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Comments
The college game has changed - no doubt. There will be winners and losers. College football is nothing but the minor league for the pros. If guys were allowed to move from high school direct to the pros, some might actually try and do it…even when we all know they won't be near ready like you can be as a high school basketball player going almost straight to the pros these days.
Enjoy the better matchups, better games, and craziness of this chaos that is today's game or it will drive you to the madhouse. College football is a better product for the fans, and a better situation for the players. Heck, many of these players won't go pro, so this may be their only shot to get some bank. You can't blame the kids.
Collective bargaining and enforceable contracts is what MUST occur for this game to put some kind of guardrails on everything. Players will be employees sooner than later, and many top administrators and presidents are slowly realizing this fact. This is the only legitimate way forward. Congress and the NCAA are not doing a thing to help the situation, and that has got to change.
The challenge is - can Kirby navigate the new landscape well enough to keep the Dawg's relevant??
I wouldn't want to be a head college football coach for any amount of money today. It's just not worth the stress and headaches.
Gunner is Super tough mentality wise and up to a point even physically. But he doesn’t have a bionic body. As Fromm said and I sure agree all those hits begin to take their toll. I remember on one play where the defender spun him in the air like a top !! I thought sure he’d be critically injured on that play !! But like usual he jumped right back up off the ground. Sort of his trademark. When it takes more than just a couple of seconds for him to jump back up you Know then it was an extra hard hit.
Gunner has the arm strength for deep passes just needs to work on timing and touch. I’m no coach or expert but I think both of those are fixable.
As for throwing over the middle QBs are coached to step up in the pocket. But because Gunner doesn’t have the ideal height he might need to drop back a step or two. Or throw to the middle while running which for some reason he seems more accurate when running rather than planting his feet and throwing. Again with much emphasis I’m no coach or expert. And on certain passes he needs to take some of the heat off his throws instead of a bullet. Though the reverse of that is true on some throws where he does need to throw a bullet.
It cannot be over stated this was his first year as starter in Real games. The experience good and bad he got from this season is Huge for his future.
No one will be more critical of his play than Gunner himself. I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s looking at film or recorded games at home right now !!
He’ll get it together. Just hope we have a pretty good WR room. Sure losing some great talent there !!
Hey I’ve seen a couple of comments on threads here on DN saying Nate Frazier is leaving ??!!?? Please say this is Only a rumor and that more than likely it’s incorrect !! I’ll be crying Senior Citizen tears if he leaves before his time to a different CFB team !!
After a year of GS we're starting to see his limitations emerging. It is interesting to hear Fromm's comments. GS is very comparable to Fromm the player while at UGA.
While he has some running ability it is straight ahead, head down. He is not fast. He still hasn't developed any elusiveness or escapability in the pocket. Still struggles with vision downfield under pressure.
After watching CBeck scramble for the winning TD vs MS I'd say Beck is probably the faster player in straight line speed.
GS wasn't able to throw the ball consistently over the middle (TE's). Too many passes batted down at the LOS. CBeck's passes over the middle vs MS were highly successful and made Mia extremely difficult to defend. Probably won the game for Mia.
Not sure people remember that IN Mendoza visited UGA before the season before he committed to IN. Night and day comparison between his play and GS play. Mendoza is much more experienced but also bigger and more skilled as a passer.
No sarcasm but I saw Zero positives in your comments about Gunner and all negatives. IF he’s as bad as you say he is ( and I totally disagree) how did he manage 12 Wins And the SEC Crown. ?
Also Beck is Not a first year starter. Gunner was. And “ being in the system” is vastly different than Real game experience. Mike Bobo a former UGA QB himself and current OC says that Gunner is not even near his ceiling. Yet you are stating he’s reached his limitations. Don’t you think it’d be wise to see what he does next year before making such abrupt doomsday proclamations ? Not to mention fair.
As for Mendoza he’s in a league of his own. On him I totally agree with you. He’s as good if not better than Burrows was. Dawgs didn’t reach the goals They hoped for or We hoped for. But to say this was a “Bad” year for the Dawgs or Gunner is just surrendering to total negativity in my view.
Did you at least look at Gunner’s end of season stats ? They were pretty dawg gone good Not even counting his running the ball !!
