In what might have been the most anticipated game of the 2024 college football season, the sport’s preeminent program over the past several years was able to come away with a victory.
Behind a dominant defensive line and three rushing touchdowns from Trevor Etienne, No. 4 Georgia went on the road and handed No. 1 Texas its first loss of the season in a 30-15 win Saturday night in a matchup of top-five teams at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin.
Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs set the tone early, holding what had been a potent Longhorns offense to just 38 total yards and no points in the first half to go into halftime carrying a 23-0 lead.
Texas's Offensive Woes
Texas cut into the deficit in the third quarter, scoring a pair of touchdowns to get within eight points, 23-15. The second of those came after a bizarre sequence in which a Jahdae Barron interception of a Carson Beck pass was overruled due to pass interference, but after a lengthy delay prompted by angry Texas fans throwing beer bottles on the field, the officials reversed the call, giving the Longhorns the ball at the Georgia 9-yard line. Two plays later, Texas found the end zone.
The Bulldogs were able to withstand the charge, mounting an 89-yard scoring drive on their ensuing possession to go back up by two scores.
Georgia was able to get pressure on Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers throughout the night and finished the game with seven sacks. Late in the second quarter, and with his team trailing by 20, Ewers was benched for redshirt freshman Arch Manning, who remained in for two possessions and finished with 19 passing yards while completing three of his six attempts. Ewers was put back into the game by coach Steve Sarkisian to begin the second half.
The Bulldogs were able to seal the victory with some timely plays. They ended four Texas drives in the final 20 minutes with fourth-down stops, each of which occurred in Georgia territory. The Longhorns finished the night one of five on fourth down and two of 14 on third down.
Georgia's Dominant Defense
“I’m so proud of these guys,” Smart said to ESPN’s Katie George after the game. “Nobody believed. Nobody gave us a chance. Your whole network doubted us. Nobody believed us, then they tried to rob us with calls in this place. These guys are so resilient. We talked about intent. What was our intent when we walked on the field. Our intent was not to take pictures, not to do all the superstar stuff. Our intent was to eat. Our intent was to come eat and be hungry. I’m not interested in all the bells and whistles. What I want is a team that fights their a—off. And they did tonight.”
With the victory, the Bulldogs have repositioned themselves firmly in the SEC championship race, with a 6-1 record heading into the second of their two bye weeks this season. Texas, too, remains in the hunt for a conference title and a berth in the College Football Playoff, but with Saturday’s setback, its road got just a little narrower.
What Went Wrong for Texas?
The game was a stark reminder of Texas’s inability to perform against elite competition, with a few key factors contributing to the Longhorns’ downfall.
The offensive line can be bullied
It’s fitting that the game's final play featured a Georgia defender harrying Ewers as he threw up a desperate pass toward the end zone. The Bulldogs sacked the quarterback seven times and came away with 10 tackles for loss, led by the efforts of Jalon Walker who abused both Kelvin Banks and Cameron Williams early and often, two players with a lot of early-round NFL Draft buzz heading into the contest. Nine different players recorded a tackle for loss in the contest and UGA recorded eight tackles for loss and three strip sacks in the contest, eventually prompting quarterback changes from Texas. Not all of it is on the offensive line, with both quarterbacks struggling to process and get the ball out quickly.
Texas can’t survive slow offensive starts
A week ago, Texas started slow but got it going late to beat Oklahoma, but it’s clear the Oklahoma Sooners aren’t as talented as Oklahoma. Where last week was a slow-cooker win over a rival, Texas couldn’t catch up with the Bulldogs. Texas trailed by 23 points at halftime and managed just 38 yards in the first 30 minutes of play. Even with second-half heroics, there just wasn’t enough time to fully recover.
Texas did what you needed to in the third quarter to get back in the game, scoring 15 unanswered points to close the game to one score. But the first-half deficit meant that Georgia changed the entire game state with a few long drives, even if they didn’t result in points. Then, one long scoring drive was effectively a knockout blow, changing how the offense approached the game.
Complimentary offense is still a need
Going into the game, forcing Carson Beck to make bad reads and bad plays was a key to victory for Texas, but the quarterback’s struggles only seemed to highlight Texas’s. Georgia’s first three drives were a three-and-out and a pair of interceptions by Beck, gifting Texas good field position. Texas responded with a pair of punts and a fumble, giving that field position right back to Georgia, and letting them capitalize.
In the second half, Texas opened with a touchdown and a defensive stop, an opportunity to get the game back into a surmountable deficit. But, once again, Texas turned it over on downs in response and the offense stagnated. In the fourth quarter with the game on the line, the defense managed two stops, putting the ball back in the offense’s hand. resulted in a turnover on downs that took four minutes off of the clock and another that took one minute. Emblematic of this, Texas went without a third down conversion until the fourth quarter, a 3rd and 2 toss from Quinn Ewers to Ryan Wingo.
Looking Ahead
With their first loss of the season, the Texas Longhorns have a lot to reflect on as they prepare for the rest of the season. Can they bounce back from this defeat and maintain their championship aspirations? Only time will tell.
