Georgia fans have a scapegoat for CFP halftime deficit and it's not Gunner Stockton
The Georgia Bulldogs fell into a hole in the first half of the College Football Playoff quarterfinal in the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame and Gunner Stockton was partly responsible.
The stand-in quarterback lost the ball in the shadow of Notre Dame's endzone, allowing the Irish to take a 10-point lead on a one-play touchdown drive just before the half.
Stockton was solid in the early going, despite the difficulty Georgia had moving the ball. However, his lack of pocket awareness was costly. He took a beating on social media for that.
From what we've seen of Gunner Stockton, blindside awareness is not high.pic.twitter.com/SxSni9KJ2R
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) January 2, 2025
Stockton has no feel for the pocket. The blocking isn’t great but he’s just a statue back there looking at his first read.
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) January 2, 2025
Gunner Stockton started 7-of-7. He's 1 for his last 6.
— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) January 2, 2025
Notre Dame putting pressure on him up front is the reason why.
However, the majority of Georgia fans set their sights on someone else involved in the Bulldogs offense: OC Mike Bobo.
Mike Bobo takes a beating over Georgia's Sugar Bowl struggles
#Georgia is down 13-3 at halftime. They need to take out this loser pipsqueak that’s playing QB. #MeltdownAlert pic.twitter.com/i69nT8omq4
— Message Board Geniuses (@BoardGeniuses) January 2, 2025
Mike Bobo is the worst offensive coordinator in college football.
— Kevin🏆🏆💍💍 (@KB6Champion) January 2, 2025
Mike bobo had roughly 2 weeks to get in his bag and this is what he’s showing us
— Coach T (@TheRealRashaud) January 2, 2025
Fans have been skeptical of Bobo and his offense much of the year. Carson Beck seemed to regress under his tutelage. The Bulldogs relied too much on the pass and not enough on the run. Pass protection was sketchy. Decision-making was poor. Averaging 33.2 points per game simply wasn't good enough.
The Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame was going to be Bobo's biggest test yet. The Fighting Irish have one of the best defenses in college football. Starting a backup quarterback against them was always going to be tough.
But aside from Stockton's troublesome pocket presence, he wasn't the main issue for the Bulldogs. A great offensive coordinator can work with a backup, mitigating their inexperience and playing to their strengths. It didn't look like Bobo was doing much of that, especially considering the lack of designed runs for his more mobile quarterback.
Georgia opened the scoring early in the second quarter with a field goal but Notre Dame scored the next 20 points without doing much special. They settled for two field goals, got gifted a red zone opportunity by Stockton's fumble and returned the opening kickoff of the second half.
The Bulldogs can't just lean on their defense for a win and survival in the College Football Playoff. The offense has to get it done.
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