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Collecting all the post-game analysis articles, including those behind paywalls, regarding the UGA game here:

(Gerald Goodridge) No. 5 Georgia 35, No. 10 Texas 10: Three things we learned

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At one point, it looked like the Texas Longhorns were going to make this yet another exciting finish. Anthony Hill intercepted Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton, which Texas turned into a scoring drive and closed the game to four points. The Bulldogs responded with a long touchdown drive, aided by Texas miscues, and then stole a possession and put the game out of reach. It was embarrassing and ugly for the Longhorns.

Kirby Smart has Steve Sarkisian’s number

For the third time in three games, the group in red outcoached the group in Burnt Orange. The Texas offense was cooking and keeping them in the game, playing complementary football, closing the gap to 14-10. Two fourth-down conversions turned into a Georgia touchdown, and then Kirby Smart dialed up the first onside kick of his tenure in Athens to steal a possession and put the game away. Texas moved the ball well on a few drives, but penalties and mistakes led to Texas going six consecutive drives without scoring a point.

It wasn’t just the Georgia defense that got the best of Texas; from the opening whistle, Georgia’s offensive game plan took advantage of Texas’s lack of defensive aggression. Once Texas adjusted and started to pressure Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton, they used motion and misdirection to confuse the Texas secondary, resulting in two easy touchdowns for the Bulldogs.

Arch Manning needs help

If you’re watching the box score, Arch Manning turned in a relatively pedestrian game, but the box score doesn’t tell the whole story. Manning operated the offense well for the majority of the game, while his receivers did him little favors. Ryan Wingo, who seems to be WR1 on the team, had a back-breaking first-half drop that would have extended a drive, the only drop he was credited with. That drop ended the streak of four consecutive completions that Manning started the game with.

Wingo also missed on a diving catch in the second half that would have put Texas deep in Georgia territory. Instead, DeAndre Moore and Jordan Washington followed his diving catch with a pair of drops that ended a once-promising drive. The Texas ground attack did little to help its quarterback, both by lack of production and lack of opportunity to do so. Texas ran its backs just 10 times in the game for 40 total yards and finished the game with 23 total rushing yards. That’s the lowest total since the 24-7 loss to TCU in 2017, Tom Herman’s first season on the Forty Acres.

The defense needs answers

Pete Kwiatkowski’s unit struggled to get stops early, and when they adjusted, so did Georgia. Texas played soft and allowed Georgia to take advantage of space underneath both in the pass and the running game. When the defense adjusted and put its secondary on more of an island, miscommunications and blown assignments let the Georgia offense spark big plays and put Texas away. Both young contributors and senior leaders struggled with communication and even simple fundamentals to put Texas on its heels and put the game away. The Longhorns need to find some answers as they close out the last two weeks of the season, hoping to salvage what they can of the rest of this season.

Seth Emerson: Bold decisions propel Bulldogs toward Playoff as Horns’ chances sink

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No. 5 Georgia bullied No. 10 Texas again, eliminating the Longhorns from College Football Playoff contention and staying in the race for another SEC title. Gunner Stockton threw four touchdown passes, Kirby Smart coached aggressively in the second half to stub out a potential Texas rally and the Bulldogs beat Texas 35-10 Saturday to improve to 3-0 against the Longhorns since they joined the SEC last year.

The Bulldogs (9-1, 7-1) swept Texas last season, winning 30-15 in a regular-season meeting in Austin and then 22-19 in overtime for the SEC championship in Atlanta. Georgia has played in four straight SEC title games and finished its conference schedule still alive to make it five if it can get a little help in the last two weeks.

Stockton threw two touchdowns to Noah Thomas in the first half to put the Bulldogs up 14-3 at halftime. Arch Manning and Texas (7-3, 4-2) found life in the second half and cut the lead to 14-10 when the third-year quarterback found Ryan Wingo with a 7-yard touchdown pass with 5:27 left in the third quarter. Manning finished 27-for-43 for 251 yards with an interception, but after pulling Texas within four, he didn’t touch the ball again until almost midway through the fourth quarter.

After Texas seemingly had the momentum, the Bulldogs converted a fourth-and-short from their own 36 and a fourth-and-5 in Texas territory, and then capped the drive with Stockton’s 30-yard TD pass to London Humphrey to make it 21-10. Smart wasn’t done, calling for an onside kick that Georgia recovered to steal another possession and set up another touchdown pass by Stockton, this time from 6 yards out to Lawson Luckie.

Stockton was 24-for-49 for 229 yards, four touchdowns and an interception and ran for a score to make it 35-10 with 4:43 left in the fourth quarter. Georgia held Texas to 274 yards rushing and sacked Manning three times. The Bulldogs have won six straight heading into their final two games against Charlotte and rival No. 16 Georgia Tech and need an Alabama loss to Auburn in two weeks to get back to the SEC title game. Smart’s team looks like a shoo-in to reach the Playoff even if it can’t get to Atlanta.

Kirby the daring

For a while in his head coaching career, Smart was known for being conservative in his game management, leaning on his defense. But as he’s bought more and more into analytics — which often calls for going for it on fourth down — Smart has taken more chances. And he took a big one in the second half. Then he did it again. And then yet again.

It started when Georgia faced fourth-and-1 from its own 36, late in the third quarter, clinging to a 14-10 lead. Smart not only went for it, but his offensive coordinator Mike Bobo dialed up a risky play: Stockton went under center, faked a handoff then rolled out and hit Chauncey Bowens for a 10-yard gain. Four plays later, Georgia faced fourth-and-5. It lined up quickly for the not-unusual effort to get the defense to jump.

This time it actually worked, and Georgia got another set of downs. A few plays later, Stockton hit a wide-open Humphreys for a 30-yard touchdown. Then Smart went for the jugular: An onside kick, the first of his tenure per Georgia’s communications team. It caught Texas by surprise, with Georgia’s Cash Jones making a clean recovery. Georgia’s offense took the field again, and quickly was driving downfield again.

Longhorns on the brink

The preseason No. 1 team that Texas was anointed for the first time in school history this year now needs a miracle — or several — to make the Playoff. It was a lot of the same problems that have hounded Texas all season. The Longhorns couldn’t run the ball, didn’t do a good enough job protecting Manning and had inconsistent play from their receivers.

On the defensive side, Georgia broke Texas’ defense with a 21-point fourth quarter and picked apart the Longhorns secondary, which was healthier than it has been in weeks with two starting safeties back. Texas still has Arkansas and No. 3 Texas A&M left on the schedule. Maybe beating the Aggies, the SEC’s only remaining unbeaten team in conference play, to go along with victories against No. 11 Oklahoma and No. 14 Vanderbilt, can keep Texas in play for a third straight CFP appearance under coach Steve Sarkisian. Sarkisian fell to 1-7 against top-five teams as Texas coach.

Return of the Georgia defense

After what has been a disappointing, and confounding, season for Georgia on defense, it looks like it’s getting right at just the right time. It was evident from the start. In its seven previous SEC games, Georgia gave up a touchdown on the opening possession all but once, and in that exception Kentucky got into the end zone on the next drive. But Texas was held to a field goal on its opening possession, then went three-and-out the next drive.

And that three-and-out looked like vintage Georgia: Cornerback Demello Jones threw down Ryan Wingo after a short gain on first down, then a blitz by Quintavius Johnson forced Manning to dump off early, and linebacker CJ Allen clobbered the receiver for a 2-yard loss. Defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann dialed up blitzes throughout the game, creating pressure in ways Georgia has struggled to do this year. And after Texas ran the ball well on the first drive, the Bulldogs stiffened up.

The question for Georgia’s defense was never talent, but experience. Most of the five-stars and other blue-chips are first -or second-year players. As the defense gets more snaps, they appear to be rounding into form. The form people are used to seeing from a Georgia defense.

Evan Vieth: Texas drops the ball, and likely its CFP hopes, in a gruesome loss to the Georgia Bulldogs

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Fresh off a bye week, with a top-10 win two weeks prior, it felt like the Texas Longhorns were waltzing into Athens, Georgia, with a chance to do something they couldn’t do all year. Beat the Bulldogs. Even with it being a game away from home for Texas, the Longhorns had recently discovered their optimal offensive line set, had seen the best of Arch Manning in the past two weeks and were finally healthy.

Yes, it was Georgia. But if Texas was truly that College Football Playoff team many thought they were, this would be the game to prove it. Instead, the Longhorns played a miscue-filled game, with many of the reasons the Longhorns had two losses entering this game rearing back their ugly heads. By the time the final whistle blew, Texas was down four scores, losing to the Bulldogs 35-10.

Texas saw its two biggest mental weaknesses emerge once again: drops and penalties. Things that made the Ohio State loss painful, and the main catalysts for the loss in Gainesville. In the first half, Texas dropped three passes. All three would’ve been first downs. Two were on third down, and one on the first drive to Ryan Wingo would’ve put Texas inside the Georgia five. Instead, the Longhorns settled for a field goal.

They wouldn’t score again until the third quarter, and that would end up being the only other scoring drive they’d have. Texas was also heavily penalized in that first half, being called for seven penalties that added up to 43 yards lost. That doesn’t paint the whole picture, as plays like a near-60-yard kickoff return from Ryan Niblett were nullified, costing Texas even more hidden yardage. The Bulldogs weren’t penalized once.

It would take until five minutes in the second half for Georgia to receive its first penalty against, a clear pass interference on the goal line on a key third down that brought Texas within the 10. Arch Manning would find Wingo for the touchdown on the next play. Texas was able to limit drops in the second half, but penalties remained costly. On a crucial 4th and 5 near midfield, star edge rusher Colin Simmons jumped offside, clear as day. Georgia would score on a busted coverage three plays later. Simmons’ offside was one of Texas’ nine penalties on the day. Georgia would end with just the one.

That offside would end up being the decider. Had the Bulldogs not been able to convert that 4th down, Texas would’ve gotten the ball back with a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter. Instead, Georgia scored an easy touchdown and immediately retained the ball on an out-of-nowhere onside kick call. Stunned, the Texas defense trotted back onto the field. Smart had done it again.

At one point, Manning and the offense thought they’d enter the game down four with the chance to take the lead. Instead, 12 minutes of gametime churned, and suddenly they were staring down the entire crowd of Sanford Stadium down 18. It was a lost cause. By the time the Bulldogs had finished their drive, Texas was down three scores with just nine minutes left in the game. The momentum was far and away in Georgia’s favor, and the game was all but over.

Texas moves to 7-3 on the year, and with Oklahoma beating Alabama, the chances of Texas making the College Football Playoff continue to grow slimmer and slimmer. The Longhorns will need some help elsewhere, and two wins in a row, one against top-five Texas A&M. But, playoff or not, it’s clear that this Texas team is not up to the standards placed on them in the preseason. Steve Sarkisian has a Kirby Smart problem, and it doesn’t feel like it’s going away anytime soon. 

