While the Longhorns looked like one of the top teams in the country for six weeks, they are clearly still a step behind the Bulldogs.
The then-No. 1 Texas Longhorns played their worst game of the season when hosting the then-No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs and were soundly beaten in Austin, falling out of the top spot in the nation. Not only did the Longhorns sacrifice the top spot in the country, they thinned the margins for a berth in the College Football Playoffs with just five games left in the regular season.
Georgia was the more physical team in the contest and held the Texas offense in check for most of the game, putting the defense in short-field situations, leading to 30 points surrendered. In fact, until the lone second-half touchdown by the Bulldogs, the Longhorns defense allowed just 17.8 yards per scoring drive and held the Bulldogs to three short-field field goals. The offense’s inability to put together any meaningful drives, outside of one drive, cost Texas the game and its spot atop the nation.
Texas third downs: 2/14 (14.29 percent)
Against UGA, it felt like a repeat of issues Texas left in the past, with the Longhorns unable to put together extended drives and gifting the Bulldogs good field position multiple times. Famously, the Longhorns didn’t convert on a third down until there was 8:25 left in the game when Quinn Ewers connected with Ryan Wingo for three yards. Coincidentally, that was just the second time in the game Texas faced a third and short. On average, Texas faced an average distance to go of 6.5 yards and did not convert on an attempt longer than four yards in the game.
The Longhorns went three-and-out three times on three of their first six drives of the game and put the defense back on the field via punt or turnover on every drive of the first half with only one drive lasting longer than two minutes. The Texas offense averaged just five plays per drive for an average of 23 yards gained in the contest, with just one drive lasting longer than 10 plays and just four of their 14 drives lasting longer than two minutes.
Georgia defense: 7 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, 8 hurries
After two months of the Texas offensive line being hailed as one of the best units in the country, the Georgia defense came out and used a combination of disguised pressures and sheer athleticism to play on the Longhorns’ side of the line of scrimmage. Not all of the sacks are on the offensive line, with both Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning struggling to step up and get rid of the ball under pressure. Regardless of the source, it was an uncharacteristic game for both the Horns and the Dawgs fronts, with Georgia turning in seven sacks for the first time since the 2021 opener against Clemson and the Texas line giving up more sacks in this game than they did in the previous six.
One of the biggest issues for Texas in the contest, and especially on third downs, was the complete dominance by the Georgia defensive line. Three of the Bulldogs’ seven sacks in the game came on third downs, including one of the crucial turnovers that helped put Georgia up big in the game. The Longhorns’ inability to extend drives was ultimately one of the biggest keys to the game.
Texas offense: 29 rushing yards
With Georgia spending most of the time in the Texas backfield and the Bulldogs taking advantage of short fields to create some separation in the second quarter, it hampered the ability of the Longhorns ability to generate any ground game, becoming one-dimensional and giving the Bulldogs’ defense an advantage. It was the worst rushing performance since rushing for 28 yards in the 17-10 loss to TCU in 2022. Even if you add back in the 59 sack yards, it would be the worst performance of the year by 55 yards and the worst since the 51 rushing yards against the Washington Huskies in the 2022 Alamo Bowl. That game is notable because Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson opted out and Jonathon Brooks saw limited action due to an injury that required offseason surgery.
The Bulldogs also seemed to round back into form against Texas, looking elite against the run in a way they haven’t since Vanderbilt last year from a total yardage standpoint. If you look at a per-rush standard, you’d have to go back to their final game of the 2022 season — in which they beat Alabama for a championship — for a better performance.
Despite the frustrations, all of Texas’s goals are still ahead of them, but they have exhausted their one “Get out of Jail Free” card of the season. That being said, they will not play another team as talented as Georgia, with just one team remaining on the schedule with a Blue Chip ratio above 70 percent.