Georgia Football Coach Kirby Smart Gives Honest Take On Gunner Stockton

ATLANTA - The Georgia Bulldogs left the big city with an impressive win over the Florida Gators, but once again, the offense had it's struggles through the air.

The Bulldogs did rush for over 215 yards, always an impressive feat, but the passing attack was limited to lots of quick screens and throws around the line of scrimmage. The game plan was clear. Even against a poor Florida secondary, Georgia wanted to run the football, and it had a clear impact on Stockton's numbers and productivity.

Stockton ended the day 13/23 for 101 yards and zero touchdowns. However, the also stayed clean with zero turnovers. He was a major factor in the run game, rushing the ball 12 times for 45 yards. Georgia football coach Kirby Smart had a lot to say about his quarterback's play after the big win.

"I think we felt like there were some things we could do with Gunner to get the extra hat and get the run game going. I didn't think we got the most out of those. I thought that some of those plays would be better, honestly, and he slips and falls on one, and he didn't. He took some hits I don't want him taking. Look, I don't care what you say, it's, it's hard. We learned that against Auburn.""

Stockton's toughness was on full display during Georgia's 27-8 win. His number was called several times on direct quarterback runs, but not all of them were successful. Still, Smart continues to praise that element of Stockton's game.

"He does what he has to do to win," Smart said about Stockton. "He gets the tough, dirty yards. He usually doesn't put us in situations where the dogs beat the be dogs, right? He doesn't turn the ball over. I don't think he played poorly tonight. Looking back at the video during the game, he had a couple times he had some shots that we might've missed. I do think there's some things tonight that Gunner missed that he knows he could do better and, and he could hit. And if he does, it takes us to another level because we really haven't played where the offense was clicking completely and the defense was. We haven't done that yet."

Against the Gators, the Bulldogs got up early and decided to stay conservative. The way they were playing defensively, the only way they lose the game is if they turn the ball over. They did lose a fumble in the 4th quarter that led to a Florida score, but for the most part, they decided to work the clock and not air it out as the game progressed and their lead expanded.

However, they'll likely have to open up the passing attack over the next few weeks. They'll be playing several offenses playing at a high level, so the Bulldogs may be in a position to where they'll need to take more explosive shots down the field. They were never in a position where they had to do that against Florida, so they kept it simple and left town with a win.

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