ATHENS — After Saturday’s loss to Auburn, Georgia coach Kirby Smart was asked if quarterback Gunner Stockton had been dealing with a concussion after sustaining a hit in the first quarter of a 27-24 loss.
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OK. I'm willing to give Kirby the benefit of the doubt on this specific point. If he says Stockton wasn't concussed and has shown no signs of it since the game, so be it. But what troubles me, is that if a concussion was not a factor, then WHY did Stockton play so poorly? There has to be a reason beyond, "he just had an off day," because Stockton is not that type of player, in general. Yes, he might make one mistake in a game. But not two or three. And believe me, the turnovers themselves were not the only bad decisions he made. He made others that just just weren't as costly. That's why during the game, after the two interceptions, you see Kirby asking him, "what did you see?" Maybe his shoulder was bothering him more than he wants to admit. Maybe that's why he fumbled when he ran into Bobo. Maybe that's why he so badly overthrew Barbour on his second INT. Maybe that's why he threw wildly to a wide open Dwight Phillips in the flat. Maybe that's why he decided to tuck the ball and run on that final fumble instead of throwing to one of his four open receivers. Who knows? But I sure would like to know because if there is no true root cause, then how do they prevent it from happening again? Go Dawgs!
More likely that Kirby was concussed given the atrocious effort his team showed, at home, against an unranked opponent .. after having a 14 point lead.
No, that's just an excuse for poor execution. He wasn't concussed. He put together one single incredible drive in Q4 that was a thing of beauty. Too bad we couldn't do that for the other 3 quarters. It's like we scored early, up 14-0, and then the wheels came off for the next almost 3 quarters. And then we put together one really good drive in Q4 and didn't shoot ourselves in the foot…again. If Gunner was having issues or concussed the guy would have not been able to rally and pull off those throws. No way. He simply had a bad 3 quarters.
He clearly asked Gunner what did he see when he threw his last interception. Why? What he looking for him to say his vision was blurred or seeing double? That's what is looked like to me.
He fumbled when he ran into Bobo because Bobo wasn't supposed to be there. It was the same QB run play that was effective earlier, but Bobo got confused by some defensive eye candy and basically backed into Gunner as he was running. Well, that and because he didn't have the ball secured well enough…
Then there's the other side of the story: The defense gave up too many points; too many QB rushing yards; too many missed tackles.
Kirby is not a doctor! I am a doctor and from what I saw of the game, Gunner was NOT physically "right". Concussion or pseudoconcussion or shoulder injury or both, he played like an injured QB. Kirby should have made the decision to put in Puglishi more. They should have a real team doctor on the field!
I could not agree more, my concern is what I perceive as Gunner's "savior complex"…he means well, he strives to "make up for INT's, fumbles by doing more but as the "on the field leader" he needs to step aside when he knows he's not 100% and allow his TEAM MATES step up….that's true leadership.
After that hit GS took on the 1st play he definitely looked and played hurt the rest of the game. Head or shoulder or both? Didn't matter. Hopefully Bobo learned not to run your only QB on the 1st play of the game.
I know it’s way late, but just for the record, I respectfully disagree. Bobo did get fooled by the stunt, but he was standing there because it was supposed to be a pass. If it had been a CALLED running play, Bobo would have already been downfield trying to block the two defenders who were coming up to tackle Stockton. Once the Auburn lineman did his stunt, if hit had been a running play, Bobo could have just taken off as the guy had already taken himself out of the play.
Regardless of where Bobo was supposed to be, you don't run into the back of your OL. That calls into question your vision and internal clock. You also don't throw the ball into the back of the helmet (maybe drop back in the pocket a little further, duh) of your OL. AND when you run you hold the ball securely. All fundamental skills a 4th year player should have complete grasp of.
