ATHENS - Gunner Stockton keeps adding chapters to a road-test resume that already looks built for the biggest stages.
Saturday night at Alabama was the latest one. In Georgia’s 24-1?
No - in the Bulldogs’ win at Bryant-Denny Stadium, Stockton steered Georgia to a comeback victory over the Crimson Tide and pushed the Bulldogs to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the SEC, good for a No. 1 ranking. The setting only sharpened the spotlight: Alabama’s 100,077-seat stadium, a hostile crowd, and a quarterback who keeps making pressure look ordinary.
This was not Stockton’s first time spoiling a road crowd, either. Last season, he helped Georgia rally in Tennessee’s 101,915-seat Neyland Stadium and again in Auburn’s 88,043-seat Jordan-Hare Stadium. At this point, his legend is starting to travel faster than the Bulldogs do.
That’s part of why the question has already started making the rounds: did Georgia fans ever imagine they’d one day be glad Arch Manning chose Texas so Stockton could become the Bulldogs’ quarterback?
Some probably did, especially in a state that has produced plenty of high-end quarterback talent. Stockton already sits in the Peach State record book as the career total TD leader with 254 and the passing TD leader with 177. But his college rise still caught a lot of people off guard after he arrived as a 4-star prospect and the No. 7 quarterback in the 2022 class.
Now the numbers say he’s one of the best passers in the country. Stockton ranks third nationally in NCAA passing efficiency at 198.57, trailing Miami QB Darian Mensah at 212.25 and Indiana QB Josh Hoover at 200.52.
The NFL conversation around him has changed, too. One former NFL scout said Stockton had long been viewed as a terrific college quarterback, “but,” the scout added, “he doesn’t have an NFL draft grade” entering the 2026 season. After Saturday, that same scout said Stockton was making the kind of throws pro quarterbacks are expected to make - throws he hadn’t shown before, or perhaps hadn’t been asked to make yet.
Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo has seen the progression up close, and he framed it as the product of steady work rather than a sudden leap. In an exclusive interview with UGA’s NIL-content site, ‘Glory Glory,’ Bobo said:
“You see a guy that constantly prepares day-in and day-out, and sometimes you think, ‘man, maybe that guy has reached his ceiling and maybe that’s who he’s going to be, “
“But I’ve learned over the years that if guys continue to work and don’t think they know everything, and don’t think they have the answers, and go out every week and try to improve on how they can improve as a football player, they’re going to get better,” said Bobo, the play caller for the No. 2 scoring offense in the nation (46.2 points per game, behind Miami’s 49.6) and the SEC’s top third-down conversion offense (54.7%, sixth in the nation).
“Gunner is a perfect example of that, he’s constantly working to get better at his craft and getting better.”
Against Alabama, Stockton looked every bit like a quarterback growing into the moment. He finished 18-of-22 for 249 yards, with a touchdown and a deflection that turned into an interception. More telling than the final line was how he handled third down, where he went 9-of-10 for 104 yards against the Tide.
Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer, who has worked with quarterbacks at a high level and has coached two first-round picks in Michael Penix Jr. and Ty Simpson, plus one of the nation’s best young quarterbacks in Keelon Russell, had plenty of praise for Stockton’s performance.
“Yeah, I think Gunner Stockton was clutch,” DeBoer said.
“You know, (Stockton) moved the chains, and so many times his guys, you know, (were) making catches right down towards the ground there.”
DeBoer added:
“You gotta give him credit for those plays that he made,” DeBoer said. “He was in control, just extremely efficient. You know, that’s been the story of the season for him.”
Bobo believes that story still has room to grow. Georgia’s next game is against Auburn at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, and the offensive coordinator said Stockton’s confidence is being built by the daily grind - film work, drills with coach Brandon Streeter, and the experience of playing in major games.
“I think the more he does day in and day out, the drills he does with coach (Brandon) Streeter, and the film work he does, has given him confidence to go out there and seeing things faster, and get through his progressions faster,” Bobo said. “But there’s still a lot of room for improvement.
“Playing in big ball games helps give you more confidence, and he definitely has confidence right now.”
Stockton, for his part, says he keeps the whole thing as simple as possible when the noise gets loud and the moment gets heavy.
“I look to the sideline to get to the next play,” Stockton said. “and just try to get the play and get to the next moment.
“I just try to be calm in the chaos.”
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