The Longhorns square off with the Bulldogs in the SEC Championship, hoping to get some revenge.
The No. 2 Texas Longhorns are in prime position to win a conference championship and a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff. The only thing standing in their way is the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs, a team that beat them by two scores in Austin less than two months ago. Now the two teams face off again, this time at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta in the SEC Championship game.
Since that matchup, the Longhorns have looked like one of the elite defenses in the country, shutting down their opponents and keeping their offenses from finding any rhythm. That has been a bit of a saving grace for Texas, as the offense struggled in a few contests — despite the emergence of the ground game in the last few weeks. Georgia quarterback Carson Beck has seemingly cleaned up his execution errors that led to interceptions, while the running defense has been porous as of late.
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If the No. 7 and No. 8 seed is Georiga or Tennessee or Ohio State, then I understand the argument of wanting to play Arizona State or Iowa State and then get a shot at Oregon. I also wouldn’t mind three weeks of rest and only needing to win three games to win the National Championship instead of four. We can’t project what the seeding will look like until after Saturday so it’s a moot argument anyways!
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In the last matchup, the Texas defense did their job with three early interceptions, the offense just wasn’t able to play complementary football. But with Georgia quarterback Carson Beck seemingly starting to find his rhythm from last season that he has been missing all year, things may not come so easily for Texas defensively on Saturday.
Injury Report
Texas:
- DB Derek Williams, Jr. — (Out)
- RB CJ Baxter — (Out)
- RB Christian Clark — (Out)
- RB Velton Gardner — (Out)
- OT Kelvin Banks, Jr. — (Questionable)
Georgia:
- DL Joseph Jonah-Ajonye — (Out)
- RB Trevor Etienne — (Questionable)
- RB Branson Robinson — (Questionable)
- RB Chauncey Bowens — (Questionable)
- DL Christen Miller — (Questionable)
How to Watch
TV: ABC
Time: 3:00 p.m. Central
Radio: Texassports.com. Broadcasts are also available on Sirius 132, XM 199, and App Ch. 953
Online Streaming: WatchESPN
Odds: Texas -2.5, according to FanDuel