There’s NO QB in CFB equal to Mendoza. He actually earned the Heisman. I look for IN to crush Miami. Early on in the game I think it’ll be pretty even. But once they get a feel for each other IN will proceed on to crush Miami. My view……….P.S. That TD that Beck scored with his feet he had nothing but green in front of him. He didn’t have to out run anyone. It was wide open for him. I can’t see how you derive from that one play that he has better straight line speed than Gunner. And no sarcasm but how do you account for the Many, Many times Gunner converted 3rd downs and 4th downs with his feet if he’s “ not all that fast” as you say ? It’d be hard to count all the Critical first downs he got for the Dawgs. I’d have to go back and check but I think he’s second in rushing yds, most assuredly third. He couldn’t have done that if he was as slow as you said. And I Sure don’t get your remarks about poor scrambling ability.
Where exactly did I say it was "a bad year" for UGA or GS? You need to look up the definition of limitations. Then look up the definition of limits. You need to understand words before assigning your own definitions to them.
My comments were about GS emerging limitations observed after a year of playing. "Limitations" are never positive in a football player. Especially in a QB.
This was an article about Fromm's opinion of what GS needs to do to get better. Personally I think he needs more skill development than just "confidence". I told you what is holding him back.
There are some positives to GS's game. Have never said he couldn't be a good CFB QB. I think that is his ceiling. "Good CFB QB". Just like Fromm was.
I said last summer that this team would go as far as GS took them. He didn't make the plays to take UGA to a win in the playoffs. Didn't blame him. Just his limitations didn't allow him to make the necessary plays.
You yourself mentioned some of his limitations this season. Needed to work on "timing and touch". "Take some of the heat off". I did not mention those limitations because those are correctable.
He should get better but now the question is will his limitations allow UGA to go any further than it did this year. Personally I don't see his ceiling next year being much higher than his results this year. He is not going to get taller, faster or more athletic. That is not "doomsday" that is reality.
I should have known you couldn’t respond in a gentleman like manner. It’d be beneath you to do that. Perhaps You need to look up the definitions of Imply and Implications. I’m very confident that Numerous Dawgs fans will immediately see the numerous negative connotations and implications you applied to your Opinions.
And while you’re in the looking up mode why don’t you go take a gander at Beck’s Stats in his first year as the Starter. YES he threw for more Yardage than Gunner but he only accounted for the same number ofTDs as Gunner which was 24 over 14 games but also Two more INTS than Gunner. So the yds. Dont mean as much unless they’re converted to points.. While your at it look at Beck’s rushing stats with all that “ Better straight line speed he has”. You’ll note he had only fourTDs vs Gunner’s TEN TDs. You’ll also note he only had just over 100 yds rushing vs Gunner’s nearly 500 yds. Oh and see how many times Beck was Sacked vs Gunner.
Kirby and staff took on Gunner understanding that he was a Dual Threat QB so it’s understandable that he’s not a pure pocket QB.
You once in a very contemptuous tone stated that I defend Gunner because I Love him so much. Well Kudos to you on that as your correct I do. And not ashamed. But You have shown in numerous comments over the season a distinct dislike for this young man that I believe exceeds mere analytical critique. Just go back and take a hard look at your original comments today. Overly harsh with not a tad of positivity or appreciation.
And you try to state your Opinions of what you Think he will be as fact. This was his First year as the starter. Was this Beck’s first year as a starter ? No. Was this Mendoza’s first year as a starter ? No. People Do improve at what they do. Both Beck and Mendoza are living proof of that. No I’m not saying that Gunner will reach those levels ( Mendoza).
I Am saying it’s quite possible he will improve. Thirty four points are more than sufficient to have won the Sugar Bowl. But the Dawgs Defense and even Kirby Smart made errors that were just as culpable in that loss than the Offense putting up a few more points. It is what is.
I’ve made every effort to be sociable to you. I even apologized to you Twice in an effort to be friendly when actually it was mutual disdain. You on the other hand have been sarcastic toward me every single time. Maybe I’m in the same boat as Gunner you just don’t like me. That’s OK I can live with that. I’m sure Gunner would care less.
I’ve met many people over the years like you (unfortunately). People who think they can never be wrong and wouldn’t admit it if they were. And think they know everything under the sun. And offering an apology from them would be like taking cyanide. I don’t Hate you. And wish you No evil. I tried to be friendly. Even made positive responses to some of your comments, up voted you on some of your comments.
