The Texas Longhorns’ undefeated season has finally come to an end. Saturday night Texas saw a decisive defeat at the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs. The Longhorns trailed the Bulldogs 23-0 at the half, their largest deficit since 2007. Despite a valiant effort, the Texas Longhorns were only able to halve the deficit. With a final score of 30-15, Texas’ reign at No. 1 may be over for the time being.
Battle Of the Southern States
This game did not begin well for the Texas Longhorns. Not since 2007, against Oklahoma State, had Texas been down by 20+ points going into the half. Things would improve when play resumed, but not enough for Texas to seal the deal.
1st Quarter
The first quarter ended not with a whimper, but with a bang. Georgia capitalized on their earlier sack of Quinn Ewers with a touchdown. Running Back Trevor Etienne of the Georgia Bulldogs scored the 2-yard rushing TD. For Texas, Andrew Mukuba intercepted a pass from Georgia Quarterback Carson Beck. This was after first drives that saw no real progress by either team. The slow start would prove a harbinger of things to come for the Texas Longhorns.
2nd Quarter
This quarter didn’t go much better for the Texas Longhorns. Ewers took a sack and was picked off this quarter, leading to Georgia’s eventual second touchdown. Once the score reached 20-0, the Texas Longhorns made a change to their regularly scheduled programming.
Arch Manning came in for Quinn Ewers with just a handful of minutes left in the half. A strong rushing gain by Manning wasn’t enough though. He was sacked by Linebacker Jalon Walker, who himself subsequently recovered the resulting fumble. The Georgia Bulldogs cleared their third field goal of the night, scoring 23 points in the half.
3rd Quarter
The only quarter the Georgia Bulldogs didn’t score in was the third. Coincidentally, this was the only quarter that the Texas Longhorns did. Quinn Ewers would return to lead the Texas Longhorns into the second half. Wide Receiver Ryan Wingo picked up a first down before Ewers launched a deep pass to Matthew Golden.
Golden was brought down at the 15-yard line, and Texas was pushed forward by a facemask penalty on Tre Wisner. The Texas Longhorns gained another yard thanks to Wisner, and a pass interference call brought them closer. Isaiah Bond rushed the two yards for the touchdown. He would again score the extra two points to bring the Georgia lead to 23-8.
This quarter is where the call heard round the world took place. The Texas Longhorns intercepted a Georgia throw. There was a flag thrown for pass interference/holding on Texas. The game then had to be paused due to students trashing the field. Displeasure was expressed by hundreds of water bottles/debris being thrown on the field in protest. Coach Sark had to step forward and plead with the crowd to stop.
The field was cleared relatively quickly and play resumed, but soon after, the referees huddled. And then, the unexpected happened. The call was overturned. Video review revealed contact during the play on both sides. Despite being sacked by Georgia after that, Ewers fired off another rocket to Jaydon Blue for a 17-yard receiving touchdown.
4th Quarter
The fourth quarter started ominously for Texas, with Defensive Back Andrew Mukuba walking off the field after a brief injury pause. The situation would only deteriorate from there. After a tense few downs, the Georgia Bulldogs would score. Trevor Etienne would score a 1-yard touchdown on fourth down, completing the hat trick.
The Texas Longhorns caught a break when Georgia Defensive Back Dan Jackson was disqualified from the game for targeting. Unfortunately, several completions from Ewers proved negligible as he was picked off. Jaydon Blue and Ryan Wingo of the Texas Longhorns moved the ball forward. Tre Wisner was roughly halted by Georgia Defensive Back Joenel Aguero, who was then disqualified for targeting. Overall, two Georgia Bulldogs players were disqualified from the game. The Texas Longhorns eventually took possession inside the Georgia 40 but were unable to capitalize.
Final Thoughts
The third quarter saw a revival for the Texas Longhorns, but the fourth cemented the loss. This was nothing like the decisive victory of last week, over old foe Oklahoma. Georgia took the reins from the very beginning and held on tight. Back in mid-September, the Texas Longhorns knocked Georgia out of the top spot. We’ll soon see where the AP places Texas after that wild ride. Moving forward, they face a difficult schedule of SEC opponents. Hopefully, they can rally before facing Vanderbilt next week.
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