Georgia's Gunner Stockton puts up big numbers, and a trip to Alabama could change the conversation

Gunner Stockton has been one of the most productive quarterbacks in the country this season. He just hasn’t been one of the most discussed.

Stockton’s 75.5 completion percentage is the second-best of any Bowl Subdivision quarterback with more than 70 passing attempts. His 13 passing touchdowns rank second in the Southeastern Conference, and his 202.1 passer rating is the third-best among all starting FBS quarterbacks.

He threw for a career-high five touchdowns in Georgia’s Week 2 rout of Western Kentucky, tying a program record in just one half of game action. He took off for a rare 62-yard gain on foot against Arkansas — a sequence coach Kirby Smart reflected on by taking a friendly dig at Stockton’s stamina and complimenting the blocking instead.

But despite consistently putting Georgia in position to win and hitting career-high marks, Stockton often takes a back seat in national quarterback conversations.

He has a chance to change that narrative on Saturday, when the No. 2 Bulldogs head to Alabama in the biggest game of the week and one that typically carries playoff implications down the line.

Stockton is 1-1 against an Alabama team that doesn’t boast the same level of continuity as Georgia’s offense. He took the burden of a 33-game home winning streak being snapped with a 24-21 regular-season loss last year. He responded two months later with a 28-7 SEC championship game defeat, solidifying the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff.

Though none of that experience quite seems to matter in Smart's eyes, especially when up against a No. 6-ranked Alabama team with quarterback Keelon Russell leading the charge.

“I don’t know if (Stockton’s experience) is an advantage. It is what it is,” Smart said Monday. “Cause they got a tremendous quarterback that doesn’t have a ton of experience, and there’s advantages in that.”

Whereas Russell presents a little bit more of an unknown, Alabama knows what it's up against in Stockton.

“I think Gunner Stockton is playing as highly efficient as I've seen from a quarterback,” Crimson Tide defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said. “You can just see he's very comfortable, he's very decisive ... certainly he presents a significant challenge because he's so dialed into what they're doing and has great answers based off of what a defense shows.”

Wommack's defense held Stockton to 13 completions, 130 passing yards and a touchdown in last year's regular-season win. Stockton finished with under 160 passing yards in just three games last year, two of them against Alabama.

But if momentum can linger from one game to the next, the Bulldogs will be in good shape come Saturday. Stockton is coming off his most well-rounded performance of the year in Georgia's 38-14 victory over Vanderbilt, completing 25 of 32 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns.

“I’m certainly very happy and pleased with where Gunner is," Smart said. “He played a really, really good game the other day."

And while Stockton may not be getting much love nationally, he certainly has it inside Georgia’s locker room.

“I wouldn’t go to war with anybody else in America,” offensive lineman Earnest Greene said. “I truly believe that. You know, just the way I see the guy prepare day in and day out for these moments and these games ... I’m really just happy I get to block for a guy like that.”

___

Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here