Game Preview: SEC Championship No. 2 Texas vs No. 5 Georgia

Texas and Georgia are the last two teams standing in the SEC. They will meet for the second time this season and the Longhorns will be looking for revenge. Georgia handed Texas its only loss of the season in what was a dominating victory in Austin by the Bulldogs. At the time Texas was ranked No. 1 in the country but Georgia gave Texas some pre-Thanksgiving humble pie. The Bulldogs are far from perfect themselves, entering the SEC Championship with losses to Alabama and Ole Miss.

Can the Longhorns OL Hold Their Own?

In the first matchup in October, the Georgia front seven dominated the Texas offensive line. It cannot be emphasized enough how overmatched the Texas offensive line looked against the Bulldogs in October. The Georgia defense is loaded with future NFL players, but to be fair the Longhorns have two likely first round draft picks at offensive tackle, and all five on the offensive line will play in the NFL in some manner. This matchup will be one to watch on Saturday without a doubt.

As a result of the Texas line getting bullied, it made the Texas quarterbacks look like they were seeing ghosts against Georgia. It got so bad that Steve Sarkisian pulled Quinn Ewers before the end of the first half and putt Arch Manning in. Unfortunately, Manning was no better in that game. Ewers was coming off an abdominal injury in that contest, and he is currently battling a high ankle sprain headed into the SEC Championship Game. While he had a gutty performance against Texas A&M last week, he is clearly limited. Kyle Flood’s offensive line will have to play much better than it did in the first matchup or the Texas passing game will have no chance, especially given Quinn’s lack of mobility with his ankle injury.

Will Texas Struggle to Stop the Run?

In their first matchup, Georgia exploited the Texas defense on the ground like no team has in 2024. Running back Trevor Etienne had three touchdowns on the ground and averaged over 4.5 yards a carry. Etienne was the main source of offense for Georgia as quarterback Carson Beck did his best to give the Longhorns the game. Beck completed just 23 of 41 passes and threw three interceptions to go along with no touchdowns. The Texas offense did the defense no favors as the turnovers by the Longhorns set Georgia up with short fields.

Carson Beck had a rough stretch in October where he had more interceptions than touchdowns but Beck is playing better in recent weeks. That makes it even more pivotal that Texas contains the Georgia run game. Etienne has been sidelined since November 9th with a rib injury, and is expected to miss the SEC Championship. While he is Georgia’s top running back, there is more talent behind Etienne. in the backfield. Freshman Nate Frazier has taken the lead role with Etienne out. Frazier is a talented player but is no Etienne. That will put more pressure on Beck and the passing attack of Georgia. Should the Texas defense stop the run better with similar production in the secondary, Texas has a great shot to win their first SEC Championship.