(Joe Cook) Instant Reaction: Texas stumbles and falls in the home stretch vs. Georgia

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***The College Football Playoff dream for the Texas Longhorns most likely had the plug pulled in Athens. In order to get into the CFP, Texas could not both drop this game and see programs ranked similarly like Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Michigan, and USC take care of business against ranked opponents. All those teams did their job on Saturday. All except Texas.

***Though the three point total in the first half was frustrating, the final 20:27 after Texas’ first and only touchdown of the game should be far more infuriating for Longhorns’ fans. To win games like this, players and coaches alike must be able to do every small thing needed, including keeping the finest details sharp in order to win. Texas put too many lapses on the field to have so much as a shot at the end, lapses manufactured by both the coaches and the players. Georgia remained the constant it has been throughout the past decade under Kirby Smart. That consistency turned the story of a game that was competitive throughout the first 40 minutes into one that looked like a beatdown, and that’s because the final 20 minutes turned it into a beatdown.

From here, takeaways are in sequential order of the game.

***The Longhorns’ first drive of the game was a successful one but they would have liked to have gotten more out of it. A drop from Ryan Wingo and a penalty assessed to Cole Hutson that may have been Arch Manning’s fault kept Texas out of the end zone but created a successful red zone chance. Georgia responded with an even stronger drive as Mike Bobo attacked a number of Pete Kwiatkowski tendencies and got the Longhorns out of proper alignment. Georgia also didn’t pound the football early, electing, like Texas, to spread things around the field for their first occasion with the football. They turned that into a 14-3 lead early.

***To that point, in the latter portion of the first quarter and the early part of the second period, Bobo was cooking Kwiatkowski. Georgia moved the pocket often and notched 11 throws to just six runs over the course of the first two drives for the Bulldogs (and one of those rushes was a Colin Simmons sack on a broken play). The Longhorn defense was punished for misalignment, and credit is due to Bobo for putting Texas’ defense into situations where his offensive players could take advantage. Georgia scored 14 points on its first two drives. Texas only managed three.

***From the point the Bulldogs went up 14-3, the game balanced out tremendously for the Longhorn defense. Georgia was able to notch only 59 yards on three drives and only picked up 3.93 yards per play. Texas was unable to take advantage due to only notching two three and outs, a four and out, and a promising seven play drive that ended with Manning getting intercepted by KJ Bolden (even though it appeared as if DeAndre Moore was interfered with). The lack of an ability to answer, especially when Georgia got the ball on the other side of halftime, made the first drive’s successes seem so fleeting as the Texas offense was able to get 155 yards of offense on 30 plays, a decent number. But the halftime 14-3 lead was the biggest issue.

***Texas committed seven penalties for 43 yards in the first half, with three of them on special teams and one of them undoing a 59-yard kickoff return by Ryan Niblett. Warren Roberson, who was a penalty magnet on special teams last year, now has eight flags called on him over the last two seasons.

***Manning and Steve Sarkisian did well during the first half, as did Quintrevion Wisner running behind an O-line that was effective enough to manage 36 yards on six carries for No. 5. They were let down on multiple occasions by the Longhorn pass-catchers. Ryan Wingo, DeAndre Moore, and Jordan Washington all did more to bat the ball to the ground than to haul it in on key plays where their gains would have significantly impacted that particular moment of the game.

***During the first half and a couple of times in the second half, Texas deployed a 3-1-7 package that saw a plethora of defensive backs on the field. Jonah Williams was in at deep safety. Xavier Filsaime was robbing. Jelani McDonald and Michael Taaffe were at linebacker. Warren Roberson and Malik Muhammad were at cornerback. Graceson Littleton was at star.

***Anthony Hill made the play that helped Texas break back into the game. His interception was the result of McDonald, Roberson, and Brad Spence playing everything well on the boundary side. Gunnar Stockton was forced to go through his progressions, and he was late enough on the throw for Hill to find the ball on his drop. 

***Fantastic catches from Wingo throughout the ensuing drive, including the touchdown catch on an RPO, made it a 14-10 game with just over 20:00 of gametime left. But it became pretty evident on Georgia’s ensuing drive why Sarkisian spoke throughout the week about Georgia being tough to kill. The Bulldogs put together a 10-play, 73-yard drive where UGA converted several fourth down opportunities. The final blow was a 30-yard pass to London Humphries for a score where Taaffe and Jaylon Guilbeau failed to properly cover a motion and a switch. That put Georgia up 21-10 with 14:20 left in the fourth quarter, and it wasn’t even the most frustrating thing to happen to the Longhorns in the first minute of the fourth quarter.

***Seconds before it happened, you could see Kirby Smart leaning over focused on the ensuing kickoff. Then all of a sudden, Peyton Woodring tapped the top of the ball into space left far too vacant by the Longhorns’ kickoff front line. Cash Jones made the play to pick it up, and that presented itself as a moment where Georgia could go for the final blow. They did exactly that with a nine-play, 53-yard drive that made it 28-10 and sealed the game.

***The special teams snafus were multiple for this game. Texas’ special teams have improved since they were consistently poor last season. While there have been tremendous booms, the regularity of the busts has remained under Jeff Banks’ watch. The holding on Roberson, including his repeated usage despite his penalties, is something you are either coaching or allowing. Holding isn’t coached. The preparation for a surprise onside is marginally more forgivable. It is a surprise after all. But if you keep things steady and constant on the front line, there isn’t an opportunity to hand Georgia its first recovered onside since 2013.

***Texas did not do enough to make Gunner Stockton uncomfortable throughout the game. The Longhorns only had two sacks during the contest and it took just four total yards away from the Bulldogs. Texas’ defense had six tackles for loss, but those tackles for loss were not enough to put UGA off schedule and behind the sticks. Stockton was 24-for-29 for 229 yards with four passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown, and an interception.

***In addition to talking about how Georgia is tough to kill, Sarkisian spoke about how Georgia has been the standard in college football for most of the past decade. Longhorns teams of the past two years have known that in order to reach their loftiest goals, they would have to defeat Georgia. Not being able to get it done against the program in Athens would be indicative of an inability to surge into the true top of the sport. The pecking order would be clear. It still is and now other programs will have the chance to move ahead of the Longhorns in the CFP world and likely leave Texas on the outside looking in to the 12 team playoff.

 

Edited by satyanash
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Danny Davis: Texas' loss to Georgia likely ends Longhorns' 2025 CFP hopes

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ATHENS, Ga. — From No. 1 to possibly done? Texas football fell behind No. 5 Georgia early and collapsed later on in a costly 35-10 loss Saturday at Sanford Stadium. Voted atop the Associated Press and US LBM Coaches preseason polls and ranked 10th in the College Football Playoff rankings this week, Texas dropped to 7-3 on the season with a 4-2 mark in SEC play.

Is the Texas season over? Not technically. With games against Arkansas and Texas A&M left on the schedule, Texas could conceivably still do enough to impress the College Football Playoff committee. Before Saturday's game, SEC commissioner Grey Sankey held court in the Sanford Stadium press box and said he believed that a three-loss team could remain in the playoff picture. Sankey noted that as a three-loss team last year, Alabama "earned that top-12 ranking."

Alabama actually earned the No. 11 ranking on Selection Day last year. The Crimson Tide, however, wasn't seeded in the College Football Playoff bracket. Since Arizona State and Clemson won the Big 12 and ACC championships, those two teams cut in front of Alabama even though they were respectively listed 12th and 16th in the final rankings. A similar scenario could play out this year since the playoff saves spots for the five-best conference champions, which is why No. 15 Miami and No. 24 South Florida made the cut in this past week's projected playoff field while No. 11 Oklahoma and No. 12 BYU were left out.

In other words, Texas will probably need to be ranked in the top-10 when the final rankings are released Dec. 7. This Tuesday, UT will find out how much the Georgia loss will cost them in the rankings after a weekend in which it lost by 25 points while Oklahoma, Miami and No. 13 Utah, No. 16 Georgia Tech, No. 17 USC, No. 18 Michigan and No. 19 Virginia all won (No. 14 Vanderbilt was idle while BYU was also playing a late game against TCU).

Texas scores first but still falls behind early at Sanford Stadium

On Saturday, Georgia (9-1, 7-1) scored touchdowns on its first two possessions while Texas just tallied three points over the first two times it touched the ball. The story of those game-opening drives? How the offenses fared on third down. Texas went 0-for-3 on third down during its first two possessions with the most egregious of its misses being a pass dropped by Ryan Wingo that likely would have given Texas a first down inside the Georgia 10.

Meanwhile, Georgia set up its first touchdown with a third-and-10 conversion and then scored its second touchdown on a third-and-goal try. That 14-3 score held up into the halftime break as Texas struggled through a first-half performance that featured three drives into Georgia territory but three offensive drops and seven penalties.

In the third quarter, an interception by linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. and Georgia's first penalty of the night — a pass interference on a third-and-13 play  —  set Texas up for its first touchdown of the evening, a 7-yard catch by Wingo. Any momentum gained by the Longhorns was quickly stunted by a 10-play drive that featured Georgia converting two fourth-down attempts and a Gunner Stockton touchdown pass. Georgia then recovered its first onside kick since 2013 and Stockton later threw his fourth touchdown pass of the evening to lift Georgia to a 28-10 advantage.

Up next: Texas returns home for Arkansas game

Texas will return to Royal-Memorial Stadium for its final two games of the regular season. Next weekend, the Longhorns will host SEC bottom-dweller Arkansas (2-8, 0-6). The Longhorns closed out the 2025 season with a 2-3 showing in its road games. Texas also lost games at Ohio State and Florida, and needed overtime sessions in order to escape its trips to Kentucky and Mississippi State with victories.

Texas has now lost three times to Georgia since it joined the SEC ahead of the 2024 season. Last year, Georgia recorded a 30-15 win over UT in Austin and then beat the Longhorns in the SEC championship game.

David Cobb: No. 5 Bulldogs run away from No. 10 Longhorns in their most complete win of the season

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Georgia continued its recent bullying of Texas in emphatic fashion Saturday night, as the No. 5 Bulldogs crushed the No. 10 Longhorns 35-10 to improve to 3-0 in the series since the programs became SEC foes last year. In the first meeting between the historic powers at Sanford Stadium, Georgia left little room for debate over who was the better team.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter, then used a 21-0 fourth quarter to pull away and leave a mark on the visiting Longhorns. Coming off a bye, Texas struggled offensively, committed costly penalties and was outcoached by Kirby Smart.

Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton also outplayed his counterpart, Arch Manning. Stockton accounted for five touchdowns -- four passing and one rushing -- while completing 24 of 29 passes for 229 yards. His third-quarter interception gave Texas a short field, and the Longhorns converted to cut the deficit to 14-10. That's when the Bulldogs began their game-ending flurry. Stockton capped the surge with a 4-yard touchdown run at the 4:43 mark.

