AUSTIN, Texas — Nobody in Georgia’s camp wants to talk about it, but the reality of Saturday’s night’s matchup against No. 1 Texas here at Darrell K Royal/Texas Memorial Stadium is that all the pressure squarely is on the one-loss Bulldogs.
Already saddled with a loss to Alabama on the road, Georgia can ill afford to absorb another defeat when it comes to postseason playoff consideration. Certainly, there is a scenario in which the Bulldogs could lose two road games to top-five teams and still be one of the 12 schools chosen to play in the College Football Playoff. But putting their fate in the hands of a 13-person selection committee would be a precarious proposition. That’s not to mention the stress that the Bulldogs would be under not to lose another one between Saturday and when the playoff field is set.
Not surprisingly, coach Kirby Smart’s response to those possibilities is “we’ll control what we can control.”
“I don’t get caught up in, ‘well, if this happens or that happens this is what they’re playing for,” Smart said earlier this week. “They’re gonna say that for every game for every team the rest of the way. Really, you’re playing the long game. The long game is who can be the best teams at the end of the year? You’re trying to be one of the best 12 teams, and how that aligns with this game is not relevant.”
No. 5 Georgia is navigating arguably the toughest schedule of the SEC’s 16 teams this season. The Bulldogs have at least two potential top-10 matchups awaiting them on the other side of Saturday’s date with the Longhorns: a road game against Ole Miss (currently ranked 18th) on Nov. 9 and a home tilt versus No. 11 Tennessee on Nov. 16. Including rival games against Florida in Jacksonville and Georgia Tech in Athens, a two-loss Georgia team would be under enormous pressure not to stumble over the final five weeks when it comes to a potential playoff berth.
The flipside is this: A road victory over No. 1-ranked team certainly would make it hard to leave out the Bulldogs.
“We’ve got to worry about how we play in this game, not any narrative that’s out there or what people are talking about in the playoffs because that’s a ways down the road,” Smart said. “We’ve got to get better.”
Understandably, Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs can’t – and won’t – entertain such thoughts.
“I don’t get caught up in, ‘well, if this happens or that happens (this is what) they’re playing for,” Smart said earlier this week. “They’re gonna say that for every game for every team the rest of the way. Really, you’re playing the long game. The long game is who can be the best teams at the end of the year? You’re trying to be one of the best 12 teams, and how that aligns with this game is not relevant.
Win or lose Saturday, the Bulldogs will be talking about what they need to improve on to beat Florida in Jacksonville on Nov. 2. But outside of Georgia’s football complex, the debate would rage about whether a two- or three-loss preseason No. 1 team playing the nation’s toughest schedule would deserve to make the playoff.
Things to know for Saturday’s Georgia-Texas game
- When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
- Where: Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (cap. 100,119)
- Rankings and record: No. 5 Georgia (5-1, 3-1 SEC); No. 1 Texas (6-0, 2-0)
- TV/radio: ABC/Georgia Bulldogs Sports Network
- Weather: Sunny and clear, with a high of about 83 degrees. Temperature should be in the mid- to high-70s at kickoff.
- Series: Texas leads 4-1. Georgia’s only win was 10-9 in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 2, 1984.
- Last meeting: The Longhorns won the last meeting 28-21 in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 2019. Led by quarterback Sam Ehlinger, Texas outgained Georgia 101-to-8 in the first quarter and led 17-0 lead early in the second before the Bulldogs rallied to make it close in the second half.
- Tickets: The game is sold out. Tickets on the secondary market have been selling this week for well over $1,000. Including standing-only spaces, overflow media coverage and game operations personnel with ESPN’s “College GameDay” in town, Texas officials expect actual attendance to exceed 105,000.
Storylines for Saturday’s Georgia-Texas game
Tale of two QBs
In the preseason, quarterbacks Carson Beck of Georgia and Quinn Ewers of Texas were among the favorites to win the 2024 Heisman Trophy. According to odds posted by BetMGM in late August, Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel led the way with a +700 money line to win college football’s top award. He was followed by Beck at +750 and then Ewers at +1000.
Both the quarterbacks that will face off Saturday have fallen back since then. BetMGM now has Beck sixth at +1400 and Ewers is eighth at +2200. The current leaders are Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty (+150), Gabriel (+350), Colorado two-way player Travis Hunter (+800) and quarterbacks Cam Ward of Miami (+900) and Jalen Milroe of Alabama (+1000).
Beck dropped because of the Bulldogs’ mediocre play and the fact that he already has thrown almost as many interceptions (5) in six games as he did in 14 games last season (6).
Meanwhile, Ewers missed two games for the Longhorns while recovering from an oblique injury. He returned for the 34-3 win over Oklahoma last week and, after having his first pass attempt intercepted, performed well. He was 20-of-29 passing for 199 yards and a touchdown and also scored on a 1-yard plunge.
The Bulldogs have had to rely on Beck’s arm a lot. The 6-4, 220-pound senior is averaging 303 yards per game on 67.9% passing for 15 TDs. With 890 yards, nine TDs and three interceptions on 72.2% passing, Ewers actually has thrown for fewer yards than his backup, Arch Manning (70.5%-901-9-2).
