Kirk Herbstreit is not only the resident college football expert across American televisions, he's also a former quarterback. Herbstreit was a solid passer at Ohio State who started for a season. But as a college football analyst, his track record is even stronger. Which makes it a significant red flag when Herbstreit sees a QB whose Week 7 performance left him shaking his head. Particularly when it's from a team that Herbstreit had preivously endorsed. That's exactly the situation he discussed on College GameDay.
The QB Who Has Lost Herbstreit's Faith
Talking about teams and players that he trusted, Herbstreit let slip with an interesting revelation.
"[Gunner] Stockton would be that quarterback, and then he has a game like last week," said Herbstreit. I don't know if they took their foot off the gas... they were up 14 [and then lost]."
To be specific, Stockton and the Bulldogs squandered the early lead in a 27-24 home loss to Auburn. After marching 75 and 89 yards in the first eight minutes and change of last week's game, the Bulldogs held a 14-0 advantage and seemed to be in for an easy afternoon. Not so much.
Stockton's Season
Stockton threw interceptions in the second and third quarters that helped Auburn rally to claim a 24-14 advantage. Georgia answered, in part off a brilliant 94-yard touchdown drive to tie the game with 2:58 to play. But on the following drive, moving into position for a game-winning score, Stockon instead lost a fumble and Auburn took a short field and turned it into a game-winning field goal.
Heading into Week 7, Stockton had been near-perfect. He had thrown just two interceptions all year and had only one game where he passed for less than 9.2 yards per attempt. But against Auburn, Stockton finished with just under 65% completions, 8.0 yards per pass, and doubled his interception total for the year.
Georgia's 5-0 start was dominant, with no competitive games and no real struggles. But in the 20-17 win over Alabama and the loss to Auburn, Georgia showed signs of being mere mortals. The defense that hadn't allowed over 300 yards per game did so both weeks. A team that had a positive turnover margin in every game but one broke even against Alabama and then went -3 against Auburn.
Georgia's Parity Battle
In the world of increasaing college football parity, even a Georgia alum admitted that he couldn't identify any team as above the fray of competition. The Bulldogs are still well-situation for the SEC crown, being tied with Kentucky entering Week 8. But a start on the road back might be a better performance from the signal caller who has left Kirk Herbstreit wondering entering Week 8.
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