Now 9-1 (7-1 SEC), Georgia is all but assured a spot in the College Football Playoff. But it's still unclear whether the Bulldogs will get a chance to defend their SEC title, with Alabama, Ole Miss and Texas A&M all still in the mix. Georgia closes the regular season with Charlotte -- a lowly American Conference opponent -- and rival Georgia Tech. Texas' CFP future is far murkier after the Longhorns (7-3, 4-2) suffered a potentially fatal third loss.

 

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Charles Odum: No. 5 Georgia cruises past No. 10 Texas to continue mastery of Longhorns

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ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Gunner Stockton threw four touchdown passes — two to Noah Thomas — and ran for a score to outplay Arch Manning as No. 5 Georgia strengthened its postseason standing by overwhelming No. 10 Texas 35-10 on Saturday night for its sixth straight victory. After Texas trimmed Georgia's lead to 14-10 in the third quarter, Stockton's 30-yard touchdown pass to London Humphreys, followed by a successful onside kick, allowed the Bulldogs to put the game away. Stockton's 6-yard scoring pass to Lawson Luckie following the recovery of the kick iced the win. Stockton added a 4-yard scoring run late in the game.

With No. 4 Alabama's 23-21 loss to No. 11 Oklahoma earlier Saturday, Georgia (9-1, 7-1 Southeastern Conference) could move into position for a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff. The Bulldogs also boosted their hopes of defending their SEC championship. The Bulldogs claimed a 22-19 overtime win over the Longhorns in last year’s SEC championship game in Atlanta following a win at Texas earlier in the season. Georgia's win in the Longhorns' first visit to Athens gave the Bulldogs three wins in two years in the series. Texas (7-3, 4-2) saw its four-game winning streak end, putting its playoff hopes in jeopardy.

Georgia has rolled since its 22-19 overtime home loss to Alabama on Sept. 27. That loss ended Georgia’s 33-game home winning streak, which was the longest active streak in FBS. Texas linebacker Anthony Hill's interception of Stockton's pass midway through the third quarter gave the Longhorns the ball at the Georgia 36. The Bulldogs' first penalty, a pass interference call against Zion Branch on a third-down play, set up Manning's 7-yard scoring pass to Ryan Wingo. The Longhorns' first touchdown trimmed Georgia's lead to 14-10.

Georgia answered with a 10-play touchdown drive capped by Stockton's 30-yard scoring pass to London Humphreys. The Bulldogs covered a fourth-and-1 play on Stockton's 10-yard pass to Chauncey Bowens and survived another fourth down when Longhorns outside linebacker Colin Simmons was called for an offsides penalty. Georgia coach Kirby Smart kept gambling by calling the onside kick recovered by Cash Jones.

Stockton completed 24 of 29 passes for 229 yards. His interception was only his third of the season. Manning, who said this week he considered signing with Georgia until the end of his recruitment, completed 27 of 43 passes for 251 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
The takeaway

Texas: Dropped passes and penalties hurt the Longhorns. Texas drew seven penalties for 43 yards in the first half and nine for 58 yards in the game. Wingo stumbled after his catch on the Longhorns' first snap, and that 1-yard gain set the pace for the half. Wingo had a third-down drop at the end of the 13-play drive to set up a 33-yard field goal by Mason Shipley. The Longhorns ran for only 19 yards.

Georgia: After giving up the field goal on the opening drive by Texas, the Bulldogs' defense gave up no more points in the first half. KJ Bolden had a second-quarter interception, Gabe Harris and Quintavius Johnson sacked Manning and CJ Allen had a big third-down stop of Jack Endries for a loss of 2 yards for the defensive highlights. Allen left the game with a leg injury in the first half.

Up next

Texas: Hosts Arkansas on Saturday.

Georgia: Hosts Charlotte on Saturday.

 

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(Ian Boyd) Five quick thoughts: Out-Smarted again

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After another head-to-head win, the Georgia Bulldogs remain a standard the Texas Longhorns cannot meet. This was perhaps the biggest beatdown yet, with a final score of 35-10, and ended up being an absolute caning between the hedges. While Steve Sarkisian was obviously eager to finally get a win over Kirby Smart, it appears Georgia was also well prepared and motivated. Mike Bobo had an outstanding play script and Georgia’s defense was able to absorb the Texas play script, with some help from several drops, before eventually dropping the hammer in the fourth quarter.

Given the mantra from Texas all week that this game was going to be the Longhorn Super Bowl and played hard for four quarters, Georgia’s 21-0 scoreboard edge in the final quarter was a bad look. While Texas is still mathematically alive for the playoff race, this game was clearly established as a measuring stick for the program and the Longhorns didn’t measure up.

Quick thought no. 1: Gunned down

Gunner Stockton was sharp on script early and sharp late well beyond the opening salvo. He hit a few fourth downs on second half drives and didn’t miss much throughout the game. He finished the day 24-29 for 229 yards for 7.9 ypa with four touchdowns and a single terrific pick by Anthony Hill. Stockton also added six carries for 29 yards and a touchdown. The threat of zone-read keeper also opened up tight end Lawson Luckie for an easy touchdown late in the game.

Texas had extraordinary difficulty with Georgia’s rollout game, routinely losing the tight ends and receivers in the flat routes when Stockton would roll to the backside of a play. Stockton’s ability to routinely hit those flat routes and some open hitch routes outside against off coverage stacked a lot of positive yards. Zachariah Branch was actually contained for most of the game, catching six balls on seven targets for 41 yards at just 5.9 ypt, but Noah Thomas caught two red zone touchdowns and Stockton spread the ball around to the Dawg tight ends and backs.

The Georgia run game didn’t do a ton of damage, with Nate Frazier the leading rusher at 72 yards on 16 carries, but the Dawgs were able to control the game between the positive gains and play-action passing. Texas was also disappointingly susceptible to motions and shifts which resulted in multiple red zone coverage busts that lead to Bulldog touchdowns. The Longhorn offense didn’t really show up as expected on the road but Texas lost this game on defense as much as anywhere else by proving unable to withstand Bobo and Stockton’s focus.

Quick thought no. 2: Make it take it in the 4th

Georgia dominated the game in the fourth quarter in part due to a very smart risk on the part of the Dawg staff. First came a 10-play, 73-yard touchdown drive which included a pair of fourth down conversions by Georgia made it 21-10. Texas was certainly in a hole after that drive, which ended with a busted coverage when Michael Taaffe chased the slot outside on a switch release while Jaylon Guilbeau also stayed outside, leaving London Humphreys to run free up the seam for a 30-yard touchdown. The Longhorns were reeling at that point and badly needed a touchdown drive by the offense to get back into the game before the fourth quarter ticked away.

Smart calculated the benefit of going for an onside kick was greater than the risk of a shorter field for the Texas counter-attack. The Longhorns were completely taken by surprise and offered virtually zero resistance to Georgia’s recovery. Already worn down by the previous drive and being on the field for so long, Texas got kicked back down the field by Georgia for another touchdown off another coverage bust and it was 28-10. Georgia would pad the lead with yet another scoring drive but the game was already over.

Quick thought no. 3: Texas’ gameplan made sense

I’m sure there are dozens of nitpicks to make about Texas’ offensive gameplan, but the main issues in this game didn’t really relate to the strategy. Texas played spread sets and used clever and often newer designs to try and get the ball to speed in space early and often in this game. Tempo and RPOs helped Tre Wisner and the run game put up 33 rushing yards on the opening drive, only for the team to finish with just 23 yards on the day. Multiple screens appeared to put Ryan Wingo in position to make plays only for stumbles and drops to bring him down. Overall the Longhorn wideout was targeted 13 times and caught nine balls for 62 yards at 4.8 ypc with a touchdown catch. Those are disastrous numbers for a top wideout in a big game.

DeAndre Moore and Emmett Mosley (fifth of that name) both fared better but not well enough to do real damage. Georgia absorbed Texas’ perimeter bombardment over the course of the game and counted on stuffing the run and keeping the ball in front to prevent any serious harm arising from the Longhorn offensive attack. 

Without the ability to protect Manning for shots down the field, Texas has to be very consistent throwing for gains and pick up explosives after the catch. When open perimeter throws to Wingo couldn’t generate explosive gains, that was basically all she wrote for Texas in trying to keep up on the scoreboard. The onside kick and 35:09 to 24:51 time of possession disparity didn’t help either, but Texas ran 60 plays to Georgia’s 64. Poor success rates on early downs and a bad third down conversion rate while Manning ran from pressure were the real culprit, as they’ve been all year.

Quick thought no. 4: The Georgia problem

Strangely enough, Texas has largely matched Georgia in building strong defenses with deep and imposing rotations on the line of scrimmage and physical defensive backs keeping opponents in front. The Georgia defense had a better day today but it was partly due to drawing an easier matchup. But this Longhorn offense routinely gets exposed against Smart’s defense. Georgia’s offense is what it looks like when your team is actually built around the line of scrimmage. The Dawgs are much more physical and cohesive across the offensive line and Smart also maintains a pipeline of true dual-threat tight ends and doesn’t have boom/bust cycles at that critical position. Every year they plug in new stars and don’t tolerate anything less. The offensive line is also always well stocked with big, physical athletes who play tough and cohesive ball in the trenches.

Consequently, Georgia is always in position to control the line of scrimmage and to move versatile players around in order to create matchups and play to their opponent’s weaknesses. The Longhorns are built more around the skill positions and quarterback, but they had a down year at the skill positions and timed it with really bad year at offensive line. The Longhorns can be skill and quarterback driven as an offense and beat Smart’s Georgia, but the offensive identity has to be clear. They can’t be a team that thinks they’re one thing heading into the season and has to become something else because the roster and the vision don’t match.

Heading into this game, Georgia was no. 1 in offensive FEI and 26th in defense FEI on Smart’s own side of the ball. The Longhorns were 10th on defense but 37th on offense, Sark’s own side of the ball. While this wasn’t a great game by the Texas defense, the major difference between these two programs is occurring in the direct matchup between Sark’s offense against Smart’s defense. When Kirby needed a great game from his defense he got it while the inverse was not true.

Quick thought no. 5: Found wanting

It’s possible a 9-3 Texas could be in decent standing for the playoffs. That record still has to be earned by the Longhorns picking themselves up to beat Arkansas and then upsetting currently undefeated Texas A&M at home to finish the year. It’s possible those things will happen, even the Aggie game is an easier matchup than trying to beat Georgia on the road, but the Longhorns have already been weighed and found wanting. Texas got dropped to start the year against Ohio State, the defensive and offensive lines  was bullied on the road against Florida, and the team has routinely struggled to put away weaker teams throughout the season. The effort against Georgia was the second instance this season of the Longhorns getting extra time to prepare for an opponent and getting taken apart. If you can’t play with Georgia, Florida or Ohio State when you have extra time to prepare for each, what’s even the point of being in the playoffs? Does anyone believe the Longhorns participating in the tournament could end with Texas crowned as National Champions?