I don’t Know for a Fact that Gunner will improve. But I’m confident there won’t be anyone on the team that will Try any harder. But you don’t know for a Fact that he won’t improve either. Beck, Mendoza, Others have. So I believe it’s very possible.
Now I’ll go back to my previous posture of ignoring you as you’ve made it quite clear with your snarky, taking down to me posture that you don’t care to get along on a friendly basis. That’s fine. You believe what you want to and I’ll believe what I want to.
What’ll be very interesting is IF Gunner has a banner year next year ( actually This year was Very good for his position) will we see comments from you indicating you were wrong. Some how I doubt it………….P.S. He’s not gonna get any taller is the Only factual reality in your last comment. The any faster or more athletic is strictly your Opinions. And he’s apparently already pretty fast as was evidenced by the Numerous first downs he picked up. Many at Critical times in the game. And the Ten TDs. And I checked he’s third in rushing yds. And the negative comment you made about his inability to scramble and escape out of the pocket is actually quite laughable for people who Watched the games. Oh and your comment about Gunner not making enough plays to win the game. Well he doesn’t play on Defense. And he doesn’t make decisions that are at the HC’s level. Thirty four points was plenty sufficient to win had the Defense and the Head Coach made more positive plays and decisions.
In order for the Dawgs to advance to a higher level than they did this year. YES the Offense will need to get better. And Yes the most critical component of the Offense is the QB. So Yes Gunner will need to improve. NO ONE here knows that better than He does.
I can’t guarantee he’ll improved but No One here can guarantee he won’t either. And though Yes his position is vital it’s STILL a Team game. The Defense will need to Improve as well. And though it’d be hard to do much better Special Teams should Try to improve. There’s always room for improvement as Kirby likes to say.
Speaking of Kirby there’s room for the Head Coach and all of his staff to improve.
The QB and Offense can put up 100 points but if the rival team puts up 107 or even 103 with little to no time left to respond then the Team loses.
I am extremely confident no one will work any harder at their position to get better than Gunner will.
Setting aside the pros and cons of his play calling for a moment, Mike Bobo a former QB at UGA stated that Gunner is not near his ceiling. Jake Fromm offered advice in areas he thinks Gunner should work on but the tone and implications I got from Fromm is he believes Gunner can get better.
This was Gunner’s first year after all as starter. And like Fromm pointed out Gunner Did exceed many people’s expectations.
Gunner will need Proper Support. That is good blocking protection from his O Line which is Critical for Any QB. Even Mendoza. Even Tom Brady when he played. Gotta have it. And consistently.
WRs and TEs need to catch the catchable balls thrown to them. Even the best WRs and TEs will have an occasional drop on a good pass. But they need to catch the vast majority of all catchable passes and give their Very best on a poorly thrown pass.
As against a stout defense you can’t be one dimensional, as in exclusively passing the ball or exclusively running the ball. But RBs need to gain yds. consistently and No fumbles.
The Defense in summary need to keep the rival off the score board. I don’t even mind the rival racking up allot of yds as long as those don’t convert to points. In my view the thirty four points scored should have been sufficient to win the game. But the defense allowed the rival to score more. Coupled with some poor game management decisions by the HC it was a TEAM Loss.
There’s always room for improvement so even STs can get better. So I Hope this next years version of our Dawgs will improve. I don’t think anyone can say and be factual whether they will or won’t. I can say I read quite a few comments Here in preseason saying Dawgs would go 8-4. Some of the more negative said 7-5. It seemed like if there was an average of sorts it was 9-3. For Me I Hoped as I always do they’d run the table. I never said it here but I thought we’d go 11-1 with a loss to either Bama or TX.
Im gonna have to see the first three games of regular season before I make an estimate on what the 26 Dawgs will do. To close I’m Very Proud of the 2025 Dawgs. Sure I wish they could have kept it rolling but all in all it was a pretty successful season in my view. Hopefully underlined three times it’ll set the stage for an even better season. Go Dawgs !!
