Gunner Stockton injury update: Kirby Smart clarifies status of Georgia QB after big hit

Gunner Stockton was thrown into the fire after Georgia QB1 Carson Beck injured his arm on the final play of the first half during Saturday’s SEC Championship win over Texas.

Stockton wouldn’t finish the second half unscathed, as he took multiple hard hits from Longhorns pass rushers throughout the second half. One in particular came on a quarterback run where Stockton was hit so hard his helmet fell off and his leg folded underneath his body.

After the game, head coach Kirby Smart said Stockton does not have a concussion or symptoms.

“No, I think he’s fine,” Smart said. “He was prepared to come back in the game. We won the game on the play that he was out. So he was fine.”

Stockton finished the game 12 of 16 for 71 yards and an interception in the first half. Smart didn’t appear to open the playbook up too much for the inexperienced QB, but did everything asked of him and it resulted in a massive SEC Championship-winning victory for his Bulldogs.

“I think Gunner did a great job stepping up like he had to,” Smart continued. “Him coming in the game, I think it made everybody realize this is a new juice we got to come out in the second half with. I think everybody did a great job with that.”

The Georgia native was a former four-star recruit in the 2022 recruiting class, and a top-10 quarterback in that cycle. Having played behind Beck for the last two seasons, he’s only thrown 51 career passes heading into the CFP. Despite his small sample size, he throws completions at a 72.5% rate and has over 200 passing yards across three appearances this season.

Of course, the win earns the Bulldogs a first-round bye into the College Football Playoff. That gives Beck an extra week to recover from what Smart called an “upper extremity injury.” If he can’t go, the Bulldogs have a couple of weeks for Stockton to prepare as UGA QB1.