If either Beck or Ewers has a big day Saturday, look for them to shoot up the Heisman ranks.
Secondary concerns
The biggest issue facing the Bulldogs’ defense has been their extremely poor play in the secondary. Facing freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren, who was starting because the No. 1 quarterback was sidelined with an injury, Georgia gave up eight explosive plays to Mississippi State on Saturday. That included two long touchdown passes and a 75-yard completion.
“I’m very concerned about their secondary,” Matt Stinchcomb, a Georgia letterman and ESPN college football analyst, said on the SEC Network show “Out of Pocket.” “It’s not just losing physically, it’s losing mentally where they’re looking in the wrong place. And when they’re manned up in single coverage, they just haven’t held up very well.”
The Bulldogs are under the direction of two new defensive backfield coaches in safeties coach Travaris Robinson, who is co-defensive coordinator, and cornerbacks coach Donte Williams. They replaced Will Muschamp, who stepped back into an analyst role this year, and Fran Brown, who left to become head coach at Syracuse.
Ellis Robinson, a true freshman from Connecticut who signed with UGA as a 5-star prospect, has seen his workload with the No. 1 defense increase in Georgia’s practices. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs have been going with junior Daylen Everette at one corner, sophomore Julian Humphrey at the other and sophomore Daniel Harris as the backup.
Georgia has junior Malaki Starks, senior Dan Jackson and freshman KJ Bolden taking most of the snaps at safety and have started sophomore Joenel Aguero and JaCorey Thomas at the nickel-back position known as star. Often, the Bulldogs have rolled Starks to the “star” position with Bolden stepping in at safety.
Nevertheless, Georgia has allowed 31 explosive plays in the past four games. For the year, opponents are averaging 192 yards passing and scored five TDs through the air.
“This might come down to whether Georgia’s front can compensate for what has been deficient performances in the secondary,” Stinchcomb said.
Availability improves
Georgia should be slightly better off when it comes to overall team health Saturday. Defensive end Mykel Williams (ankle) and fellow D-linemen Warren Brinson (leg) and Christen Miller (leg) are still dealing with injuries but were listed as probable on Thursday night’s SEC Availability Report.
So, is center Jared Wilson, who missed the past two games with a lower leg injury. The junior is expected to start ahead of sophomore Drew Bobo.
Georgia lost backup running back Branson Robinson to an MCL sprain last week. Sophomore Roderick Robinson, who opened preseason camp as the No. 1 running back, has not played all season because of toe surgery.
Freshman defensive tackle Joseph Jonah-Ajonye was a new addition to the availability report and was listed as “out” for unknown reasons. Senior guard Tate Ratlege, who had TightRope surgery on his right ankle four weeks ago, was updated to questionable but is not expected to play.
Isaiah Bond, a junior from Buford and the Longhorns’ leading receiver, was upgraded to probable Friday. Texas lost starting safety Derek Williams to a knee injury this past week, and three other running backs are out for the Longhorns.
No longer a favorite
For the first time since Georgia opened the 2021 season against No. 3-ranked Clemson, the Bulldogs are not favored in a regular-season game. The Tigers were a 2.5-point favorite when they met No. 5 Georgia in the Duke’s Mayo Classic in Charlotte. The Bulldogs won 10-3, their first of 14 victories on the way to the 2021 national championship.
This week, No. 5 Georgia opened as a 1.5-point underdog. That line has since grown to see No. 1-ranked Texas to favored by as much as five points and an average of 4.5 points, according to the composite listing at VegasInsider.com.
Mississippi State is the only opponent that has played both teams. The Bulldogs lost to Texas 35-13 in Athens and lost to Georgia 41-31 in Athens.
“I think both of those teams are incredibly well-rounded,” Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby said on the SEC coaches’ teleconference call this week. “That’s going to be one where taking care of the football and the explosive plays will be a huge determining factor. Both have really, really good personnel, but they’re completely different when you’re talking about philosophy and schemes.”
Been a while, Austin
Saturday’s game will be Georgia’s first against Texas in Austin since 1958. That one, a 13-8 loss, might’ve been one of the wildest ever played.
Fran Tarkenton, who was a backup quarterback on that ‘58 UGA squad, retold the story to the Touchdown Club of Athens this week that he shared with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution seven years ago.
The Bulldogs were struggling badly against the Longhorns that year, trailing 7-0 into the second half. After Georgia took over at its own 5, Tarkenton claims he took it upon himself to insert himself into that game at quarterback.
Tarkenton led the Bulldogs on a 95-yard touchdown drive, throwing a touchdown pass to Jimmy Vickers. Not only that, but being the first year that college football implemented a two-point conversion rule, Tarkenton executed a successful two-point pass play to give Georgia an 8-7 lead with just under five minutes to play.”
It wouldn’t hold. The Longhorns went back down the field and scored. But the legend of Fran Tarkenton was established. He would take over as the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback the next year and led them to their first SEC championship in 11 years in 1959.
That was one of only five games Georgia and Texas have played over the years. The only win for the Bulldogs came Jan. 2, 1984, when Georgia prevailed 10-9 in the Cotton Bowl. The Longhorns won the others 41-28 in the 1949 Orange Bowl in Miami and 28-21 in the 2019 Sugar Bowl.
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