I’ve said this since the beginning of the season, Stockton needs to use his legs to create plays with his arm. He’s much to quick to pull the ball and take off like a running back instead of buying time for a receiver to get open. The 5 or 6 yards he gets running could be 20 - 30 yard passes. Stockton has to create explosive plays with his legs by moving in the pocket and not just taking off. That was the difference in the Sugar Bowl between Stockton and Chambliss; Chambliss used his legs to escape pressure and create big plays with his arm.
I agree with you to an extent. And Yes there were some times he missed seeing guys open down field. But our receivers by and large need to do a better job of Getting open to. Branch was in my view the best at doing that. And why Gunner targeted him the most.
The second best at getting open was Noah Thomas. Your right Gunner did that a bit much. But he only liked 106 yds.to hitting the 3,000 mark. And he rushed for almost 500 was the third leading rusher and Ten TDs.
I’m confident that if We see these things then he’s keenly aware of them. And will bust his butt to get better at them !!
I’m hoping that Talyn Taylor will be the WR he was touted as being. In my view if other QBs can get better after their first year at starter Gunner can to !! He’s gonna Have to help his Team but the team is gonna Have to help Him.
Off Topic some but I sure hope these rumors about Nate Frazier looking to hit the TP are bad wrong !! He would be the feature RB at UGA as he pretty much was this year. IF he does leave it’d almost have to be about $$ !!
Here’s a bit of some what might be rather shocking info. Yes Carson Beck over Fifteen Games has considerably more Yds. Total. Than Gunner has over Fourteen games.
Beck has 3585 yds. To Gunner’s 2894 yds. But Gunner has More TDs over 14 games than Beck has over 15 games !! Beck has 29 Passing TDs to Gunner’s 24 Passing TDs. BUT Gunner has Ten Rushing TDs to Beck’s only Two Rushing TDS !! There for Gunner has 34 Total TDs over 14 games played vs Beck’s 31 Total TD’s over 15 games played !! Also Beck has 11 INTS to Gunner’s 5 INTs.
Yardage is wonderful but not so much if it doesn’t convert to points, True ? Now Beck has one more game to play so we don’t know how many TDs he’ll accomplish in this last one. But even if he racks up a bunch, it would Still have to be recognized that he accomplished those over 16 games vs 14 games for Gunner.
My sources of info. drawn from Wikipedia for Beck. And the UGA official site for Gunner
NOTE: I have nothing against Beck. I’m merely trying to illustrate that Gunner Is and has always been a Dual Threat QB and that the TDs he scored with his feet helped win games just like those he scored with his arm. And that yardage is just a Stat if it doesn’t convert to Points on the board. Speaking of Yardage alone So many, many times Gunner converted 3rd and 4th downs with his feet or legs if you prefer.
YES he needs improvement. But he’s acutely aware of that. And his personality being what it is No One will work any harder to sharpen their skills than him. His Coaches need to help him capitalize on his strengths and diminish his weaknesses. Go Dawgs !!
Astute observation, can't believe Fromm failed to mention but I'm sure his focus was the need to utilize our DIAMOND STUDDED GOLD MINE TE Room…..averaging 6' 4"-5", and 240lbs, quick over the middle hits combined with YAC means free long shots to WR's and room to hit the second level on the sides for RB's.
After watching MIAMI -OleMiss and Indiana v Oregon. The two teams with the most experienced QB's won. Albeit Miami survived and Indiana dominated big time. I don't believe MIami can take down Indiana if Indiana takes care of the ball.
I've said this elsewhere but watching Indiana play against Bama and now Oregon were perfectly executed games that were virtually over in the 1st quarter, definitely by the 2nd. Two just epic beatdowns.
THey are a well oiled machine reminscient of the 2019 LSU team, and our own UGA team in 2021. Great QB, great receivers and RB. Great defense. Great coaches. Awesome story they told during the game about the DC and OC having to live off less than 10 K a year at one point in their coaching careers and having to take food stamps, but they kept on coaching pursuing their dream!
THere are multiple ways to skin a cat but one way to win the NC is to have a team made up of nameless TP Juniors and Seniors all with experience and for all to buy into the coach's philosophy and leadership. THeyhave a grown man type of team. Much like Michigan a couple of years ago.
I’m predicting that IN will not only beat Miami, they will crush them. And No that’s not a knock on Beck it’s just that IN is vastly superior. As has already been said by many just gotta work that TP hard !!