 

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Posted

Sark had been pretty good about keeping scores close in losses, even when we got dominated. That came crashing down last night. Maybe that’s what was needed to keep from fooling themselves about the fundamental deficiencies this team has. 

Posted

Evan Vieth: The five plays that decided the fate of Texas' season

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Despite what the final 35–10 score in favor of the Georgia Bulldogs says about this game, the Texas Longhorns were in a tight one in Athens heading into the fourth quarter. Both offenses had had trouble moving the ball on good opposing defenses, and the Bulldogs looked like the far better team in the first half. But Texas’ defense settled down, and its offense stepped up, making it a four-point game with five and a half minutes left in the third quarter. Four minutes later, the Bulldogs faced a difficult situation. They had just converted on 4th and 1 three plays prior, but it was 4th and 5 on Texas’ 49. Some analytics might have told them to punt the ball away with how the defense was playing, but Kirby Smart’s offense strutted back onto the field for the most important play of the game.

Remember, this was a 14–10 ball game. Had Georgia simply thrown an incompletion, Texas would have had the ball in its own territory with a chance to take the lead, or at least make it a one-point game. Instead, the worst five-play sequence of the Texas season occurred. Colin Simmons, arguably Texas’ best player, got jumpy on 4th and 5, finding himself offside as the ball was snapped, gifting the Bulldogs the first down. “Somebody was calling my name, I heard the clap, jumped,” Simmons said. “I wasn’t even looking at the player in front of me.”

On the next play, Georgia RB Nate Frazier ran for seven. One play later, fellow RB Chauncey Bowens found himself in the flat, running past the first-down marker to the 30-yard line. Then, disaster struck. The captain of the defense, Michael Taaffe, let a Bulldog run right by him. Taaffe claimed there was “a little miscommunication” between the defensive backs, but the result was still the same. Georgia waltzed into the end zone, and suddenly what felt like a tide-turning defensive stand ended in a two-score deficit. It was ironic. Two of the main stars of the Texas defense were the ones making the most unfortunate of mistakes at the biggest times. The ones you’d expect to make the big play to win the game, ended up doing the exact oppostie.

But not all was lost. Texas still had nine minutes to score a touchdown, hold Georgia to a field goal or better, and then score again to win the game. Not the perfect situation, but doable. But Smart had one more trick up his sleeve. The legendary coach called for the most aggressive play in the book: the onside kick. Play number five. Of course, the Longhorns didn’t recover this fumble. You wouldn’t be reading this article in dismay if they did. That fifth play gave Georgia the ball back immediately, bringing a tired and battered Texas defense back onto the field. “On the onside kick, you know, we didn’t break on the ball,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said. “That’s on us as coaches. We’ve got to do a better job of getting our players understanding situational football. We’ll attack the ball, and we have an opportunity to get great field position in that situation, and we didn’t take advantage of it.”

By the time the Bulldogs found the end zone again at the end of the drive, Texas was down 18 and there were under nine minutes left on the clock. Texas had been without the ball for 12 minutes. This season doesn’t come down to five total plays. Last year, you could maybe make that argument given how the Ohio State game ended, but clearly, there were more problems with tonight’s Longhorn team than just this five-play sequence. It embodied everything that Texas has struggled with this season and against the Bulldogs: unforced errors and miscues on the defense, Smart outcoaching Sarkisian, the Bulldogs exiting yet another game having won all three phases, but most notably the special teams.

But it’s hard to look past how much this five-play sequence changed tonight’s game. At one point, Texas fans had hope of something new—a chance to come back and win against that elite opponent. A stepping stone, and a chance to make the playoff despite what had occurred in Gainesville not that long ago. Instead, Texas shot itself in the foot, and Smart once again got the best of Sarkisian. It’s going to be a long trip back to Austin for this Texas team.

 

Posted

Sark was out coached.  Nothing more, nothing less.  We had 9 penalties while Georgia only had 1.  The same crew that called all the penalties in the SEC championship game last year showed up in Athens and continued the string of holding calls on Texas. We have to be better out of the bye weeks.  This was pathetic. 

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Harvdog said:

Sark was out coached.  Nothing more, nothing less.  We had 9 penalties while Georgia only had 1.  The same crew that called all the penalties in the SEC championship game last year showed up in Athens and continued the string of holding calls on Texas. We have to be better out of the bye weeks.  This was pathetic. 

It truly was pathetic and embarrassing. Those that pour their emotions, allegiance, loyalty, time and money into supporting Texas football certainly have not received any remotely acceptable benefit this year, because Sark has failed to do the top notch job he is handsomely paid to do, on multiple levels.

Either swallow your ego, put your head down, and start making necessary changes or get the fuck out of town and far away from our university.

Edited by Minute Bull
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Posted

(Jeff Howe) Snap Judgments: Another showdown with Georgia, another humbling loss for Texas

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Texas was positioned to get the ball back with under four minutes to go in the third quarter of Saturday’s 35-10 loss to Georgia. The Bulldogs lined up for a fourth-and-1 from their own 36. With the Longhorns poised to seize momentum, the championship pedigree of Kirby Smart’s program took it back and held onto it en route to a third win over Steve Sarkisian’s club in 13 months.

Texas (7-3, 4-2 SEC) cut the Georgia (9-1, 7-1) lead to four points when Arch Manning found Ryan Wingo in the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown with 5:27 left in the third quarter. After Gunner Stockton and Chauncey Bowens connected for a 10-yard gain for the first of two fourth-down conversions on a 10-play, 73-yard touchdown drive, a surprise onside kick recovery and a 9-play, 53-yard march to another Bulldog touchdown, Manning and the offense faced a 28-10 deficit when it got back on the field at the 8:49 mark of the fourth quarter.

Whether it was losing the line of scrimmage battle, a failure to execute in critical situations, dealing with one self-inflicted wound after another or Smart’s staff winning the chess match against Sarkisian and his assistant coaches, Georgia was better than Texas, across the board, for the third time in as many meetings as SEC foes. For the Longhorns to ascend to the next level as a program, they’ve got to get through the Bulldogs. With Georgia off the regular-season schedule until 2028, the only way Texas will get another crack at the Bulldogs over the next two years is if it reaches the SEC Championship Game.

As the fourth quarter unfolded, one in which Texas was outscored (21-0), outgained (119-64) and outclassed, the preseason promise of the Longhorns competing for the SEC title and a national championship faded with every body blow the Bulldogs landed. As things stand, Texas won’t be back in Atlanta and, unless it benefits from a lot of unforeseen good fortune down the stretch, it won’t make a third consecutive trip to the College Football Playoff.

***

One of the reasons why Georgia is a bad matchup for Texas is the athleticism and length the Bulldogs possess up front. Once again, the Bulldogs won the battle at the point of attack in a landslide. Georgia sacked Manning three times, recorded seven tackles for loss and held the Longhorns to just 23 net rushing yards on 17 carries. Even when adjusting rushing yards to exclude sack yardage, 39 yards (2.8 yards per carry) wasn’t close to what Texas needed to achieve much-needed balance on offense.

In their three losses to the Bulldogs over the last two seasons, the Longhorns have given up 16 sacks and 32 tackles for loss while mustering just 83 net rushing yards on 72 official attempts (1.15 yards per attempt). Georgia rushed for 128 yards (3.7 yards per attempt), 67 of which came in the fourth quarter, as the Bulldogs once again owned the line of scrimmage.

***

The chatter regarding Sarkisian’s struggles against Smart won’t die down. In fact, after Smart pushed all of the right buttons in the second half while Sarkisian’s offense sputtered and the Texas defense wore down, it’ll be louder than ever. Sarkisian has done a lot of good in his five seasons on the Forty Acres. Nevertheless, his head-to-head win over Nick Saban in 2023 is starting to be overshadowed by Sarkisian’s combined 0-7 record against Smart (0-3), Kalen DeBoer (0-2) and Ryan Day (0-2), which account for his seven losses against top-five opponents while leading the Longhorns (1-7 record).

Sarkisian’s success over the last two seasons has raised the bar to a championship standard. With that as the backdrop, Saturday’s loss adds even more importance to the regular-season finale against a Texas A&M team expected to roll into DKR with an unblemished 11-0 record. If Sarkisian’s Texas squad goes 0-3 against top-five opponents in 2025 while the Aggies and Oklahoma advance to the CFP (a realistic outcome after the Sooners’ 23-21 road win over Alabama on Saturday), it’ll be a sour offseason with a lot of tough questions to answer throughout 2026.

***

For the third consecutive meeting between the Longhorns and Georgia, the Bulldogs’ best players outpaced Texas’ top dogs.

Manning wasn’t bad (27-for-43, 251 yards, one touchdown and one interception), but Stockton was better (24-for-29, 229 yards, four touchdowns, one interception and a rushing touchdown). Although Anthony Hill (six tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss and an interception) and Colin Simmons (three tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack) made plays, they didn’t dominate the game the way they needed to for the Longhorns to win.

***

The final score is a direct reflection of how far Texas is from reaching Georgia’s level as a program. Until the Longhorns can hold up better in the trenches, avoid shooting themselves in the foot (nine penalties for 58 yards) and play better situational football (a combined 4-for-15 on third and fourth down; the Bulldogs also went 4-for-4 in the red zone with four touchdowns), they’ll likely continue to suffer the same fate in games of this magnitude.

Eric Nahlin: Okay, Here's Where We're at With Texas Football

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Barring a miracle, the Texas Longhorns will miss the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2022. Fans are down on the program, but the Horns were the only team to make both the 2023 and 2024 playoffs. That’s not an insignificant accomplishment, especially since they were in the final four each year. But if there’s one profession that is “what have you done for me lately,” it’s coaching.

Sarkisian’s Offseason and In-Season Struggles

After a very strong rebuild of the program, Steve Sarkisian lost this past offseason. I also think he lost the “in-season.” I cringe every time I hear how much Arch Manning has "improved" when the only thing he really improved on is gimme throws. By and large, Manning was let down by his support system. Outside of the Kentucky game, where Arch was still battling schematic headwinds, Manning hasn’t been the problem since the UTEP contest.

Discipline Problems and Persistent Penalties

Texas is undisciplined. We’ve seen a lot of questionable officiating this season, but most of it has been on non-calls Texas didn’t receive. More often than not, Texas deserved the flags it received. So many of those penalties are pre-snap. This is an issue I’ve raised for years. Will we ever get an explanation for them? If there’s accountability, that accountability isn’t working because we still see the same issues. Given the names and numbers change yet the headsets haven’t, it’s got to be a headset issue.

There is zero reason to think Kyle Flood will get this fixed. Likely the only way to “fix it” is to portal in disciplined starters. Speaking of lack of accountability, Warren Roberson is a walking yellow flag, and yet he plays. He plays even after the ridiculous offsides against Vanderbilt. He plays despite being known solely for special teams penalties. It hasn’t been on Roberson in a long time. It’s on Jeff Banks.

