The Gators will face an unfamiliar quarterback on Saturday in Jacksonville. Old rivalry. New test.<\/p>\n
Gunner Stockton leads No. 5 Georgia (6-1, 4-1 SEC) into the World\u2019s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party<\/a> at 3:30 p.m. at EverBank Stadium, making his first career start against Florida. He ranks among the most efficient quarterbacks in the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n Stockton, a 21-year-old, 6-foot-1, 215-pound redshirt junior from Tiger, Georgia, stepped in for Carson Beck late last season after spending two years backing him up. He hasn\u2019t looked back.<\/p>\n UGA coach Kirby Smart has praised Stockton\u2019s poise and preparation saying, \u201cHe\u2019s got winner written all over him.\u201d<\/p>\n Through seven games this season, Stockton has thrown for 1,553 yards and 10 touchdowns with just one interception. He\u2019s also added seven rushing touchdowns and is completing over 70 percent of his passes. He threw for a career-high 304 yards in Georgia\u2019s win over Tennessee earlier this season and was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe does a great job of making great decisions,\u201d Florida Interim Head Coach Billy Gonzales said. \u201cLooking at his last game, he was 26 of 31 for four touchdowns. So he\u2019s playing really clean.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n That performance came in a 43-35 win over Ole Miss\u2014a five-touchdown showing that catapulted Stockton into the Heisman conversation. Florida, however, isn\u2019t backing down from the challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cThe main thing is for us to hopefully be able to cause some pressure to him,\u201d Gonzales said. \u201cAnd to cause pressure means being able to cover in the back end as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Stockton isn\u2019t a traditional pocket passer. He\u2019s elusive. Georgia often uses him in RPO sets, giving him freedom to run or improvise. He can bounce off tackles and extend plays with his legs. When he does, the Bulldogs usually move the chains.<\/p>\n Still, there are some flaws to his game. Stockton lacks elite arm strength, and some deep throws can flutter. On short passes, he\u2019s occasionally off target. And when he holds the ball too long, he becomes a target himself. That\u2019s something Florida\u2019s defensive front hopes to capitalize on.<\/p>\n Georgia has taken four straight in the rivalry<\/a> and Florida suffered all four of those losses by double digits. The Gators last won in 2020 with Kyle Trask under center. Now, they\u2019re hoping to break the streak with fresh coaching energy under interim coach Billy Gonzales<\/a>. But to do that, they\u2019ll have to stop a dual-threat quarterback who\u2019s rising fast.\u00a0<\/p>\n Stockton began learning the position at age six and grew up a Georgia fan. He was trained by George Bobo, the father of Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, and started at quarterback as a freshman at Rabun County High. The former four-star recruit from the class of 2022 set Georgia state high school records with 177 passing touchdowns and 77 rushing touchdowns. His football roots run deep.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, the Gators meet him for the first time. He\u2019s confident, locked in and playing the best football of his career. The former Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year grew up dreaming of moments like this: wearing red and black, leading his home state team in one of college football\u2019s fiercest rivalries. Florida\u2019s defense knows what\u2019s coming. The question is whether it can slow him down.<\/p>\n Category: College Football<\/a>, Gator Sports<\/a>, Gators Football<\/a>, NCAA<\/a>, SEC<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Gators will face an unfamiliar quarterback on Saturday in Jacksonville. Old rivalry. New test. Gunner Stockton leads…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[10858,11704,28,6082,30,29,19498,19499,19500,19501,19502,19503,11710],"class_list":["post-25789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-billy-gonzales","tag-everbank-stadium","tag-florida","tag-florida-gators-football","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-florida-vs-georgia-football","tag-georgia-bulldogs-football","tag-gunner-stockton","tag-jacksonville-football-rivalry","tag-kirby-smart","tag-sec-football-2025","tag-worlds-largest-outdoor-cocktail-party"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}