Few coaches have a more tortuous history with second-string quarterbacks than Kirby Smart.
The No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs coach has been on the big stage before at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on the cusp of hoisting a trophy—one national, one SEC championship—before opposing backups entered in the second half to deny him.
Six years ago in January, Tua Tagovailoa energized the Alabama Crimson Tide and improbably completed a second-and-26 pass to walk it off in the College Football Playoff national championship game. Later that December, Jalen Hurts entered in the fourth quarter to replace an injured Tagovailoa and deny the Bulldogs a conference title at the same venue.
Sometimes, however, the karmic forces in college football have a way of evening things out. On Saturday evening, Smart finally had a backup quarterback decision go his way. Bulldogs second-stringer Gunner Stockton replaced injured starter Carson Beck at halftime to spark a dramatic 22–19 comeback, overtime win over the No. 2 Texas Longhorns.
It secured the Bulldogs’ second SEC title in the last three years and 15th overall. Georgia also locked up a first-round bye in the CFP and a quarterfinal berth in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day.
“I’ve had more physically tough, more physically talented teams, but I don’t know that I’ve ever had a more mentally tough team,” Smart said. “They just keep coming and keep coming and they never say die. I have a lot of respect for the leaders in that room because of what they’ve been through. Probably the hardest schedule in history we’ve ever had, and they’ve endured it—they came out on top and fought their way through it.”
Fight is a good summation of the season. Georgia looked far from the elite teams of recent vintage that won it all in dominant fashion, but blossomed into a scrappy, talented group that dug deep when needed. Make no mistake, though, such late heroics are only possible because the Bulldogs put themselves in such a position.
Against the Longhorns, it was the sixth time this season that the Bulldogs trailed at the half, a troubling sign that included close come-from-behind wins against the Kentucky Wildcats and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (in eight overtimes), plus losses at the Alabama Crimson Tide and Ole Miss Rebels. Georgia didn’t score in the first quarter for a sixth time in 13 games, but remarkably emerged 5–1 in those games.
“I have almost the same number of national championships as I do SEC championships,” Smart said. “I’ve had years where I won the SEC that I didn’t win the natty, and there’s years I did win the natty and didn’t win the SEC. They’re really hard to come by. I value SEC championships. I hold them in high esteem because the work it requires to do that is incredible.”
Georgia faced that climb when Beck was injured on the final play of the first half as he dropped back to throw a potential Hail Mary. Texas edge rusher Trey Moore escaped a block and somehow got both of his hands on the quarterback’s throwing arm to yank him down.
Beck fumbled to add insult to his injury, which Longhorns linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. recovered and nearly ran back after lateraling to a teammate. The teams cemented a first half without a touchdown for the first time in the 33-year history of the SEC championship game.
Smart confirmed Beck suffered an “upper extremity injury” and would receive an MRI on Sunday. However, the quarterback couldn’t grip the football well enough to throw during warmups in the locker room. His status will be closely monitored by everybody from the CFP selection committee to potential opponents.
The thing is, Georgia was much better offensively with Stockton, a redshirt sophomore from tiny Tiger, Ga., who had seen limited action until Saturday. The Bulldogs' offense was virtually nonexistent with Beck under center, and the team went into the break with only three points and fewer total yards (69) than the Longhorns had in penalty yardage (80).
“Of course it’s never a good thing when your starting quarterback goes out,” Georgia offensive lineman Tate Ratledge said. “But it was big for everybody in the locker room to let Gunner know that we believed in him and we had full confidence in him to get the job done.”
On Stockton’s first series, the crowd of overwhelming Georgia fans among the 74,916 in attendance rose to their feet in near unison to echo that sentiment. It seemed as though the contest was never the same the rest of the way.
The Bulldogs promptly took their first drive of the second half 75 yards in 10 plays before Trevor Etienne finally found the end zone for their first lead. Stockton (12-of-16, 71 yards passing) and an active front seven on defense (six sacks and 15 tackles for loss) then put the Longhorns in a bind.
It seemed like the perfect opportunity for Texas to respond with a backup quarterback move of its own to provide a spark. The highly touted Arch Manning watched along the sideline with vested interest but only had one play appearance in overtime for a short run. Instead, coach Steve Sarkisian leaned into what got the Longhorns to Atlanta. Quinn Ewers tried his best, using a nifty play-action pass to find DeAndre Moore Jr. on a slant for a 41-yard, game-tying touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
“This is the life of a competitor. You get into this arena, you compete at the highest level against quality opponents, there’s always going to be sways and flows in the ball game that sometimes go your way and sometimes don’t,” Sarkisian said. “In the first half, we had some great opportunities. We just couldn’t capitalize the way we would have liked.”
Penalties were a big reason why Texas could never fully seize momentum in its second consecutive conference championship game but the first in its new league. The Horns committed 11 for a whopping 94 yards, including two that called back a pair of Beck interceptions in the first half.
Kicker Bert Auburn missed two field goals that would have extended Texas’s lead and had just about everybody nervous as he nailed a 37-yarder that led to the first overtime title game in SEC history. Ewers, with several opportunities to win the game late, also threw two costly interceptions.
Not everything was self-inflicted, though, particularly as Georgia searched for the go-ahead points when the game was tied with just over 11 minutes remaining. Smart gambled like he typically has in such moments and, as if to prove his luck has changed in 2024, converted a fourth-and-5 from his own 25 with an end-around toss to Arian Smith on a fake punt. It sparked a 16-play drive that gave the team a late, three-point lead.
“I’ve got some history of fake punts in that building,” said Smart, referring to an ill-advised fake that cost him the 2018 title to Alabama. “It’s a lot easier to call it when you think you’re gonna be in the playoffs either way.”
Easier to call that, easier to stomach a backup quarterback, and easier, it seems, to be a coach in the 12-team era where such mistakes aren’t punished quite as severely as they once were. The Bulldogs are a walking, talking example of the new system that leans far more into the survive-and-advance attitude—at least in the four power conferences—that is omnipresent in men’s and women’s basketball during March Madness.
Even Texas is on the same wavelength, despite both coaches insisting the SEC championship had more meaning than what happens next in terms of byes or playoff destinations. The Longhorns have their CFP ticket all but locked up after coming in as the committee’s second-ranked team and will likely host a first-round game in two weeks.
The disappointment was clearly evident as the Longhorns walked off with their heads slung low, but still capable of perking up when asked about the future knowing they still have a shot at their ultimate goal.
“It stings. But we have a chance to regroup in a couple of weeks and get into the College Football Playoff and go compete for a national championship,” Sarkisian said. “I think we’re plenty good enough to go win that.”
As Smart would note, a little luck with the football gods can go a long way if you want to come out on top—especially in a season where the national championship game will take place in the same building 44 days from now.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Second-String QB Gunner Stockton Guides Georgia to SEC Title, CFP Bye.