Offseason Errors Still Loom Large

Is it even worth talking about the offseason screw-ups at this point? Those errors were obvious after the second game of the season and have been discussed at length since then. Sark, as the actual GM of the program, owns those and must make sure they don’t happen again. The short story is he didn’t have the horses to run his preferred scheme yet still tried to run his preferred scheme despite all the evidence demonstrating it wouldn’t work. Why does it matter now? Because Texas isn’t going to be able to overcome the loss to Florida—a loss that best highlights the failed offseason.

Head Coach vs. Play Caller

Last night showed the problems with Sark pulling double duty as head coach aren’t just about whether or not he’s doing well as OC. Even if he’s calling a good game offensively (I think he did for the most part against Georgia), that doesn’t mean he’s doing his job as a head coach. Texas’ situational football has often been lacking, especially in high-leverage games and situations. Those are the moments that define a head coach.

Kirby Smart has time to work the refs for calls, blast his players for penalties (if they have them), and call a surprise onside kick. What do you think Sark is thinking about after Georgia pressed its lead to 11 points? He’s thinking about the next offensive series. Yes, you can be a very good play caller and you are certainly a hell of a schemer, but your No. 1 job—the reason you’ve gotten raises the last two years—is to be a head coach who can win a national championship.

(I do feel bad for Sark the OC last night. Those drops were brutal. He’s been in his bag since they went to 11 personnel)

Texas Outcoached, Not Out-Talented

Sark didn’t just get beat by Kirby Smart. Despite a good defensive run in the middle of the game (four punts and an interception), Mike Bobo took Pete Kwiatkowski and Duane Akina behind the woodshed. We again saw coverage busts and poor technique in the secondary. We again saw way too much easy space for Georgia receivers and tight ends to operate in. Bobo was also aided by his head coach’s aggression. The Georgia offense re-gathered its rhythm, and Kirby Smart got his offense the ball right back. Complementary football. Ballgame.

There are issues with talent on the team, but you’re smoking drugs if you think Georgia is 25 points more talented than Texas. What we saw yesterday were coaching issues, both old and new. What can be done about it?

 

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Posted

Joe Cook: A two-game season? That's all Texas has right now

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The messaging from Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian to his team after the loss to Georgia was clear in an answer in his postgame press conference to a question about the Longhorns’ fleeting College Football Playoff chances. “We’ve got a two-week season in front of us,” Sarkisian said. “We’ve got to go play. We’ve got two games. It’s two weeks. Let’s go play. Let’s put our best foot forward and see what happens.”

The reason it’s a two-week season, and one that probably isn’t extending into late December and early January, is because the Longhorns’ path to making the SEC Championship Game is closed. Texas’ best possible record is 6-2 in the league, and the worst both Texas A&M and Georgia can finish is 7-1. A number of teams, namely Ole Miss and Alabama, can also finish 7-1. Texas has said repeatedly that every week was being treated like an SEC Championship game. The loss in one of those games renders the ability to reach the real one an unachievable goal.

With three losses to No. 1 Ohio State, Florida, and now-No. 5 Georgia, a final 9-3 record even with a win over No. 3 Texas A&M likely does enough to keep the Longhorns in the conversation. But nothing more. After all, Alabama, South Carolina, and Ole Miss were “snubs” last year at 9-3 last year because of the strength of the SEC.

Texas may do likewise but the record and the record of other teams ahead of the Longhorns in the rankings are what’s likely to keep them out of the CFP and at home for the month of January.

Even so, individual players like Quintrevion Wisner took Sarkisian’s message to heart in the locker room. Wisner was also asked if he thought this loss eliminated Texas from College Football Playoff contention. While the facts available point that direction, Wisner echoed sentiments that he likely heard from Sarkisian during No. 5’s session with the media after the game.

“Definitely not,” Wisner said when asked if Texas was out of contention. “We’ve still got a great team and two tough games ahead of us. I feel like if we execute and pay attention to details at a high level, we’ll go take care of business in the future. Right now, we’ve just got to get ready to get back to work from this game.”

Senior Michael Taaffe, who returned versus Georgia after a two-game absence and whose presence on the roster this season was because of his desire to help Texas win a national championship, also described the message from Sarkisian in the locker room in the aftermath of the loss to the Bulldogs. “You have a two-game season from now on,” Taaffe said. “They beat us. They kicked our butts in all three phases. And we handed it to them. Everything we did was in our control. We messed up a lot of stuff. You’ve got to look in the mirror first and realize what you could have done better.”

The path is not 100% closed off for as long as the Longhorns sit at three losses, but it will be impenetrable should the Longhorns drop one of their next two games. No team with four losses has been in the conversation for an at-large spot in the CFP, and no team with four losses deserves a place among the top 10-12 teams in the nation.

To even have a chance at a chance, Sarkisian told his team to focus solely on the next two games. Even with that in mind, the opportunity at postseason participation may have slipped away before the Longhorns even so much as kick off against Arkansas in six days, let alone Texas A&M on the day after Thanksgiving. That is a disappointment of large proportions considering Texas’ preseason status as the No. 1 team in the nation, Arch Manning‘s deserved and undeserved hype, and the hopes for this team after back-to-back appearances in the College Football Playoff.

The two-game season, games that will determine whether or not Texas finishes 9-3, or 8-4, or 7-5 in 2025, starts next week. The Longhorns have the ball in their court to determine what number they finish with in the win column. That opportunity was Sarkisian’s focus as other opportunities for postseason play slipped away with the loss between the hedges in Athens.

RT Young: Woof. Kirby Smart and UGA chew up and spit out Sark and Texas

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College football programs are like weapons. The coaches, administration, players and fans are trying to design their team into the most effective instrument possible with the objective of wounding and or destroying the competition. I haven’t doubted the Texas Football program as a weapon that is sharp, efficient and capable since the middle of the 2022 season. Until these past few weeks, that is. Now after a 35-10 humiliation at the hands of Kirby Smart and Georgia, it’s obvious the weapon has been dulled considerably.

I’m not making any of the comparisons you’re seeing out there of Steve Sarkisian to fired coaches. Nor am I trying to hopscotch into a territory of hyperbole with statements like “Sark can’t win the big one.” But the biggest source of my doubt is from Sarkisian’s record against Georgia and Ohio State. Because, for Texas to go 0-5 against the Bulldogs and Buckeyes in a two season stretch where the Longhorns had strong national title aspirations is appalling. It’s inexcusable.

As Eric Nahlin wrote this morning, Georgia’s talent isn’t 25 points better than Texas. Ohio State and Georgia’s players aren’t five wins to zero better than the Longhorns. But essentially every time Texas has taken the field against those two programs in the last 13 months, the Longhorns have been thoroughly outclassed and outcoached on the headsets. That’s the difference.

The first half of last night was a microcosm of all that was wrong with Texas all year: penalties, drops, run game woes, coverage busts, a lack of execution and a few errant Arch Manning passes. It was all of my doubts about this game realized. Despite all of that, Manning led a great third quarter drive and Texas was only down 14-10 at Samford Stadium. And that’s when Kirby Smart put Sark in a blender, chewed up and spit out.

The edge Smart is able to gain over Sark in these games is alarming. Sarkisian is unable to give the entire team and gameplan his full focus while he calls plays. Furthermore, people often cite that “Sark schemed the guy open, called the right play, but the players just didn’t execute!” What’s that saying about the poor craftsman and his tools? It’s a symptom of the larger problem, the fact Sarkisian can’t fully ensure his teams will execute. 

He’s unable to work the referees like Smart, dive deep into situational game theory like Smart is with fourth downs and special teams. After a fake punt in the SEC Championship and an onside kick last night, Sark has looked more surprised than my wife does when she looks at our credit card bill after a month’s long shopping spree. Why are you surprised???

Sark seems on his back foot often against coaches like Kirby. On the other end, when Smart saw that Sarkisian’s offense was starting to roll, he had a simple solution. He decided not to let the Longhorns offense get the ball for 12 full minutes of gametime. Rather than stop the bleeding, Sarkisian was probably still trying to figure out what he would do if and when the Longhorns got the ball back. But by the time they did, it didn’t matter. The game was over, the Longhorns were humiliated and their hopes of the CFP were mauled and laid waste.

What’s far worse is what it now means for the program, the dulling and the doubt that comes with such a loss and a disappointing season. Sure, Sark still has Arkansas and Texas A&M to prepare for but he now has a much bigger task on his hands. He has to reshape the weapon that is his Texas program and restore belief. To his credit, he’s done it before. I just didn’t think he’d have to do it again.

Fire The Cannon for: I honestly don’t know. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a Reheat where it was so tough to give out an award. I wish Arch Manning had the ball in his hands more often in the second half and I felt confident when he did. I guess that’s something.

Horns Up on Offense for: Emmett Mosley V? I don’t know. Props to The Longhorn Band, I could hear them through the TV a lot in a raucous road environment.

Horns Up on Defense for: I harped on the Texas defense needing to force turnovers because they haven’t been good enough at doing so. Anthony Hill tried to do his part at least.

Sarkometer (Grading Steve Sarkisian and his staff): I am going to focus on a moment that highlighted the issues which have plagued Steve Sarkisian and his staff all year. Ryan Niblett has a huge kickoff return after a UGA score which gets negated by a Warren Roberson penalty. Special Teams coach Jeff Banks goes ballistic. But Roberson has been a walking, living, breathing penalty on special teams for TWO years now. The fact he committed another one shouldn’t surprise Banks to the point he goes full Mike Stoops on the sideline. Banks continues to play Roberson. It’s his issue. Whether at running back, guard or on special teams, these personnel issues which have driven the coaches crazy all year are self inflicted. They seem to be the only ones who can’t see that.

Bevo’s Bucket for: The smoldering pile of ash which are the high hopes Texas fans had going into the year.

Schadenfreude of the Week: When Texas A&M was down 30-3 to South Carolina, there was a part of me that thought: could this be perfect Saturday? A Texas win, A&M and OU loss. But when the Aggies came back I had flashbacks to Black Saturday in 2021. The Aggies won despite being down big, Oklahoma had a huge victory at Alabama and Texas was embarrassed. There have been no perfect Saturdays this fall. It just hasn’t been that type of year for Texas.

This Piping Hot Take Burned the Roof of My Mouth: It’ll be Ohio State or Georgia. All of this parity will be for naught.

Hype Train Level: Anyone read any good books lately?

 

Posted

Picking ga to cover it’s the easiest bet every sports season. I made a lot of money last night because I knew that was coming. Because it always comes when sark plays an elite head coach.

The reason, sark is such a mediocre head coach compared to coaches like Kirby and Day are because of the little details that comes with being a head coach. I Honestly think he just spends his week in his offense lab trying to show everyone how much smarter he is than everyone else with his brilliant play designs, and just leaves the details to other people to figure out.  
discipline? Pfft. He doesn’t have time for that bullshit. He’s too busy splitting an atom with his play calls.

