Gunner Stockton didn’t just beat Alabama on Saturday night. He kept building the kind of quarterback profile that’s turning heads far beyond Athens.
With Georgia’s 24-? win at Bryant-Denny Stadium, the Bulldogs moved to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the SEC, climbed to No. 1, and Stockton added another heavyweight road victory to a resume that already includes comeback wins at Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium and Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium last season.
That’s the part that’s hard to ignore now: the setting, the pressure, the production. Alabama entered the matchup expecting a major storm, and Stockton was the one who delivered it.
His stat line against the Crimson Tide was sharp: 18-of-22 passing for 249 yards with a touchdown and a deflection that was intercepted. More telling than the raw numbers was how he handled third down, where he went 9-of-10 for 104 yards and repeatedly delivered in tight windows.
Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer noticed.
“Yeah, I think Gunner Stockton was clutch,” said DeBoer, who’s considered to be a bit of a QB guru having coached up two first-round picks in Michael Penix Jr. and Ty Simpson, and one of the best young quarterbacks in the nation in Keelon Russell.
“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 that Stockton was firing passes with a kind of command that stood out.
“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.”
That story has a way of running straight through Georgia’s offense, where Mike Bobo has helped bring Stockton along carefully. Bobo, who coached the likes of reigning NFL MVP Matthew Stafford along with SEC all-time leading passer and fifth-round NFL pick Aaron Murray, pointed to Stockton’s work habits and steady growth.
“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, “ Bobo said in an exclusive interview with UGA’s NIL-content site, ‘Glory Glory.’
“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.”
Bobo also said the ceiling isn’t reached yet.
“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.”
The latest performance only adds to how Stockton’s college career has unfolded. He entered Georgia as a 4-star recruit and the No. 7 quarterback in the 2022 class, but his production has pushed him into a very different conversation. Stockton is now Georgia high school football’s career total TD leader with 254 and its career passing TD leader with 177.
His current efficiency numbers back up the rise. Stockton is third nationally in NCAA passing efficiency at 198.57, behind Miami QB Darian Mensah at 212.25 and Indiana QB Josh Hoover at 200.52.
There’s been some NFL chatter around him, too. A former NFL scout said Stockton was viewed as a great college quarterback, “but,” he added, “he doesn’t have an NFL draft grade” entering the 2026 season.
That same scout said Monday that Stockton made throws against Alabama that pro quarterbacks make - throws he hadn’t seen from him before.
Maybe he hadn’t been asked to make them until now. Either way, he made them Saturday night.
When asked what goes through his mind in those high-pressure moments, Stockton kept it simple.
“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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