one the offensive coach called and said, Carson can take a snap, it’s not an issue,” Smart said. “We did that, and Mike (Bobo) and them had a good plan, really good plan on that play, and executed it, and it was a really physical play. It’s a good, quick decision, because we had already burned our time out on defense. So we wanted to be efficient and not run down the play clock.”

Beck took the snap and handed off to Trevor Etienne for his second touchdown of the game. The plunge in from 4 yards out walked things off, and no further drama was needed with Georgia’s quarterbacks, at least for this trip to Atlanta.

An MRI is still to come for Beck. Georgia will work to “find out exactly what’s going on” according to Smart, and lucky for the Bulldogs, they’ll have plenty of time to do so. With the win, UGA has its spot secured in the College Football Playoff with the announcement of a first-round bye just a formality tomorrow (12:00 p.m. ET, ESPN). That’ll give Georgia three weeks and change to get Beck ready to return, or, if its more serious than originally thought, prepare Stockton for further action as the pursuit for another trip to the Benz is on with the National Championship Game in the same building January 20th.

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