The top-ranked Texas Longhorns finally met their match on Saturday against the Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia showed everyone why they have been the best team in the country for the last three years. They looked like the better team from the start and served the Longhorns a large piece of humble pie. Texas still has all their season goals in front of them, but the margin for error has been significantly trimmed. Let’s grade the performance against Georgia.
Offense: D
The offense was abysmal from the start. It felt awfully similar to the 2022 TCU game where Texas was dominated by a top 5 team at home. It didn’t matter if it they tried to runor pass the ball, Georgia was all over it. Quinn Ewers was sacked several times but 27 carries for 29 yards will not get it done. The Longhorns must find a better running game moving forward. Steve Sarkisian doesn’t get a pass in this game either – he needs more up his sleeve in the run game. Sarkisian is a great offensive mind and he is better than what he showed versus Georgia.
Per PFF the Longhorns allowed the most pressures in the Sark era with 28 against Georgia. On the front, that seems the Texas offensive line was abused. While the offensive line certainly didn’t have a good night, Quinn Ewers did not do them any favors. Ewers isn’t stepping up in the pocket since returning from injury which makes things really tough for an offensive line He looks almost scared to get hit and that will not work in the SEC. If Ewers will not step up and take a hit, the Longhorns will struggle, plain and simple. Should he not improve this weekend versus Vanderbilt, it will be interesting to see if Sarkisian makes a change at quarterback to shake things up – something he tried against the Bulldogs.
Defense: B+
The Longhorns defense was once again put in a precarious position by the offense. Georgia’s touchdown drives consisted of the following yards: 13, 34 & 89. Just like against Oklahoma in the first half, the Texas defense had to defend drives with Georgia starting at midfield or better. That simply cannot continue to happen. Luckily Bulldog quarterback Carson Beck played just as poorly as Ewers on Saturday. Beck threw three interceptions which, frankly, kept the Longhorns in the game and gave them opportunities.
It wasn’t all perfect for the defense. In the first half especially, the Longhorns weren’t doing much to stop Georgia running back Trevor Etienne. The second half was better in terms of stopping the run and overall you cannot put this loss on the defense. When you force three turnovers, you have to win the game plain and simple. Everyone questioned how the Longhorns would do against the best offense they would face all season. Well, they did a pretty good job. It would have been nice to see more than one sack on the night, but this defense is clearly championship quality.
Special Teams: C-
Special teams was average, at best, on Saturday. In a game in which the Longhorns could have used a big play, they got next to nothing from the unit. To start, penalties were a major issue. Kick Returner Matthew Golden had a kick return to midfield called back by a hold on Warren Roberson. Roberson had another hold on a punt return. Both of those penalties forced the Longhorns to start the drive inside their own 10 yard line. Those flags made the Texas return game a net-negative for the game. When the offense is struggling like it has, the return game can provide a major boost.
Once again Ian Ratliff handled the punt duties with Michael Kern out. Things did not go as well for Ratliff against Georgia as they did against Oklahoma. He had 5 punts with a nearly 44 yard average. While that isn’t bad on the surface, he had two touchbacks that hurt. Only one of his five punts landed inside the 20. In the first quarter Ratliff punted from the Georgia 41 and drew a touchback. Ratliff does not get enough hangtime on his punts to help the coverage team. The bottom line is if Michael Kern is healthy Texas needs him back at punter.
