No. 2 Georgia will attempt to make a College Football Playoff run without its starting quarterback after the school announced that Carson Beck underwent season-ending surgery on Monday.
The Bulldogs (11-2) won the SEC Championship Game over Texas to secure an automatic bid and a first-round bye. After No. 7 Notre Dame’s decisive win over No. 10 Indiana, UGA will face the Irish (12-1) in the Sugar Bowl quarterfinal on New Year’s Day.
Beck suffered an injury to his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) on the final play of the second half against the Longhorns, prompting head coach Kirby Smart to turn to redshirt sophomore backup Gunner Stockton.
The former four-star helped Georgia mount a 3-point comeback to secure the SEC title in overtime, 22-19.
The challenge of facing the postseason without an experienced player like Beck at the helm is a tough one, to say the least. It remains to be seen if Stockton has what it takes to propel Georgia to its third national title in the last four seasons.
CBS Sports college football analyst Josh Pate addressed the situation in an appearance on Greg McElroy’s “Always College Football.” Despite the unknowns for the Bulldogs, Pate alluded to a potential silver lining.
“With Notre Dame and Georgia — the whole rallying behind the backup dynamic. When you have a deep program, you normally don’t have trash on the bench as the backup,” Pate said. “You got a serviceable guy on the bench. And sometimes, Greg, it’s a guy the locker room may love.”
“Trash” is certainly not the case for Stockton, who signed with Georgia as the No. 7 quarterback in the class of 2022 (247Sports). After backing up Beck for the last two seasons, Stockton made his first meaningful appearance against Texas.
The Bulldogs’ offense struggled in the first half behind Beck. Multiple drops by UGA receivers didn’t help, and the run game totaled just four yards before the third quarter.
Stockton’s first drive totaled more yards (75) than Georgia’s entire first-half output (45 yards).
“They came from behind against Texas with Gunner Stockton in,” he continued. “There is a world where the starter going down for Georgia cumulatively raises the level of play from the rest of that organization to the point, where in the aggregate, the output pulls even or, in some cases, it exceeds what you would have gotten from them otherwise.”
Stockton finished the game completing 12-of-16 passes for 71 yards and an interception. His supporting cast put together an impressive second half. Georgia’s ground game went for 143 yards and two touchdowns, and the defense held Texas to 129 yards of offense.
Notre Dame will be a similar test for the new-look UGA offense. The Irish bolster the nation’s No. 3 defense at 13.8 points per game. Even still, Pate tabbed Stockton and the Bulldogs as his pick to win the national championship.
“And I think if they can get to the title game – at that point they’ve proven they can win with Stockton – I am rolling actually with Georgia still to win the whole thing over what looks like a super team in Columbus, Ohio…,” Pate said.