What a disappointing result in Athens with the 35-10 loss by the No. 10 Texas Longhorns to the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday.
Felt like this would be competitive early on with how the Longhorns came out on offense and then they were able to cash in on a turnover and pull it within four points in the third quarter. That was the end of the good news in this matchup.
Even with how far the Texas program has come under Steve Sarkisian, this matchup once again showed that they
are nowhere close to Kirby Smart’s Georgia program at this time. That is the simplest way to put it. At this point, the Longhorns are out of the playoff picture and will be playing for pride moving forward barring some help from other teams.
They have two rivals to close out the season and will have a chance to play spoiler to their in-state rival who pulled off an impressive comeback win on the same day they floundered once again against the Bulldogs.
The Texas secondary had another forgetful performance
While they didn’t give up the volume that they did against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, the deficiencies of the Texas secondary were once again on display again in Athens.
Mike Bobo and the Georgia offense largely made it a a point to stay away from Manny Muhammad and decided to attack the opposite cornerback spot with great success. On top of that, Gunner Stockton was able to take advantage of multiple coverage busts for scores, including one where veterans Michael Taaffe and Jaylon Guilbeau allowed London Humphreys to run untouched up the seam for a touchdown after the Horns cut the deficit to four points in the third quarter.
Texas was as healthy as it has been all year, and it got two of its best players back in the defensive backfield in this one. It did not matter. Stockton was an efficient 24-0f-29 passing for 229 yards and four passing touchdowns. The one mistake he made was a great play by Anthony Hill.
This unit was elite last year, but they have fallen on hard times this year and have been picked on several weeks in a row now.
The drops, miscues, and penalties doomed Texas in all phases
You do not give yourself a chance to be productive as a unit when you are as penalized and have as many unforced errors the Texas offense had against Georgia.
I lost count of how many times I saw a wide receiver drop a ball that was properly placed on their hands. There were multiple holds and false starts that backed up the offense when the game was still winnable. This game rewards the disciplined and the theme that has developed throughout the season is that this team is way too undisciplined at times, and it showed up a lot on Saturday.
It wasn’t just the offense either. This was in all phases of the game. Each of them took turns doing something undisciplined to help contribute to the beating that was the football in Athens on Saturday night. Does anyone have a counter on how many special teams penalties Warren Roberson has accrued this year? He has become a frequent offender in that regard.
All of the shortcomings we have seen throughout the year showed up in this game against Georgia. Every single one.
Kirby Smart and his staff out-coached Steve Sarkisian and Texas AGAIN
I’m the furthest thing from a Steve Sarkisian hater, but in the three games against Georgia it is incredibly damning how big the gap is between Sarkisian and Kirby Smart. In all three matchups Sarkisian and his teams have been overwhelmed in some way, shape, or form, and it has felt like the Georgia staff is playing chess while the Texas staff is playing checkers.
Second game in a row Smart has caught the Texas special teams unit with their pants around their ankles. Remember the fake punt in Atlanta? Add this one to the slideshow for the Bulldogs’ dominance of the Longhorns through three matchups.
Mind you Texas came into this game off a bye week. Could have fooled me or anyone else. In every single one of these games against Georgia the Bulldogs have been the aggressors and the Longhorns have had to play from their heels. Every time Smart and his staff seem to have Sarkisian and his staff outflanked.
Every. Single. Time.
I picked the Longhorns to lose this game and said I had to see Texas beat Georgia with my own eyes before I can predict an outright win. The game on Saturday did nothing to sway me from that feeling whatsoever. There needs to be a lot of soul searching by the Texas staff over the offseason, because the gap between them and Georgia looked even wider than it did in 2024 on Saturday night.
The Texas run game was a net negative
Texas gained 23 total yards on 17 carries at 1.4 yards per carry.
Gross. Pathetic. Absolutely shameful.
The Horns better invest heavily in overhauling their run game up the middle of their offensive line and find a back that can tote it, because this is by far the worst rushing attack Sarkisian has had in his head coaching career. Hell, I would have took what Georgia got out of their rushing game, which was only 128 yards at 3.7 YPC. At least there was some semblance or threat of a run game.
Texas can’t consistently lean on its run game when it absolutely has to and that puts everything on the shoulders of Arch Manning and the passing game and it narrows the path to victory.
Anthony Hill and Ty’Anthony Smith were bright spots
Hell of a play by Hill and one of the few highlights of the game for Texas in this one. He and Smith led the way defensively, as they combined for 15 total tackles, a sack, and 2.5 tackles for loss along with the interception. Smith was the leading tackler with nine stops (six solo), two tackles for loss, and a sack — a nice box score that will be an afterthought given how the game turned out.
Colin Simmons netted a sack early in the game that brought his season total to nine. He has two games to try to crack double digits.
That’s all I can really say, so that I don’t end this write up on an extremely sour note.
Disappointing. Disheartening. Frustrating.
You can’t even scrap together a moral victory after this one because of how it got away from you in the fourth quarter. You are basically heading for a mid-tier bowl game at this point and can only salvage this season by winning the last two and playing spoiler to Texas A&M in Austin. With how the Texas secondary has shaped up this year, that matchup looks very worrisome given how explosive the A&M offense can be.
Arkansas has been bad most of the year, but they hate Texas and will make you work for it, certainly. Better not mess around and lose that one.
A little writer’s note from me to cap off this one: I am going to be out of the country this coming week and will likely be out of pocket for Arkansas matchup. Very likely there will not be any Sunday write-up from me until the A&M game on Black Friday. While I am on the beach, I plan on having a drink or five to help flush this week’s result along with the rest of the Longhorn fans out there.
The 24-hour rule is officially in effect. It is on to the Fighting Bobby Petrinos.
