No. 5 Georgia chomps No. 1 Texas in 30-15 home loss at DKR

The lights were bright on Saturday, maybe too bright for the Texas Longhorns. Against Georgia, the stars were in attendance as Joe Rogan, Matthew McConaughey, and Glenn Powell all took in the top-five matchup. However, after a slow start offensively, the Longhorns lacked the fuel to overcome adversity, falling 30-15 to Georgia.

In front of a record-breaking crowd of 105,215 fans, the Longhorns had yet another quiet first quarter – similar to last week. In fact, Steve Sarkisian’s offense only totaled 20 yards of offense in the first quarter. Unfortunately for Longhorn fans, the Georgia Bulldogs were practically begging Texas to take advantage of opportunities, and it did not happen. In fact, the Texas secondary created two turnovers in the first quarter and nothing came of it.

By halftime, Georgia led 23-0. Moreover, the outlook of the game was so dismal that Steve Sarkisian opted to make a quarterback change in the second quarter. Although Arch Manning also was not able to make much of a difference either, largely due to the offensive line’s struggles against the Bulldogs defensive front.

To start the second half, Quinn Ewers was once again inserted into the lineup and ultimately found Isaiah Bond on a two-yard touchdown pass to put Texas on the board in the third quarter. Later on in the third quarter, momentum started to swing Texas’ way when Jahdae Barron bizarrely had a penalty overturned, which resulted in his second interception of the day.

After the Barron interception, Quinn Ewers found running back Jaydon Blue on a 17-yard touchdown pass, cutting Georgia’s lead to 23-15. However, that would be it for the Texas offense as Georgia would stifle any other attempts at closing the gap. In total, the Bulldogs would force seven sacks and three quarterback fumbles (two from Ewers and one from Manning). Of course, this made it difficult for the Texas offense to ever consistently find their groove.

Saturday’s loss will be a tough pill for the Longhorns to swallow as they will undoubtedly fall a couple of spots in the rankings, and will add importance to the rest of their season schedule. Additionally, Georgia’s sizable win shows that this team still has some serious work to do. For one, the Texas offense continues to struggle out of the gate. Steve Sarkisian cannot afford to have his team start off games slowly, especially in the SEC. And, while a loss to Georgia may be considered a ‘good loss,’ the Longhorns will need to learn to win games like that.

On the bright side, the Texas defense had a solid night. Pete Kwiatkowski’s squad allowed 283 yards of offense, but played well considering Texas’ dismal field position battle. Further, Jahdae Barron and Andrew Mukuba both came away with first quarter interceptions from Georgia quarterback Carson Beck. While the night was not perfect defensively, such as allowing Georgia running back Trevor Etienne to find the end zone three times, it could have been worse. Beck, who has been the best quarterback Texas has played this year, threw for 175 yards and three interceptions. Meanwhile, no single Georgia Bulldog had a particularly dominant night offensively.

Next weekend, SEC play continues as the Longhorns will take on Vanderbilt. Kickoff from Nashville is slated for 3:15 P.M. (CT) in a game that will air on the SEC Network.