Georgia suffered an extreme loss on the last play of the first half of the SEC Championship Game when star quarterback Carson Beck went down with an injury after taking a shot.
There were questions abound as to how the College Football Playoff outlook could suddenly shift to for the Bulldogs, especially considering what happened to Florida State when Jordan Travis was sidelined due to injury.
To make matters even more concerning, Stockton had come into the game with very limited experience, and none in an SEC game at all to this point.
The Tiger, Georgia native entered the game with just six appearances in relief between 2023 and 2024 to his name. Georgia being down 6-3 in the SEC Championship marked his first truly meaningful action.
While such a happening caused many to hold their breath, that was far from what the players and coaches on the Georgia sideline were doing.
They had full faith in the sophomore.
“Everybody was just excited,” Georgia wide receiver Arian Smith said after the game. “Not excited because they wanted him to play or wished that he were starting. But just that he had that moment and that chance to go out and play quarterback for us.”
Running back Trevor Etienne echoed that sentiment, saying that everyone else may have been surprised at how well Stockton performed, but that it didn’t necessarily shock anyone within the program.
“The way he prepares, I expected nothing less of him,” Etienne said. “He comes in and works hard every day. He’s probably played this moment a thousand times at practice. Tonight, he was able to show the world.”
Head coach Kirby Smart described his performance as “tough as nails” and said that the quarterback seemed ready for the moment. Indeed he was as he led Georgia down the field in the first drive in which he took the field, capped off with a 10-yard touchdown by Etienne.
He went on to complete 12 of his 16 passing attempts for 71 yards with a stat line that wasn’t exactly anything to write home about, but with an electric on-the-field performance that injected momentum into what was a lifeless Georgia offense before.
Stockton’s only real mistake came at about the worst time possible with just over two minutes remaining on an interception.
Smart said it wasn’t all his fault, though.
“The only mistake he had, and I feel like it was partially on us… we got the call in early, he didn’t get the call out,” Smart said.
“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 we were down on the shot clock… he throws the pick there that could have been costly.”
“It just goes back to all the love I have for everybody in the locker room. All the seniors, and just wanting them to go out the right way,” Stockton said. “It’s pretty awesome (to do this is a Georgia native.
In a way, it almost reminds you of Stetson Bennett. Two players from small-town Georgia who weren’t exactly the same, but with some shades of the situation in common.
Stockton was a four-star recruit coming out of high school, while Bennett was much more lowly rated as a walk-on with just one FBS offer. But both players overcame incredible odds in situations that looked impossible when they were called upon, sitting behind quarterbacks far more in the limelight than they were.
And depending upon the nature of Beck’s upper-body extremity injury and just to what extent it is, Stockton may have to continue to rise to the occasion as Georgia heads into the thick of the College Football Playoff.
And the big stage is something he is stranger to no more.
