ATHENS — A lot of eyes this week will be on the quarterback Georgia faces, as the Bulldogs welcome Jared Curtis into Sanford Stadium.

But Saturday will be an important game for Georgia’s quarterback Gunner Stockton, especially as he is coming off a game that admittedly wasn’t his best.

Stockton completed 14 of 25 passes for 171 yards against the Oklahoma Sooners. He did find Talyn Taylor for a touchdown, but Stockton was also intercepted for the first time this season.

“I think definitely just the execution of getting us in the right play and little stuff like that, where I know what I should have done,” Stockton said after the 41-13 win. “I’m definitely going to get better at that.”

Stockton’s numbers have still been stellar this season, as he’s thrown 10 touchdowns to just the lone interception. Bill Connelly of ESPN and David Cobb of CBS Sports both have Stockton ranked in the top-10 of their national quarterback rankings.

But for the first time this season, Stockton is facing some scrutiny.

“Stockton completed his first nine passes in Georgia’s 41-13 win over Oklahoma before the Sooners’ vaunted defense settled in and slowed him down a bit,” Cobb wrote. “He completed just 5 of 16 passes from that point and was intercepted early in the third quarter. It really didn’t matter, as UGA cruised to an easy 41-13 victory. But it was the first time Stockton had looked mortal amid a spectacular start to his 2026 season.”

Oklahoma’s defense was far and away the best Georgia faced this season. The Sooners ranked No. 3 in pass defense nationally and still ranked No. 8 in total defense, even after the loss at Georgia.

Vanderbilt’s defense isn’t on the same tier at this point, as the Commodores rank No. 43 in total defense.

Under Kirby Smart, Georgia has had little trouble scoring against Clark Lea’s Vanderbilt defense. After scoring 55 points and 62 points in 2021 and 2022, Georgia beat Vanderbilt 37-20 when they last played in 2023.

This is a very different Vanderbilt program, though. Lea guided Vanderbilt to a 10-2 regular season last year. Despite replacing many key pieces from that team, Vanderbilt is 3-1 on the season.

“They’ve got a great program, a great team. Arguably should’ve made the playoffs last year with the record they had, teams they beat,” Smart said earlier this week. “He does a tremendous job there. They’re really a physical football team made in the same mold with a defensive coach as us.”

Stockton was without two key playmakers against the Sooners and he could be short-handed again. On the first availability report of the week, running back Nate Frazier and wide receiver Isiah Canion were listed as questionable.

Both carried that designation through last week, only for neither to play against Oklahoma.

“Really proud of those backs,” Smart said of his running back room. “Bo. (Walker) and Nick (Peal) and Jae Lamar all picked up the slack in practice, got reps, got work. Obviously Chauncey (Bowens) and Dwight (Phillips) got the feature presentation of most of that, but those other guys worked tremendously hard as well.”

Keep an eye on the connection this week between London Humphreys and Stockton. Humphreys actually scored for Vanderbilt during the 2023 game, hauling in a 49-yard touchdown pass.

He’s caught just four passes for 23 yards and a touchdown this season, but he’s a far more important piece to Georgia than those numbers indicate.

“He’s a weapon, and I’m very proud of him,” Smart said. “Continue to get more opportunities, continue to take advantage of down-the-field throws. There’s all kinds of things he could probably tell you he could improve on, but it’s not his attitude.”

Stockton and the Bulldogs will take the field at 12:45 p.m. on Saturday, with the SEC Network broadcasting the game.