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Posted
32 minutes ago, CurlyDumps said:

Here comes Nahlin's damage control after head hope trafficker passed out the Kool Aid all week and predicted a Texas victory.

he caters to the ppl that pay for that board.. never understood why ppl like attacking him, or even Geoff (ehh actually i get why they attack that guy).. they pander to their specific audience and reap off them.

Posted
Sark was out coached.  Nothing more, nothing less.  We had 9 penalties while Georgia only had 1.  The same crew that called all the penalties in the SEC championship game last year showed up in Athens and continued the string of holding calls on Texas. We have to be better out of the bye weeks.  This was pathetic. 

Yeah, so only some penalties are attributable to lack of focus/detail by a coaching staff. It’s kind of a “hot take” to just say “look at how many flags!!! No discipline from the staff!!!”

There is other evidence of coaching deficiencies, but like…a bunch of OL holding infractions? That’s not coaching. That’s getting beat. OL holding infractions when they get whipped. Our get whipped A LOT.

That said, the number of pre-snap penalties, IMO is telling WRT coaching approach.

EXTRA concerning for me is the frequency we have pre snap flags on our punt team.
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Posted

(Scipio Tex) Reality Bites: Georgia As a Program Measuring Stick

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Texas has played Georgia 3 times in the last 13 months. At home, on the road, and in a neutral format. They have not faced Georgia at its apogee – their 2021 thru 2023 editions – but I think most would agree that the Bulldogs are a useful Top 5 litmus test for Texas, The Program. Four teams not named Texas have beaten the Bulldogs over that 13 month period: Ole Miss, Alabama twice, Notre Dame. Beating Georgia is a broader proof of concept, aside from the more obvious tangible goals that beating Georgia allows (playoff berths, SEC titles, 1st round byes, meaningful seasons etc).

Texas is 0-3. We’ve been blown out twice and lost a close one in overtime. The supposed schematic advantage and point of stability for Texas and head coach play caller – the Texas offense – has averaged 14.7 points per game against the Bulldogs over that span and they’ve been worse than that, turning the ball over constantly to short fields while giving up 16 sacks and countless hits and pressures on the QB.

The Texas running game has put forth efforts of 31, 29 and 23 yards rushing in those three games. That’s 83 rushing yards total. Remove sacks and Texas running backs still average 3.1 yards per carry against Kirby Smart. In twelve quarters of play against less than vintage Dawg defenses, the Longhorn offense has really brought it for…two of them?

We can dicker about talent differentials, but we are roughly peers and some of what you will call Georgia’s “talent advantage” is actually something I’d call “identification and development.” Talent is what talent becomes. One program, though imperfect, is doing it fairly well at some key spots. The other is not. More concerning? Texas has been thoroughly out coached.

I tried to raise this point delicately (and then later with a framing hammer wrapped in silk) in my pregame previews and it informed my game prediction, but the widest disparity in these games is on the sidelines. Not just on game day. Texas was out coached years ago when Smart chose his staff and key support personnel that shaped his current team. Texas’ most important offseason staff decision – the coach needed to tie up the back end for PK – has been a predictable failure.

You know how I feel about some other areas. Texas was out coached this Spring and Summer when both teams evaluated their rosters and filled in gaps via the portal or internal development. Georgia’s offensive coaches admitted they’d blown wide receiver for years and addressed it while Texas coaches lied to themselves about running back and offensive line.

Texas was out-coached during game week. Georgia won this game on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as much as on Saturday. Though Georgia had only one week of prep and Texas had two. And no, Georgia didn’t really prep Texas before Mississippi State. Texas was out-coached on game day. One staff felt the winds shift (and created the shift) and ruthlessly attacked on two key 4th downs and in the kicking game. The other staff reacted, caught back-footed.

Special teams have been as decisive a mismatch as the Georgia defense vs. the Texas offense. Georgia has seized the high ground in two games by simple exploitation of Texas’ poor special teams’ habits and inattention to detail. An onside kick up 21-10 is a boot on the throat, fostered by good opponent scouting, and allowed by a certain surety – honestly, born of some degree of contempt – that if it went wrong, the Texas offense might get a field goal out of it.

Why wouldn’t you throw a haymaker when your opponent’s counterpunch is an embroidered pillow? Though the Texas defense has largely played well in these games, that staff has been guilty of adjusting too slowly to in-game events – some quite favorable to Texas – and been completely blindsided by key leverage moments. The kind that don’t show up neatly in the box score, but in the final score.

Saturday offered a new twist though. Georgia’s first two drives on Saturday went for touchdowns. 17 plays, 141 yards combined. Featuring multiple broken coverages (as I tried to tell you, the return of our safeties didn’t “fix things”) combined with PK’s feel them out bias. Texas’ best unit handed Georgia the steering wheel to the game in the 1st quarter, rendering a strong effort in the next two quarters fairly moot, before their 4th quarter tap out.

Situational football has been a slaughter. In the key leverage moments of the game, one staff understands the time to press their advantages and deliver the coup de grace. Kirby Smart has been ballsy and calculating in key leverage moments while Texas, when offered a clear situational advantage, has demurred, played it straight, then offered a meek,”They got us on that one again” or “Who could know that the injured QB with his throwing arm hanging limply at his side would hand the ball off in overtime?” in the postgame.

Which team is more prepared? More poised? Which team makes better adjustments? Which team plays cleaner football? After the first half on Saturday, Texas had committed sixteen penalties in their last six quarters of football against the Dawgs, going back to the SEC title game. How do you beat a peer averaging 2.7 penalties a quarter?

Consider the nature of these fouls. They don’t stem from aggression. A 15-yard personal foul where the Georgia player is helped off of the field is a very different animal from an offensive lineman holding because he’s too weak to anchor or Texas’ endless mental penalties that impose a cost in only one direction. I hesitate to touch on motivation, as it can be rather subjective. Let’s call it game readiness.

On Saturday, Texas ball catchers had five drops. Nearly all of them seemingly crucial, negating money down conversions or potential big plays. Georgia’s pass catchers had zero. The ball didn’t touch the ground if it entered their catch radius. Texas ball carriers – whether runner or receiver – broke only two tackles all game last Saturday. Two. Georgia tackles well, but…two?

Georgia broke ten tackles and I actually thought we tackled fairly well. I watched Texas’ “power back” lay down with the rock and in pass protection and Texas receivers fell to the ground untouched or because fingers brushed their leg. Characterize motivation or game readiness as you wish, but Georgia gets up and plays up for Texas. I’ll let you decide if this program is up for Georgia. 

Justin Wells: Top PFF offensive grades from Texas' 35-10 loss at Georgia on Saturday

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When you only score 10 points, that’s a sign you probably didn’t win. Despite Arch Manning looking strong again, the penalties, drops, and more were part of the Horns’ demise on Saturday. Here’s how the offense graded out, per PFF.

OFFENSE

QB – Arch Manning, 72.9

Manning had another strong outing going 27-of-43 passing, 251 yards, one touchdown and one interception, his first in four games. The drops and penalties up front killed any momentum Manning was building all night. 

RB – Tre Wisner, 74.0, CJ Baxter, 59.7

The run game, which started strongly, was non-existent by the end of the night. After nabbing 33 yards on the ground after the first series, the run game died. Wisner and Baxter caught five receptions.

WR – Ryan Wingo, 64.3, DeAndre Moore, 62.3, Emmett Mosley V, 70.0

Wingo led the team in catches (9) and its only score. And that was after a few first-half drops. Moore and Mosley added eight combined grabs. But the drops hurt this room. 

TE – Jack Endries, 60.0, Jordan Washington, 41.6

Endries secured nine yards on three receptions. The blocking here has a long way to go.

OL – Trevor Goosby, 67.5, DJ Campbell, 63.7, Brandon Baker, 64.0, Cole Hutson, 50.1, Connor Robertson, 64.2

The Longhorns offensive line had been playing well over the last few games. But against a strong Georgia defense, they took a step back on Saturday night. Manning was pressured, sacked, and forced into quick decisions. The first-half flags were terrible. 

Justin Wells: Top PFF defensive grades from Texas' 35-10 loss at Georgia on Saturday

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The Texas defense had its highs and lows on Saturday in Athens, but when it counted in the fourth quarter, coverage busts, over pursuing, and penalties ultimately doomed Pete Kwiatkowski‘s side of the ball.

DEFENSE

DL/EDGE – Hero Kanu, 70.0, Colin Simmons, 75.8, Cole Brevard, 68.0, Ethan Burke, 47.4, Alex January, 59.7, Trey Moore, 57.6, Justus Terry, 92.7

Simmons led the defensive front with three tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and one sack. The true freshman Terry added a career-high four tackles. Kanu, Brevard, and Moore combined for seven tackles. 

LB – Anthony Hill Jr, 60.7, Liona Lefau, 57.0, Tyanthony Smith, 69.3

Smith was sideline-to-sideline with a team-high nine tackles, two tackles for loss, and one sack. Hill notched six stops and a big interception in the 3rd quarter. 

CB – Malik Muhammad, 65.7, Jaylon Guilbeau, 61.5, Kade Phillips, 61.2, Warren Roberson, 72.7

Phillips, Guilbeau, and Roberson combined for eight tackles. Every CB not named Muhammad was picked on, who netted five stops.

S/N – Michael Taaffe, 44.1, Jelani McDonald, 59.0

With Taaffe and McDonald back, the secondary got stronger, but there’s still issues on the backend. Taaffe was second on the team in tackles (7) despite the low grade. McDonald added four stops. 

 

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13 minutes ago, scottsins said:


Yeah, so only some penalties are attributable to lack of focus/detail by a coaching staff. It’s kind of a “hot take” to just say “look at how many flags!!! No discipline from the staff!!!”

There is other evidence of coaching deficiencies, but like…a bunch of OL holding infractions? That’s not coaching. That’s getting beat. OL holding infractions when they get whipped. Our get whipped A LOT.

That said, the number of pre-snap penalties, IMO is telling WRT coaching approach.

EXTRA concerning for me is the frequency we have pre snap flags on our punt team.

This is a good point but it would be nice if Georgia got called for it when their line got physically whipped.

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(Scipio Tex) 2025 Georgia Bulldogs Postmortem: Offense

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A 25 point loss in Athens isn’t what a Longhorn team playing for its season coming off of a bye hoped to achieve and unfortunately the Texas offense was not in the process of a late season break out, but rather it’s the same inherently flawed unit that it has been all season. I urged some caution – particularly on the OL – in pronouncing us healed after a few good quarters against lower-tier SEC defensive personnel and unfortunately that proved out. Watching Vanderbilt and Mississippi State fall apart on defense the weeks after facing us should have probably offered an additional clue.

