Kirby Smart admits Gunner Stockton's performance 'wasn't enough' in Sugar Bowl loss

While Georgia QB Gunner Stockton did what he could in his first college start, it didn’t get the Bulldogs to advance in the College Football Playoff.

Following his outing in their 23-10 loss to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl, Kirby Smart assessed Stockton’s performance. He did think that he did some things well like being mobile for yardage and to avoid sacks by the Irish’s defense.

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“You know, Gunner did some good things,” Smart said postgame. “I thought he tucked it down and ran. He got us out of a couple sacks with his feet and legs, threw the ball away. Did some good things there.”

However, Stockton had to run as much as he did because Smart didn’t think the offensive line for the ‘Dawgs protected him well. Add in his lost fumble out of two total for the team and he and the offense’s outing wasn’t enough with what tied as their lowest-scoring game of the season.

“Any time you don’t have pass pro, it’s tough and he had, you know, he some tough moments out there,” Smart said. “When it’s your backside and you can’t see it coming, it’s tough.

“But, obviously, it wasn’t enough with the two turnovers, and we got to be better, for sure.”

Stockton finished 20/32 (62.5%) in passing for 234 yards and a touchdown pass to Cash Jones. He also rushed for 16 yards but finished in the box score with -23 in that statistic considering he was sacked four times, which was the second-most that the team allowed all year.

In place of Carson Beck, Stockton played as he could during his starting debut in what was a playoff game. It just, despite helping them to win an SEC Championship, wasn’t what they needed in order to contend for a national title with them eliminated yesterday in New Orleans.