Gunner and every player on the Team needs to improve. The HC and coaching staff need to improve on their jobs as well. All those things are very important. But The Most important thing now is outbidding some of these other teams in the NIL wars.
KS has stated he prefers to develop HS recruits over time and dip in the TP to fill in the gaps. I understand, Yall understand, we all understand that type thinking. And it’s good. BUT what is happening now is KS and staff develop them only to have them lured away to other schools using NIL !! So other schools are getting experience players at UGA’s expense !!
There’s some Huge $$ associated to Dawgs football !! I remember seeing the news clips of all the numerous private jets that flew to SouthBend so that Dawgs fans could dominate the crowd vs ND !! Huge $$ !! Those supporters need to pony up even more $$ as I’m sure they have already. Folks like me buying Tee shirts, Ball caps, Decals, and Coffee mugs help some. But not close to some of these tycoons that graduated from UGA !!
I hope it pains their pride and spurs them to want to put down the $$ Legally of course. That’s what it’s gonna take for the Dawgs to continue to ba able to compete in this new semi pro league. Sad. 😥
I have never "talked" with anyone on this site in a "contemptuous tone". Really? You take all this WAY to seriously.
It seems that you have a serious reading comprehension problem as well as a vocabulary understanding problem. That is not an insult that is an observation based on your comments about my comments. But I do lose patience with you when you continue to insult me. Yet I am the one who doesn't respond in a "gentleman like manner"? I have cut you a lot of slack as a fellow fan.
There was nothing sarcastic nor snarky about the comments I made to you. It was all said matter of fact. YOU read whatever sarcasm and disrespect into my comments that you perceive. You also read what you think some words mean when that isn't the case. If you had looked up the words I used like limitations you would have seen what they mean and that they were clear enough not to need to "imply" anything.
Neither UGA nor GS had a bad year. Never said but you convinced yourself that I did. But UGA did not meet its goal this year. The goal for UGA should be to win its last game every year. UGA will not end up in the Top 5 for '25 (just like '24). To you my saying that is negative when in reality it is reality. It is not negative to talk about reality.
The article was about what Jake Fromm thought GS has to do to get better. My comments were about what I thought GS had to do to get better.
He is not going to get taller or run faster (hopefully he will process faster) or get more athletic than he showed this year. He WAS recruited as a duel threat QB. He has not shown the speed to be elusive in the pocket. Yes he can tuck it and run and get a 1st down here or there. I had hoped and expected more athleticism and speed in the pocket this season. Didn't see it.
For whatever reason he did not make game winning plays vs MS. There were plays there to be made. He didn't make enough of them. And no UGA O did not score 34 pts. The kicking game score 6 and the D score 7. So the UGA offense scored 21 pts. Not enough to win a playoff game.
Here's a question for you. If you put '25 GS on the '21 or '22 UGA team do they still win it all? My point is that unless '26 GS gets a lot better you can expect '26 UGA to look like '25 UGA. CKS has not figured out this new era of CFB. With the way UGA is recruiting '26 is gonna look like '25 which looked like '24 and '23. Right now UGA is just another Top 10 team.
GS's "game" vs MS looked a lot like GS's games from early and during the season. If you prefer to say that the entire '25 UGA team wasn't good enough to win it all in '25 (or likely '26) rather than say the '25 team wasn't good enough win w/GS at QB that is your prerogative. The bottom line is that the GS we saw in '25 is not putting UGA over the top in the playoffs w/o a big jump in performance in the biggest moments. His physical limitations (and possibly processing limitations) preclude him from improving markedly in '26. If UGA's (and GS's) season mirrors UGA's '25 season do you let GS start at QB again in '27? I don't think so.
That is not "a distinct dislike for this young man that I believe exceeds mere analytical critique". That is just an observation that comes from many years of observation and evaluation. I like GS a lot as a young man and as a player. What's not to like?
The onus is now on CKS to figure out how to get the UGA team better everywhere. Can GS meet that challenge and become a championship level QB?
PS - Straight line speed has very little to do with rushing TD's for a CFB QB. IF GS's 40 yard dash speed is better than Beck's at the combine I will gladly admit that I was wrong.
I have zero "distain" for any of my fellow fans here on Dawgnation. ZERO.