Column: Kirby Smart Knew Gunner Stockton Was Special — Now The Nation Does Too

We won’t put it on the same pedestal Michel’s overtime Rose Bowl walk-off rests on, but it’s certainly up there in Bulldog lore.

Gunner Stockton the Gunslinger

And here’s the thing: we told you so. Not in an obnoxious, scream-at-you, Colin Cowherd on sports talk radio way. But in a more calm, Scott Van Pelt sort of soothing tone.

Last week, we wrote that Kirby had a plan going into Neyland. We said Stockton’s poise, preparation and sheer guts would hold up in Neyland, even for his first true road start.

We looked into the stat sheets and the rivalry history. We watched the film. We heard Kirby Smart on the loudspeaker’s all summer.

This was always the plan.

Guess what? That plan worked. No matter how thin the margins, it still happened. Tennessee played a near perfect game, at home, as Joey Aguilar and Chris Brazzell put on a historic performance.

And yet, the Dawgs still played their game to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Control the clock, run the rock and strike when the moment mounts.

It’s a textbook staple of Nick Saban’s Alabama legacy in a thing the folks in Tuscaloosa like to call ‘Joyless Murderball’.

Kirby Smart has taken that same approach in Athens.

Sure, Mike Bobo may be no Todd Monken, who is soon to be an NFL head coach, but he’s not the carpetbagging buffoon much of the message boards would lead you to believe.

A Star Built for Moments Like This

If you’ve followed Stockton’s journey, none of this should surprise you. Back at Rabun County High School in Tiger, Georgia, he rewrote the state record book. By the time he graduated, he had tossed 13,652 passing yards and 177 touchdowns, while also rushing for more than 4,000 yards and 77 scores. His career was one long highlight reel of Houdini escapes, pinpoint lasers and comebacks that made seasoned fans double-check the scoreboard up in the Blue Ridge region. Gunner Stockton, a name all too familiar to those who paid attention.

But, this was single-A football, you say. Who cares, right?

Wrong!

Stockton wasn’t just a stat monster. He thrived against the best. In 2020, he famously outdueled Prince Avenue Christian and five-star Brock Vandagriff — a future Georgia quarterback himself — in a showdown still remembered as one of the greatest high school quarterback battles this state has ever seen. That night told you everything: Stockton never shrinks. He rises.

Film Guy Network founder and recruiting analyst Brooks Austin can attest to it, he was there on the sidelines that night.

A major kudos to Austin, who knew the potential Stockton possessed, long before his Athens days and doubled down again following the SEC Championship win over Texas.

Give this guy a follow.

Kirby Smart Bets on a Georgia Kid

Georgia fans know the drill. Smart has always leaned into homegrown quarterbacks, for better or worse. Jake Fromm, straight out of Warner Robins, as the Houston County quarterback, delivered an SEC title and a trip to the national championship game as a true freshman.

Stetson Bennett, the pride of Blackshear, became a college football folk hero with back-to-back national championships.

Critics call it loyalty. Smart calls it his formula. And it works.

So when Stockton originally committed to South Carolina, Smart didn’t sulk. He went after him, flipping him back to Georgia and setting the stage for this very moment. From day one in Athens, Smart’s message was clear: Stockton would get his shot, even with Carson Beck in command for two seasons and a line of five-stars waiting in the wings.

Preparation Meets Opportunity

Stockton didn’t step into Knoxville unprepared. All summer long, Smart and his staff drilled the team for Neyland’s chaos. Every rep had one goal: enter the Week 3 clash with Tennessee prepared and ready.

When the lights came on Saturday, Stockton looked like a man who had already been there. Even down two scores late, he carried himself with calm urgency, delivering darts, scrambling for chains, and eventually ripping out Tennessee’s heart with that overtime dagger.

Oh and not to mention, overcoming an untimely fumble mid-fourth quarter, which led to an eight-point deficit.

Remember that Sony Michel fumble in the Rose Bowl? The one that had the Sooners on the brink of a national championship appearance?

Michel bounced back, sealing the game with a walk-off touchdown for the ages, due in large part to Nick Chubb’s trust in his abilities.

When the pressure mounted on Gunner Stockton Saturday, he would get his moment.

The Big Dawg Moment for Gunner Stockton

Every Georgia quarterback who earns a permanent place in Sanford lore has “the moment.” From David Greene’s hobnail boot to Stafford’s overtime toss in Tuscaloosa and Stetson Bennett’s late strike to AD Mitchell in the natty, the Bulldogs define their leaders by clutch. Stockton now has his play.

That fourth-and-six ball to Humphries — on the road, with Neyland shaking — will live forever. It will play on the Sanford Stadium video board for years. It will be framed on dorm room walls. It will get the slow-motion treatment in hype videos. Stockton’s legend was born the instant the ball hit Humphries’ hands.

The throw was one thing, but the victory that came of it, made it immortal.

We Weren’t Too Surprised

Let’s take a brief, humble victory lap. At EasySportz, we circled this game all summer. We said Kirby Smart had Gunner Stockton ready and knew Tennessee would bring its best. The tone in Smart’s voice in those early August practices was clear.

No one could have expected the storybook ending that transpired on Saturday, but to say we were shocked would be a stretch.

Having the luxury of Stockton being a homegrown talent, we got to see the potential right away.

Kirby Smart anticipated SEC dogfights when he lured the Rabun County phenom back home to Georgia.

Now, Stockton reaps the reward.

We said Neyland wouldn’t break him. And while everyone else hedged their bets after Austin Peay, we trusted Smart’s process — and the quarterback at the helm.

But this isn’t about us. It’s about a generational coach who trusted his gut and a quarterback who rewarded that trust with a comeback for the ages.

Mind you, Georgia is still Georgia and winning will always be the norm under Smart. It’s just what the Bulldogs do.

As big a moment as Saturday was, it will get chalked up as just another Saturday to Smart and his staff.

Winning up in Knoxville was just step one for Kirby Smart and this powerhouse program in 2025.

Now, the prep for Alabama and the rest of the season begins.

Georgia Is Still Georgia

For all the noise around Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, LSU, and even Clemson in past years, the truth remains: Georgia is still the mean machine coming down the tracks in an era of NIL and transfer portal chaos.

For as much uncertainty as this season brings, there is still a constant.

Georgia is still a force to be reckoned with and will be as long as Smart is handling the headsets.

Gunner Stockton, already an SEC champion thanks to stepping in for Carson Beck mid-game last season, has taken the wheel and looks every bit the part of a playoff quarterback.

Smart’s gamble on a Georgia kid has once again paid off. The Bulldogs’ toughest regular-season tests now come Between the Hedges, where Sanford Stadium can do to opponents what Neyland failed to do to Georgia.

Sure, it was a raucous crowd of 100,000+, but it failed to net a false-start penalty on the Dawgs, for their second-straight trip to Rocky Top.

That’s a program of unreal discipline on the gridiron, oozing with composure. With a young roster growing by the week, the Georgia ceiling is even more terrifying for everyone else.

Oh, Georgia gets a bye this week, too.

A Mean Machine in Red and Black

Gunner Stockton isn’t Bennett 2.0, and he isn’t Fromm 2.0 either. He’s his own story. A scrappy gunslinger from Rabun County who was built for moments exactly like Saturday. A quarterback who embodies what Kirby Smart wants in a leader: homegrown toughness, composure under fire, and just enough swagger to silence 100,000 screaming fans.

Stockton gave Georgia his legendary moment, but it won’t be his last. The Bulldogs are only getting stronger.

Look out, college football. A mean machine in red and black is coming down the tracks — and it has a Gunner at the controls.