Kirby Smart insisted he played the right quarterback this season. With Carson Beck injured, Georgia needs Gunner Stockton to prove his coach wrong.
Kirby Smart erred in past quarterback decisions involving Jake Fromm, Stetson Bennett IV.
Gunner Stockton, Trevor Etienne rallied Georgia after Carson Beck’s injury against Texas.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated where Josh Heupel finished in the Heisman voting,
Georgia needs for Kirby Smart to have screwed up.
See, if Smart had this correct, and Georgia played its best quarterback all along, then the Bulldogs face a spot of trouble for the College Football Playoff, because Carson Beck’s prognosis sounds concerning.
Beck injured his right elbow while absorbing a hit Saturday on a Hail Mary play just before halftime of the SEC championship game against Texas. He’s out indefinitely. Gunner Stockton is the next man up.
So, it’s much better for Georgia if Smart erred, and he strapped his best quarterback to the bench all season.
And would that really be so strange? Smart exudes a bevy of excellent coaching attributes. Foremost, he’s an ace recruiter, a splendid motivator and a sharp defensive mind whom Nick Saban entrusted for many years to run his defense.
But, let’s face it, Smart sometimes misjudges his quarterbacks, and it would be just like Georgia to find a higher gear after a quarterback injury forced Smart into a different direction at the position.
Kirby Smart’s history includes misjudging quarterbacks
Let me take you back to 2017. Smart named Jacob Eason his starting quarterback. Eason’s performance had been spotty the previous season, but Smart trusted the heralded incumbent ahead of freshman Jake Fromm. Eason injured his knee in the season opener, thrusting Fromm into action. Fromm never surrendered the job. Georgia reached the national championship game with Fromm, who quarterbacked Georgia for three seasons.
What coach navigates his entire career without miscalculating a quarterback situation, right?
Well, Smart didn’t just do that once. He picked JT Daniels to quarterback Georgia in 2021. Multiple injuries to Daniels foiled that plan, forcing Smart to go with Stetson Bennett IV. All Georgia did with Bennett was win back-to-back national championships.
Quarterback decisions rank among the toughest choices a coach faces. A program of Georgia’s caliber usually houses multiple blue-chippers, like Beck and Stockton, within the same depth chart. The quarterback who practices well isn’t necessarily the one who performs best on game day. A quarterback who’s the best man for the job one season might not be the next. The quarterback who has the fuller grasp on the offense might not be the one teammates respond to best.
Even the supposed quarterback gurus screw up these decisions.
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel, a former Heisman Trophy runner-up quarterback, brought in transfer Joe Milton in 2021 to trigger his offense instead of in-house option Hendon Hooker. Milton got injured in his second start. Hooker took over, and he delivered a two-year run of production rivaled only by Peyton Manning in Vols history.
“We’d all like to have one quarterback who’s clearly the best one and the team can get behind him,’ Steve Spurrier, who won a Heisman as Florida’s quarterback, told ESPN several years ago. ‘It doesn’t always work out that way.”
It’s a tricky position to nail, particularly when two quarterbacks offer different strengths.
That’s the case with Beck and Stockton.
Gunner Stockton gives Georgia offense a wrinkle
Beck is no stiff, but Stockton threatens defenses more with his legs.
Georgia’s staff liked Beck’s ability to stretch the field. The Bulldogs rank fourth in the SEC for pass plays of at least 30 yards, but what about when those deep shots don’t hit? Georgia’s first-half offense against Texas amounted to a chuck-and-pray approach. The Bulldogs accumulated just 54 yards and no touchdowns in two quarters before Beck’s injury.
In Stockton’s first drive, he moved the chains on a key third-down run. Later, his 8-yard run on a quarterback draw set up Georgia’s winning touchdown in overtime.
Beck struggled at times this season with poor reads and dangerous passes that contributed to his 12 interceptions. Stockton threw a costly pick in relief of Beck while forcing a pass instead of taking a sack.
But, pivoting to Stockton forced offensive coordinator Mike Bobo to rely on Georgia’s run game, and that proved a blessing. The interior of Georgia’s offensive line ranks as a strength. The Bulldogs played at their best handing the ball to Trevor Etienne, the offense’s most dynamic player.
Etienne missed three games in November with a rib injury, but he’s delivered two big performances against Texas, running into the teeth of one of the nation’s top defenses.
With Etienne gouging Texas and Stockton steering the attack, Georgia awakened.
“We all knew who Gunner was,” said Dan Jackson, a veteran Georgia defensive back. “No surprise there. I knew he was going to come in here and do this thing.”
While Stockton didn’t test Texas downfield, he completed 5 of 7 passes on third downs, and he twice converted third downs his legs.
Smart became emotional afterward discussing Stockton.
“This kid’s special,” Smart said of Stockton during an on-field interview with ESPN. Stockton, a four-star instate recruit, spent three seasons as a backup without transferring. “He’s a winner.”
The same could be said of Bennett, whose moxie, improvisation skills and room-temp demeanor in the hottest moments offset his lack of an NFL-caliber arm.
Against Texas, Bobo effectively adjusted his strategies at halftime. Now, he’s got three weeks to game plan with Stockton and shift Georgia into an attack that best uses his abilities.
“There’s no good script for losing a quarterback or having to go to your backup, … but this situation does give you time,” Smart said.
A month ago, with Beck mired in a slump, Smart wouldn’t tolerate any notion that Georgia should bench Beck in favor of Stockton.
“Absolutely not,” Smart said on Nov. 11. “We’ve got the quarterback we’ve got who is completely competent, capable and understanding of our system that gives us the best chance to win.”
Georgia has never needed its coach to be so wrong.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.
