BY CHARLES ODUM
Gunner Stockton is earning a reputation for toughness in his first full season as No. 9 Georgia’s starting quarterback, taking full advantage of his skills as a runner and passer.
There are times his toughness has drawn criticism for taking hits at the end of some runs that many quarterbacks try to avoid as Georgia prepares for Saturday’s important Southeastern Conference home game against No. 5 Mississippi.
While some may say Stockton should hit the ground faster to avoid those hits, no one can complain that the quarterback stays on the ground too long. So far, Stockton has always been quick to bounce back to his feet.
“I never really want to lay on the ground,” Stockton said Monday. “It’s never really a good look. So I always, I don’t know, I always just popped up.”
Stockton’s teammates have noticed.
“He’s just showing his grit and toughness and love for the game because he’s going to get back up regardless if he got hit or he didn’t,” linebacker Raylen Wilson said Tuesday. “It just shows he’s a tough individual, and I already knew that myself.”
Stockton leads Georgia (5-1, 3-1 SEC) with six rushing touchdowns and is third with 220 rushing yards. The junior also has passed for six touchdowns with only one interception.
Stockton completed 24 of 37 passes for 217 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions and had a late 10-yard scoring run as Georgia rallied from a 10-0 deficit to beat Auburn 20-10last week. Stockton also led Georgia to another important SEC road win, 44-41 in overtime at Tennessee on Sept. 13.
Those wins have kept Georgia close in the SEC race entering the matchup against Ole Miss (6-0, 3-0). They also have helped Stockton gain confidence in his new role as the starter and team leader.
“Having the experience going to Tennessee and some of those games and just having those games under my belt, it’s definitely changed me,” Stockton said, adding that winning on the road “has grown my confidence a lot.”
Running back Cash Jones says he sees evidence of Stockton’s confidence growth.
“One is leadership,” Jones said Tuesday. “He’s done a great job vocally leading. Throwing the ball, he’s done a great job. Even using his legs, he’s done a great job. Physically he has taken some big hits and he’s done a great job of showing toughness, resiliency, fire when he needs to. He’s just done a great job overall.”
Stockton is a fitting figurehead for an offense that has had to win with toughness instead of explosive plays. Coach Kirby Smart said he’d like to have more big gains on offense but also enjoys having a team wear down opponents during a game.
“I’m comfortable with who we are, although I want to be more explosive,” Smart said. “But being a team that can grind it out and be physical in a day and age when a lot of people don’t want to be physical, it makes you different.”
Georgia led 13-10 with less than 2 minutes remaining when Stockton capped his 10-yard scoring run at Auburn with a Superman dive across the goal line.
For once, Smart would have preferred for Stockton to slide to the turf before scoring. Smart wanted the quarterback to eat up more clock so Georgia’s defense wouldn’t have to return to the field.
“It was kind of the heat of the moment,” Stockton said when asked about his decision on the play.
The touchdown capped 20 unanswered points for Georgia.
“We never quit. We’re resilient,” Stockton said. “And we did what we had to do to win the ball game. … We’re hard to put away. And I think that’s the best part about our offense.”
