Kirby Smart and Georgia Bulldogs must fix Gunner Stockton if they want to win against tough upcoming SEC schedule

Gunner Stockton doesn’t like the lack of explosive plays, but it’s on him to change that

Travis May — College Football Managing Editor
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The Georgia Bulldogs somehow struggled to put away an FCS team on Saturday. Yes, there were weather delays and issues that could have contributed to Georgia playing out of sync, but that’s not a great excuse, and it covers up that the Bulldogs won just 28-6 against Austin Peay on Saturday.

Unfortunately, the real problem seems to be quarterback Gunner Stockton. If Kirby Smart and his staff can’t fix him — and soon — Georgia will struggle against the toughest parts of its SEC schedule.

Gunner Stockton is the problem for Georgia Bulldogs’ offense, and he has to make changes

What does it mean for Gunner Stockton to be the problem on offense? Didn’t he complete well over 70% of his passes on Saturday? Didn’t Georgia win 28-6 (usually a decent margin of victory)? Yes, but 14 points at halftime against one of the worst Division 1 (FCS) programs in the country is indefensible.

What’s exactly wrong with Stockton? And what needs to change if Georgia’s offense wants to get where it needs to be? Several things.

It took Stockton 34 pass attempts to reach just 227 yards of production with zero passing touchdowns on Saturday. That’s 6.7 yards per attempt against a bad defense, ranking Stockton outside the top 90 among FBS passers by that measure.

Stockton only faced eight pressures the entire game, but still found himself forcing the ball out of his hands far too fast (less than 2.5 seconds on average), panicking a bit, and only targeting players on underneath short passes. In fact, his average depth of target (aDOT) was somehow just 3.2 yards. That’s absolutely wild for an FBS passer. His aDOT through two weeks now ranks outside the top 120 FBS passers (minimum 20 pass attempts).

Gunner was clearly a bit disappointed in the lack of explosive plays after the game, saying, “I don’t really know why [we aren’t explosive] right now…Yeah, [it’s frustrating because] you always want to be explosive. Explosive plays really affect the game.”

The problem is, Stockton’s complete inability or unwillingness to push the ball downfield is the exact reason Georgia can’t create explosive plays right now.

Last week against Marshall, Stockton cashed in on a few explosive plays that were entirely created by transfer wide receiver Zachariah Branch, thanks to his wiggle and burst. This week, that was not the case. Not a single Georgia player logged a reception over 20 yards against Austin Peay. Stockton only attempted three passes that went more than 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage in the air.

If Georgia wants to unlock its offense and find success against the best teams in the country, Stockton must take advantage of some of the weapons around him, like Zachariah Branch or Colbie Young. Yes, Young grabbed seven receptions for 76 yards, but even he was targeted on average just under three yards downfield. The only receiver who had an average depth of target beyond five yards on Saturday was Dillon Bell, and yet he still posted a measly -2 receiving yards.

Stockton’s decision-making is clearly broken. This is two weeks in a row now that he’s just not seeing the field and almost exclusively settling for short options. The team loves him. Smart loves him. Still, things have got to change. Smart and the staff need to fix him as the Bulldogs are set to face off against Tennessee and Alabama later in September. Otherwise, Georgia will lose games, and soon.

There isn’t likely to be some easy, quick answer, but Smart and the staff must get his eyes looking downfield. Stockton has to be more patient, getting through his progressions, and making a few more tough throws, trusting his arm. If that can’t happen, Georgia might be in trouble.

We’ll be back with more Georgia Bulldogs coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!

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