ATHENS — Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman admits he doesn’t have much film on Georgia QB Gunner Stockton, but he knows enough.
“I think we have 80-something plays of him playing quarterback,” said Freeman, the Irish’s 38-year-old, third-year head coach. “He can run their offense. He does some things a little bit differently. He can extend plays with his legs. He’s a good athlete.”
Notre Dame’s defense, ranked seventh in the nation, will do its best to keep Stockton bottled up when the Irish play the Bulldogs at 8:45 p.m. on Jan. 1 in the Sugar Bowl CFP quarterfinal at Caesar’s Superdome in New Orleans.
To Freeman’s point, Stockton has taken only 80 snaps at quarterback this season — 45 of those coming against Texas.
Stockton was 12-of-16 passing for 71 yards and an interception, and on five occasions he ran the ball for a total of 17 yards. Twice, he was sacked.
Freeman took note of each snap, no doubt from several angles. There was one common thread, per the Notre Dame head coach.
“The thing I probably notice more than anything, in watching those 80 plays, is he’s an ultra-competitive individual,” Freeman said.
“You can just tell by the way he celebrates, by the way he goes and finishes plays. He’s a competitor.”
Stockton’s high school glory years are well-documented, but beyond that and the SEC title appearance, the only other extended action he saw against an opposing team came in last year’s 63-3 Orange Bowl blowout victory over Florida State.
Stockton played 34 snaps against the Seminoles, finishing 6-of-10 passing for 96 yards with two touchdown passes, and seven carries for 46 yards.
Freeman will likely dig deep enough to find footage of the 2024 G-Day Game, where Stockton saw action for both the Red (first team offense) and Black (second- and third-team offense) squads.
Stockton was 19-of-32 passing for 235 yards and a touchdown with the second-team offense, taking three sacks. Working with the starters, Stockton was 4-of-5 passing for 11 yards.
It’s enough for Freeman to make some judgements on Stockton’s arm talent, escapability and speed and game plan accordingly.
Smart has indicated he’s planning on Notre Dame playing a lot of man-to-man coverage, which could lead to some isolated matchups on the perimeter and the potential for big plays.
The better Georgia can run the ball — presumably against a loaded box with Irish defenders crowding the line of scrimmage — the more likely Stockton is to have in the pass game with positive down-and-distance situations and play-action shot plays set up.
There’s no real mystery to either Notre Dame’s defensive objective — to challenge Stockton to beat the Irish with his arm throwing to what has been an inconsistent receiving corps — or UGA’s offensive philosophy to run the ball early and efficiently on most series.
Smart made it clear there’s no magic playbook pending, just work on improving what he already does well and needs more work on.
“The biggest thing is just competition and practice,” said Smart, indicating the UGA offensive scheme wouldn’t change much. “The situations we put him in. All those things allow him to get better as a quarterback.”
The competitor within Stockton will take care of the rest.
