The Ohio State Buckeyes are about to find out how good they are without Julian Sayin. Oregon has already had to deal with missing Dante Moore for a few weeks. Steve Sarkisian is finally considering benching Arch Manning, we think?
How good would the Georgia Bulldogs feel if Gunner Stockton were to miss extended time or be out for the season? We saw him go down and have to miss a few plays on Georgia's opening drive last weekend, and that turned out fine. But what if Stockton seriously gets hurt? The dual-threat senior is a physical runner who is not afraid of contact. He may be tough, but he is in more situations to get hurt than many other quarterbacks.
Ryan Puglisi, the redshirt sophomore, is Georgia's backup quarterback. He completed three passes for 55 yards, including a 41-yard connection to Craig Dandridge. He helped Georgia get into scoring range before Stockton went back into the game.
Puglisi hasn't been in many game situations, even as Georgia's backup quarterback now for Stockton's entire starting tenure. Kirby Smart instilled some confidence in him to the media earlier this week. He said that Puglisi has seen all of this in practice.
"That's why he practices. He goes out there every day and takes his reps," Smart said on Tuesday. "He takes much less than Gunner, but he was a part of the plan on all those plays. He sat in the meeting on those plays. I don't think that when that happens, you can just shut down and say, 'I have to change the plan.'"
Smart has also said many times that he values Georgia's practice reps more than game reps, partially because the Dawgs' defense is so tough. Puglisi has practiced the situations he saw last Saturday.
"That was the plan in those situations," Smart said. "One was second-and-medium or long, and then the other was third-and-short, and the other one was first-and-10. He managed those situations really well, and the reason we practice with him is so that he's able to go in and do what he does well."
Many fans have questioned Puglisi this offseason, noting that they believe Ryan Montgomery looked better in the spring. The third-year clearly has a grasp on the backup job. He will be Georgia's guy if Stockton gets hurt.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/georgia as Is Georgia Football Ready if Gunner Stockton Goes Down for Good? .
