NEW ORLEANS – Gunner Stockton summed up his performance in Thursday’s Sugar Bowl loss to Notre Dame as simply as he could.
There were no pointing fingers. No what-ifs, no blaming his showing on the fact he was making his first career start.
“I’d like to always get better,” said Stockton, moments after his team fell to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoffs, 23-10. “I’ll watch the tape, watch the little stuff, watch the tape and play better.”
Statistically, the Bulldogs could not have asked for much more.
Stockton was effective, completing 20 of 32 passes for 234 yards and one touchdown with zero interceptions.
A second-quarter fumble after a sack did not help his cause, although head coach Kirby Smart said it was kind of hard to blame his quarterback considering Notre Dame’s defensive end came in clean.
“Gunner did some good things. But any time you don't have pass pro, it's tough. He had some tough moments out there. When it's your backside and you can't see it coming, it's tough. I thought he tucked it down and ran,” Smart said. “He got us out of a couple sacks with his feet and legs and threw the ball away. He did some good things there. But obviously, it wasn't enough.”
Whatever nerves there might have been were not readily evident.
“It was a little bit of a roller coaster, just trying to ride it,” Stockton said. “But I thought I handled it pretty well. Just seeing my teammates, they helped me out a lot.”
He could have received more help.
Georgia’s offensive line struggled most of the game against the defensive front of the Fighting Irish, which sacked Stockton four times, the big one coming right before half when Notre Dame forced a fumble on the play.
"I've just got to speed my feet up and get the ball out,” Stockton said of the play.
Unfortunately for Georgia, the mistake proved costly.
With the ball at the 13, it took Riley Leonard just one play to find the end zone for a 13-3 halftime lead.
Georgia’s inability to run the football did not help, either, finishing with a mere 62 yards on the ground.
"Yeah, I thought they were physical, and they did a good job up front,” said Stockton, who said he hopes to take the lessons learned from Thursday’s start and apply it toward next year.
"Yeah, just being able to lead a little different in the position, being a starting quarterback, and just what that demands,” Stockton said. “I need to do that and still just have my core values and just be Gunner Stockton."