Left guard isn’t fixed, our running backs are in the bottom-quartile of SEC units (I’m being kind), our pass catchers played tight for too long, fan delusions of Manning hurting Georgia with the called QB run game was absent (we’re not very good at designing it and your OL still has to block people), and Arch Manning can throw a dime, but if his receivers turn it into a penny, who gives a plug nickel?

The way to back off Georgia’s middling pass rush was to have success moving the chains or running the ball beyond the first quarter and Texas could do neither. The only postmortem that matters is here, but I’m obligated to dig into some of the finer points as well.

QB

#16 played well early and exhibited poise for most of the game given the lack of overall support with a totally one-dimensional offense facing a legitimate defensive brain trust. He also got the shit knocked out of him again, but still threw some dimes. His interception was an errant throw and that’s football. It happens when you get sped up. Honestly, I’m somewhat impressed he didn’t have more miscues given the pressure over time.

I don’t think his poor final stat line (27 of 43 for 251 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception) accurately represents his individual play, though it was a very accurate representation of the larger play of the Texas offense and the Kirby vs. Sark matchup over the last three contests. Arch has played poorly in three games this year and this really ain’t one of ’em. If you see all games solely through the sole prism of the box score or NFL projections, Arch having a tough stat line and Stockton killing it must be mystifying.

RB

The unit must be completely be remade in the offseason. The tepid “we should bring in a guy in the portal and see if Baxter will take a pay cut” offerings suggest that a lot of the fanbase is still well behind in evaluating this room candidly. #4 was a tough watch again. Avoided contact. Poor pass pro. Pointed this out against Vanderbilt, but it was forgotten in the win.

Wisner weighs 30 pounds less and gives out more punishment as a runner and in pass protection. FYI, Wisner gave out no punishment as a runner. I am proud of Tre bringing it in pass pro, particularly when you factor in that Georgia’s linebackers are savages. Wisner battled in that regard. But Wisner's yards after contact? 1.6. Which is basically falling to the ground when hit. You want to see quality running backs over 3.0.

Texas ball carriers of any stripe (I’m including pass catchers) broke two tackles for the entire game. That’s a 4% rate. That’s a remarkable statistic, and not in a good way. I’ve actually never seen it. Tre did see a little daylight early in the game running from the spread against honest boxes. Nightfall and Georgia DC Glenn Schumann took care of that. His -9 yard run was odd. Don't run backwards and cede forward progress.

WR/TE

You can’t drop this. 

We needed more of this:

Too little, too late. Wingo ran some questionable routes and, aside from his drops, he went down twice on well blocked yard-after-catch screens, once untouched on the first play of the game, the other in the second half when a defender’s hand brushed his leg. He ended up targeted 13 times for just 62 yards. You can’t get much less efficient. You can’t make an athlete your #1 receiver against a defense that forces him to run a real route tree when he can’t convert gimmes.

Texas ball catchers had five drops. Nearly all of them seemingly crucial, negating money-down conversions or potential big plays. WR edge blocking was also uncharacteristically poor. Georgia’s defensive backs kind of threw them around or ran past them. Mosley was a breath of fresh air (3-66) and does some real receiver things, despite less explosiveness than his cohorts. Moore had a tough drop as well.

OL

Left guard has not been fixed. Vanderbilt’s defensive tackles were just that un-athletic. Cole Hutson allowed seven pressures, had two penalties (including an egregious hold), six hurries (!), and allowed a big hit on Manning. That performance is as poor as anything that Nick Brooks or Connor Stroh has registered this year. Much of the damage done by Georgia’s star true freshman DT.

Georgia finished with three sacks, 30 pressures, and an incredible 23 hurries. That’s abysmal. Particularly when you consider that pass protection started off OK in Sark’s first scripted drive. Georgia ramped it up because they could. Connor Robertson got hit for a hold, but he competed hard and held up OK in pass pro. Baker actually had some good snaps. It is what it is, I guess.

Final Thoughts

Games are a one-off contest at a certain time and place, subject to all sorts of variability, but they’re also program battles and all that implies. The superior team and program wasn’t in dispute. 

 

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John Talty:  How Georgia's surprise onside kick highlighted the gap between Kirby Smart, Steve Sarkisian as coaches 

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ATHENS, Ga. -- The sly smile on Kirby Smart's face said it all. He knew he had just punked Texas coach Steve Sarkisian once again. The best coach in college football made the big, decisive action that can make all the difference between two good teams. After Texas cut the lead to 14-10 late in the third quarter, Smart turned up the aggression.

This has backfired at times against him, especially in games against Alabama, but Smart knows who he is and doesn't hesitate to go for the kill when he sees an opportunity. It's the kind of killer instinct Texas fans have been begging Sark to adopt. Georgia went for it on fourth down twice on that offensive drive -- the first one while backed up to its own 36-yard line -- and capitalized on a Gunner Stockton 30-yard touchdown to London Humphreys.

The Bulldogs were now up 21-10 and could breathe again, but Smart didn't hesitate to go for poor Bevo's jugular. Smart called for an onside kick -- his first ever in 10th season at Georgia -- and caught Texas completely off-guard. Peyton Woodring hit it perfectly and Cash Jones, a Texas native, successfully recovered. Sarkisian looked shell-shocked on the sideline while special teams coordinator Jeff Banks was dismayed. Any hope Texas had at coming back in the game evaporated in the moment. What had been a close-fought game for much of the night turned into a primetime embarrassment and a 35-10 loss for the Longhorns. 

"It's heartbreaking when that happens because you just gave up a touchdown and the defense is over there drinking water, and they all of a sudden got to go back out," Smart said. "So I don't know what the continuous time was they were on the field. Our offense, it's like a big strong anaconda just squeezing you. You get squeezed, and you finally catch a little air, and then they're back trying to suffocate you."

Said Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton: "That was pretty cool. It was a great momentum play, and I'm glad it worked out for us."

Smart said Jones, a walk-on running back, had practiced the play 250 times during his time in Athens only to never see it called in a game. Jones kept telling Smart, "When are we ever going to call it? I'd love to do it, I'd love to do it." Jones wasn't the only one pushing for it. Georgia practices the onside kick "literally every day," according to linebacker Quintavius Johnson. "It's successful every time in practice," Johnson said. "As a team we always wish can we go run this, when we going to run this? And then finally did it."

The last time Smart was part of an onside kick attempt? You have to go all the way back to the 2015 national championship when Alabama successfully pulled one off against Clemson in a momentum-shifting decision that helped the Crimson Tide win. The game was tied at 24 in the fourth quarter when Alabama coach Nick Saban made the gutsy decision to go for an onside kick. Alabama recovered, Saban let out a smile, just like the one Smart had Saturday night, and two plays later, the Tide scored a touchdown to take the lead. Alabama ultimately won 45-40 in Smart's last game as a part of Saban's staff. 

After that title game, I asked Smart, who had already committed to taking over Georgia, what the Alabama defensive coordinator thought about his boss' decision to go for an onside kick.  "It's a gutsy call," Smart said. "High risk, high reward. That's what makes him a great coach." It took Smart nearly a decade to try one for himself, but his decision against Texas is what makes him a great coach, too. It is his third win over Sarkisian in the last 13 months and it's happened in every way -- at Texas, at Georgia and in last year's SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. 

Sark, another Saban acolyte, has a tendency to turtle up in the biggest moments. And it could make for an uncomfortable offseason for Sark and the rest of his staff if Texas doesn't make the College Football Playoff this season. No matter what anyone tells you, that dream isn't completely dead for Texas if it can win out, particularly over No. 3 Texas A&M, but there's no question the path just got more treacherous. If Texas ultimately does miss the playoff, it'll represent one of the greatest disappointments of any college football program this season given the significant financial investment in this roster. And it starts leading to questions wondering if perhaps Sarkisian's window to win it all is narrowing after back-to-back semifinal losses the last two seasons. 

Whether it's the red zone issues, the dropped passes, the inability to put together a cohesive and competent offensive line to protect Arch Manning, there are plenty reasons to be frustrated with a Texas team that is less than the sum of its parts. 

The opposite is true for a Georgia team that appears to be peaking at the right time. The Death Star, yet again, looks fully functional. When the defense can get pressure and Stockton can efficiently pick apart a defense like he did against Texas (24 of 29 for 229 yards and 4 TDs), the Bulldogs are going to be very hard to beat. You can make arguments for undefeated Texas A&M or one-loss Ole Miss or two-loss Alabama, but Georgia looked like the best of the SEC against Texas. 

This is a tough, physical team that is bought into Smart's culture and seems to be improving every week. That should be scary to everyone else.  Our kids believe in down and dirty," Smart said. "They believe in the [Navy] Seal mantra of, let's take them to the water. Let's see who can survive in the water, see who's going to tap out first, ring the bell, and run from the contact contest. They believe in that. They believe in the physical toughness that it takes to win games."

(Scipio Tex) 2025 Georgia Postmortem: Defense/Special Teams

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The Texas defense lost its battle with the Georgia offense on the first two drives of the game, ceding a pair of long touchdown drives that accounted for 141 combined yards at 8.3 yards per play aided by a healthy sprinkling of busted coverages. Encouragingly, that bad start was followed by four three and outs and a heady Anthony Hill interception, but the final three Bulldog possessions of the game were all touchdown drives – the last two seemingly effortless, with Georgia not facing a single third down.

They played Canadian football to close it out. 1st and 10, 2nd and 3, 1st and 10, 2nd and 6, 1st and 10 and so on until hitting pay dirt. Disrespectful. That transformed the game from a potentially competitive loss into a 25-point blowout. It also didn’t help that Georgia went 4 for 4 in the red zone, all touchdowns. With three touchdowns surrendered on busted coverages. Not great situational football for the ‘ol bend-but-don’t-break philosophy.

Offensively, the Bulldogs pretty much did everything predicted in the preview. 

They ran Stockton early to establish some respect – their second play of the game was a 20-yard Stockton scamper on zone read to erase a 2nd and 12 – and then they settled into a short and intermediate passing game focused between the hashes (Stockton went 12 of 13 for 146 there) with short play action roll outs, zone runs, and screen game nibbling on the edge.

Shapen, Pavia, and Stockton were a combined 45 of 55 for 613 yards between the hashes over the last three games against the Horns. Giving up a 82% completion rate on the strip covering 1/3 of the field directly in front of the QB’s face at 11.1 yards per attempt is not ideal. When Texas got mesmerized, they hit London Humphreys twice for 25 and 30-yard chunk gains. 

Stockton played very well and he was decisive. Unfortunately, decisiveness is often born of knowing that a defense is going to leave people uncovered in your favorite spots. The dam truly broke on a methodical late 3rd quarter drive that ate up over six minutes and saw Georgia convert 4th downs on their 36 yard line and the Texas 49, demonstrating Bulldog confidence that their offense was in control, but also that the Texas offense had little ability to punish them for taking liberties. 

