How would Kirby Smart have rated his 2024 season? SEC Championship, quarter-finals of the playoffs—in a year when they had the toughest schedule during the regular season. But was this good enough for the Bulldogs? A team that finished their season with No. 5 offense in the nation in 2022 and 2023, the Bulldogs were ranked 38th in the 2024 season. No doubt Smart managed to get the better of the Longhorns in the SEC Championship. But his strategy was exposed against Marcus Freeman’s Fighting Irish. “Why are we playing like this? So all last night after that game I was disappointed. I can’t believe we lost that [game]. And wake up this morning and felt the same way. But just a lot of mistakes all the way through. Some from players, but mostly from the people up top,” Knowshon Moreno, former Georgia RB questioned Smart’s offense. While we may criticize Kirby for his strategies, Gunner Stockton was equally to blame for the crushing defeat who was sacked four times and ended up losing 39 yards during the game. But does Smart have a better option under center?

On the SEC football podcast, Michael Bratton, or SEC Mike, asked CFB writer and analyst to list his top SEC QBs. Mike said Bulldogs’ quarterback Gunner Stockton is among the top 25 QBs this year and personally placed him at 11. When Mike looked confused, Lassan asked, “Do you have a problem with Stockton at 11? Do you think that’s too low, too high?” The host replied, “I was high on him for a while. I was a little underwhelmed with what he did against Notre Dame.” Gosh, just a game going wrong for Stockton has made him the talk of the town.

Mike continued, “Again, Notre Dame turns out they had a really good defense, and Georgia’s offensive line again – that was kind of the, they were an issue. And yeah, you cannot necessarily put that all the, you can’t put much of it or any of that, I don’t think on the quarterback. I think this could come back to bite you. I think he could be better than number 11.”

His hint that something is wrong with the Georgia offense is evident, a point that was taken up by another CFB analyst, Greg Flammang, who opined that Notre Dame exerted a 54% pressure rate on Gunner – which is almost impossible for a rising QB like Gunner to handle.

“Kirby’s not necessarily a knee-jerk coach… I think the running game was a real issue, obviously,” Mike said, critiquing Georgia’s offense, insinuating the Georgia fans were underserved by the coach. “I think Carson Beck was not what he was cracked up to be… I think they’re kind of putting it more on that than they are the on coaching, but the coaches are responsible.”

What does it come down to? For both Beck and Stockton, one thing that remained constant was the poor O-line play. They just couldn’t protect the QB. On top of that, the wide receivers couldn’t catch. Just imagine the frustration.

Why did the Georgia Bulldogs underperform in the Sugar Bowl?

The Notre Dame versus Georgia game was a mess for Stockton. Replete with incomplete passes, the QB could not handle the pressure. Getting sacked and unable to survive fumbles became part and parcel of the game.  Sure, Stockton attempted passing yards than ND QB Riley Leonard and gained a massive 234 yards over Leonard’s 90.

However, when you look at both the QBs, the biggest difference was that Leonard made plays when it mattered, and Stockton could not. Essentially, the Bulldogs lost the game in eight minutes—four minutes before the end of the first half and four minutes at the start of the second half. Stockton couldn’t deliver. As simple as that. And in hindsight, maybe the occasion got the better of him. Perhaps, Carson Beck would have fared better.

Steven Lassan ranked Texas Longhorn’s Arch Manning as his top QB player from the SEC. Garrett Nussmeier of the LSU Tigers was placed second, and South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers was in third position.

It would be erroneous to ascertain anything about Stockton yet since he’s just 3 games down. Saying that he was put in a difficult position by Smart also partly makes sense since Georgia lacks the O-line talent. Lassan and Mike speculated about new strategies Smart can undertake to rejuvenate the team, and one way would be to shake up the staff, like Georgia OC Mike Bobo. “But again, I don’t think Mike Bobo’s necessarily the problem. I really don’t,” said Lassan. The drama will unfold slowly now that Smart and his pupil, Stockton, are under the radar of the pundits, and we’re excited to see what holds next for Georgia.