CNN
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Championship football can bring enormous moments of pressure to even the most unlikely players at the most unlikely moments.

When their numbers came out in Saturday’s Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship game, the University of Georgia’s Gunner Stockton and Carson Beck answered the call in a way no one expected.

First it was Stockton, who came into the game early in the second half after Beck suffered a shoulder injury on the final play of the second quarter. The senior Beck, the Bulldogs’ starter the past two seasons and one of the winningest quarterbacks in the country, landed hard on his shoulder when he was sacked by the University of Texas’ Trey Moore.

As the teams made their way to the locker room, Beck lay in pain on the Mercedes-Benz Stadium turf, surrounded by Georgia medical personnel. ABC’s cameras captured his mother in the stands watching in pain as her son was taken to the locker room by team doctors.

At that point, Texas led 6-3 in a defensive battle. The Dawgs were already having trouble moving the ball, and now Beck was out for the rest of the game. Georgia’s hopes of another SEC championship and a bye in the first round of the College Football Playoff now depended on Stockton, who had thrown a total of 16 passes all season entering Saturday’s game.

The sophomore from Tiger, Georgia, was more than ready.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said after the game that his team was fired up at halftime and, especially, the offense was ready to get behind the bench players.

“This team never says no. “Never die attitude, man,” Smart said.

What had once been a lifeless Bulldogs offense came to life as Stockton took center stage and scored a touchdown on the first drive of the third quarter to take the lead. Using his arms and legs, the redshirt sophomore brought the partisan Atlanta crowd to its feet, and suddenly the Dawgs had all the momentum.

After Georgia kicked a field goal with just four and a half minutes left to take a 16-13 lead, it looked like it would be up to the nasty UGA defense to stop Quinn Ewers and the potent Longhorn attack. And it seemed like they had it done – Daylen Evertte’s interception with 3:36 to play looked like Georgia had sealed the conference championship.

But just a few plays later, Stockton made its only misstep of the contest. On a 3rd-and-13 play from the Texas 31, the QB floated a ball ripe for an interception, and Texas’ Jahdae Barron intercepted the ball, giving his team a chance. The Longhorns drove down the field and scored a field goal on the ensuing drive to tie the game, sending the game into overtime.

In the extra session, Beck – who was seen on the sidelines without a helmet, mingling with his teammates and looking almost like a man whose night was over – joined the fray again.

On 2nd-and-8 from the Texas 12-yard line, Stockton launched from the pocket and broke through the middle of the Longhorns defense for a first down. The quarterback appeared to be about to run through the arms of a Longhorn defender before Texas defensive lineman Andrew Mukuba closed in and delivered a devastating blow that sent Stockton’s helmet flying and sending him crashing to the turf. He stood up under his own power, but seemed to stumble as he got to his feet.

The referees determined the hit was untargeted and Mukuba remained in the game, but Stockton could not. Because he lost his helmet, the quarterback had to pause the game for at least one play. And suddenly all eyes turned back to Beck.

The senior quarterback was wearing his helmet again and practicing snaps under center on the sideline. But as he ran onto the field, the magnitude of his situation became clear to him: His right arm, which he throws with, hung limply at his side and bounced with every step, a clear sign that he wasn’t going to throw the ball.

He didn’t have to. Beck went under center and used his injured right arm to pass the ball to running back Trevor Etienne, who burst through the line and went four yards for the game-winning touchdown, giving the Dawgs a 22-19 victory .

“Both are great competitors,” Smart said when asked about his quarterbacks.

He also praised the big men up front for making sure Beck didn’t have to make another play and Stockton didn’t have to get back into the fray after the big hit: “How about that offensive line to keep going? 5-yard line and shoot it into the goal line, right into the teeth of a really, really good defense.”

The Bulldogs have lost a total of three games in the last three years. A team doesn’t get to this point without players giving their all in winning time – even if they can’t use all of their limbs in the biggest moments of the game or have only played two games in the entire season before the crucial time in a championship game.

As fans and teammates celebrated around him, Stockton calmly told ESPN’s Holly Rowe about being in the spotlight.

“It’s just the love I have for everyone in the locker room and all the seniors. I just wanted them to take the right path,” he said.

Smart was visibly proud of Stockton when he spoke to Rowe afterwards. “This kid is a winner, man. This child is special.”