Georgia Bulldogs offensive coordinator Mike Bobo is Georgia fans’ favorite coach to blame when things go wrong for the Bulldogs. Bobo and the Georgia offense will have a new challenge in 2025 with projected starting quarterback Gunner Stockton.
Bobo wants to get back to Georgia’s roots and having a dominant running game after the Dawgs finished second-to-last in the SEC in rushing a year ago. A strong running game will help support the Georgia offense, but there’s no doubt that Gunner Stockton is Georgia’s most important player.
Does Mike Bobo think that Stockton is ready to start? How does he plan to utilize the redshirt junior’s skill set?
“I thought Gunner (Stockton) was ready for the moment in the SEC championship game,” Bobo said. Stockton helped Georgia defeat Texas in the SEC championship, but the Bulldogs have a new team in 2025 and will need Stockton to step up in key situations throughout the season.
“He was ready from a preparation standpoint,” Bobo said. “I know there were certain things he knows he wishes he could have done better. And he’s been working on those things all season and through fall camp, so he can be a more efficient player at that position.”
A few things standout from Gunner Stockton’s game and half of starting experience. Stockton took too many sacks (six in 48 attempts — over 10% sack rate), but showed that he is tough and capable of threatening the defense vertically.
However, over the course of a season, there’s concern for Stockton’s durability if he takes big hits like he did in the SEC championship.
“Yeah, it’s one thing to say not to do that (take big hits), and on the flip side, it’s hard to practice that because our quarterbacks aren’t live in practice situations,” Bobo said. “There’s loose plays all the time for the quarterback and he’s a guy that can extend plays, and make plays by extending them and throwing the ball downfield, and running with the football.”
The game of football speeds up in college, so Stockton has to be careful not to extend plays too long and needs to know when to just throw the ball away and live to fight another play.
“Even though he’s not getting hit, we’re constantly talking about, what would you do in this situation?” continued Bobo. “I’m going to get to yards, I’m sliding here, it’s third down, I’m going to get to first down, because his makeup and his mentality sometimes is, I’m going to go get everything. And there’s a time and place for that.”
The 6-foot-1, 215-pound quarterback is not physically imposing, but Stockton has the size and speed to be productive in the running game. However, Georgia is expected to primarily utilize Stockton as a passer this season.
One thing Stockton is looking to improve is his ability to layer passes. “He’s a little bit of a gunslinger and working on, sometimes everything does not have to be a howitzer, learning how to layer the ball,” Bobo added.
Bobo emphasized that Stockton has done an excellent job of preparing for practice and continuing to improve his ability to efficiently operate the Georgia offense. Bobo notes that Georgia’s top priority is to return to dominating on with the run game.
We’ll find out how good Stockton and the UGA offense is in Week 1 as Georgia hosts Marshall in the Aug. 30 season opener.