That back-breaking drive established a 21-10 lead, but it also gave them the confidence to press their advantage with a clever onside kick and ensuing short field scoring drive. 28-10. Game over. Rout on. There’s a certain contempt for Texas in that sequence, at least in how they regarded our adjustments and game readiness, and unfortunately they were right.

Texas also debuted a 3-1-7 Dollar package. It had no real game effect, though it threw Georgia for a loop a couple of times. I shook my head when I saw us in that package and Georgia moved the sticks with a short throw to a receiver still facing off coverage. A bit like playing a goal line defense and dropping three defensive tackles into zone as the offense runs a sneak.

Gunner Stockton was so discomfited by our wrinkles that he completed 84% of his passes and threw for four touchdowns. As predicted, returning Taaffe and McDonald to a poorly coordinated scheme is no panacea. We just have better players failing in the larger whole created by committee.

Famously, the movie Casablanca was written by a committee, but most committees work more like your local HOA issuing a 47-page guideline on holiday light displays and one of the guys on it doesn’t know how electricity works and two of them hate Christmas. Right now, they are not a schematic sum larger than their individual parts.

DL

Hero Kanu had some good moments on the interior, including a big pressure and QB hit on Stockton. Burke had a batted ball but struggled to find consistency. 

Simmons got held somewhat egregiously on a couple of plays, but he had impacts both as a pass rusher and run defender. Stockton did a nice job of getting the ball out in the passing game – and early options seemed abundant – but Georgia also threatened the edges with enough zone run game to prevent them from flying upfield. Smart wrinkle by Bobo. Their offense prefers gaps schemes, but they were 73% zone runs against Texas.

If Texas had ever had a lead, denied more early throws, or forced Georgia into more predictable passing downs, I suspect we’d have seen more pass rush impact. Justus Terry got some run late and impressed. Overall, a pretty solid job stopping the run, particularly from heavier early downs sets when Georgia went through a sequence where they tried to play bully ball.

Georgia’s defensive line was much more impactful in the game and they’re not as good as ours. Why? Georgia has a coherent physical OL despite losing as many ’24 starters as we did and three NFL draft picks in the first three rounds. A pair of true freshmen got a combined 86 snaps as part of a three-man rotation at both guard spots and their center played with a finger shaped like a pretzel while wearing a Thanos glove. They were still able to run an offense somehow.

DB

More busts than Roman statuary. It was easy to identify our busts against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, but a couple against Georgia had me questioning the culprit or what we’re even doing. Over the last three games, three very different opposing passers playing in disparate systems have combined to throw for 975 yards at 8.9 yards per attempt with 11 touchdowns and 1 interception.

If that was the resume for any QB over a full season just playing Texas, they’d be the runaway Heisman winner. A 4,000+ yards regular season at 325 yards per game with 44 passing touchdowns and a .009 interception rate is pretty good. The entire unit didn’t record a single PBU and Georgia receivers didn’t have a drop. They generally avoided Manny Muhammad, but other than that, they were just comfortable attacking our larger scheme.

LB

 

Really nice interception by Hill. It’s a more impressive coverage drop than it appears from that TV angle. Ty Smith played balls out. 9 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack and a pair of slobber knocking hits. Lefau’s decline from the aggressive instinctive player that looked like he might win the Butkus after the Ohio State game to a below replacement-level SEC LB is inexplicable to me. He looks uncomfortable. I don’t get it.

Special Teams

The onside kick was the coup de grace. It’s important to view that call in the larger context of Georgia’s confidence that they had our defense solved, a lack of respect for the Longhorn offense, their opinion that Texas is not detail-oriented, and that they could deliver a kill shot at a time when Texas would least expect it. 

Roberson had a costly hold that called back a strong Niblett kick return, effectively flipping the field, and Texas added an illegal procedure penalty on a punt. Georgia did shank some punts, so glass half full.

Final Thoughts

Georgia’s marching band look like 19th century Austro-Hungarian bellhops. 

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Time to take on the Pigs…

 

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(Charlie Williams) Texas vs Georgia: Missed Opportunities and Hard Lessons

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The Big Picture: Georgia Took It — Texas Did Not

This game was won by the team that wanted it more. Georgia showed up ready to take the fight, and Texas didn’t. It wasn’t about talent — it was about toughness, execution, and desire. Texas didn’t get out-talented. They got out-disciplined, outcoached, and out-physicaled in the moments that mattered.

Quarterback

Arch Manning is not the problem. Anyone still blaming him might need their head examined. He stood tall in the pocket, navigated through his progressions — first, second, third, and sometimes fourth — and delivered strikes. His poise, leadership, and fire were on full display. He encouraged teammates after drops, put the ball where it needed to go, and showed every bit of the talent we’ve been expecting. If his receivers consistently catch passes, he likely finishes with a near-perfect rating. Arch is playing like the quarterback Texas hoped he’d become.

Receivers

Ryan Wingo flashed some serious upside. His high-point catch on the corner route was smooth, and his ability to track the deep ball was impressive — even though he ultimately dropped that shot. He’s shown he can be dangerous in the screen game, even though he kept slipping. The tools are clearly there — but he needs development and consistency. However, he showed some timidness and softness I did not expect. On a jet sweep, a smaller DB picked him up and slammed him. That’s not acceptable.

Emmitt Mosley is clearly the WR1. It’s puzzling how little he’s actually used, especially since he consistently makes plays whenever he’s targeted. DeAndre Moore is delivering every time his number is called — it’s Jordan Whittington-like in that sense. He doesn’t get enough opportunities, but it’s easy to imagine him thriving more in the NFL than at Texas with how he’s currently used. There’s real potential in this group. With more reps, better timing with Manning, and sharper cohesion, this unit could be dangerous heading into next year.

Running Backs

We got tip-toe Tre Saturday. Tre Wisner ran soft, tentative — like he wanted no part of contact. Cedric Baxter doesn’t look right physically — no burst, no pop. Texas needs a true RB1 — someone who runs with violence and sustains momentum. The run game flashed early, but it never felt like a real identity. And it never seemed like Sark fully committed to leaning on it.

Tight Ends

Jack Endries blocked incredibly well early — especially on screens where he took out multiple defenders. But beyond that, the tight ends were written out of the passing plan again. It’s become a recurring theme. Trust or scheme — something needs to change.

Offensive Line

You fought. You strained. That’s all anyone can ask for, right? I saw you battle out there. I saw a few times where you climbed to the second level and got to linebackers. I saw you identify blitzes. Did you lose reps? Sure. That’s a physical Georgia defensive front you’re facing — you’re not going to win every rep. But the fight you showed? I’ll take that into any game. Do we need to clean up the penalties? Yeah, we’ve needed to do that since the beginning of the season. But the effort and physicality? I’ll take that every time.

Defensive Line & Edge

I saw you battle. You didn’t get physically whipped — even against a tough Georgia front. There were multiple moments where you played on the other side of the line of scrimmage and disrupted plays. But after that brutal 12-minute stretch in the second half, fatigue won. This wasn’t about weakness. This wasn’t about effort. It was about stamina. Georgia leaned on you, and eventually, they took control — and that’s tough to ask of anyone to be on the field that long against a team like that.

Collin Simmons was disruptive early and throughout the game. He consistently pressured and made Georgia uncomfortable, showing his dominance playing in their backfield. But that fourth-down offsides penalty was a momentum killer — it cost Texas in a critical moment. Whether it was fatigue or mental lapse, it can’t happen in big spots.

Linebackers

Anthony Hill made a great play on the interception — reading and diagnosing the route concept perfectly and sitting in the hook-curl zone. But he, Ty’Anthony Smith, Liona Lefau, and Trey Moore were swallowed up at the second level consistently all night. They waited instead of attacking and allowed Georgia’s OL to dictate the terms. There was no downhill aggression — just reacting most of the night instead of enforcing. This unit did not set the tone the way it needed to whatsoever. I thought this was their softest performance of the season.

Secondary

Secondary didn’t have a great night. We saw coverage busts, slow reactions, mental breakdowns — and the confusing scheme on top of it didn’t help. Rolling the entire secondary on motions instead of making softer adjustments left the backside without a contained player and wide open for Georgia to operate. Using Manny Muhammad to rotate to free safety and then depending on him to be the last defender to make a tackle is not smart.

Jaylon Guilbeau rolling from corner to safety left Texas out-leveraged on the first touchdown to Noah Thomas. Glad we adjusted, but starting the game that way was a terrible idea. Even with Michael Taaffe and Jelani McDonald back, the same vulnerabilities showed up. Opponents know how to attack Texas, and they’re going to continue to do so in these next two games.

Special Teams: Not Ready

Sark claimed they prepared for special teams trickery — but when Georgia ran that onside kick, Texas looked stunned. Sark and Jeff Banks both looked like they didn’t see it coming. That’s a coaching issue. No excuses.

Bottom Line: No More Moral Victories

You don’t beat Georgia by staying close. You beat them by taking the game — by being the more physical, more disciplined, more tuned-in team every snap. Texas wasn’t. And until they become that, nothing changes.

Eric Nahlin: How Steve Sarkisian can get Texas back on track ASAP (Part 1)

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The 2025 Texas football season spun off course, but the program didn’t hit a tree. Just as drivers travel with multiple cars to get back in the race ASAP, Steve Sarkisian will have another chance to buy parts and fine-tune his car to get back on the track. As we all know, how he restores and modifies that car throughout the offseason could dictate how his career at Texas is going to go.

That does not mean he’s on the hot seat; we’re all just going to learn a lot about him, and from there we’ll adjust our opinion up or down on whether or not he can bring a title to Texas. After being asked yesterday if I felt “Sark has lost a bit of his fire and drive to be great,” I replied, “My default is he had one bad offseason, but we’re going to find out. I was going to write this morning ‘I’m doubling down on Steve Sarkisian,’ but I want to see evidence he’s doubling down on himself first.”

What Would Sark Doubling Down on Himself Look Like?

What would Sark doubling down on himself look like? First and foremost, it starts with introspection. Sark runs an audit on all aspects of the program after every season—player development, roster needs, strength and conditioning, etc. His biggest project this season is himself. He needs to identify why obvious mistakes were made in the previous offseason and how he plans to address them.

If, despite being in the middle of the season, he hasn’t already started that process, that would be a bad signal going forward. Fortunately, I feel confident he has started that process. An audit of Sark’s management of the program would come to a few potential conclusions:

1. Too Much Trust in Staff

He trusted and signed off on Kyle Flood not taking any offensive linemen in the portal. I don’t know how Sark, and his power to veto that decision, came to the same conclusion.

2. Too Rigid in His Preferred Schemes

Sark needs to watch the Florida and Vanderbilt games back-to-back to not only understand why it took so long to tailor the proper offense to his personnel but to also get an idea if that’s the direction he needs to go in 2026. This is very important to determine when it comes to roster management.

3. Poor Evaluation of the Current Offensive Roster

This ties into the O-line, but it’s clear he didn’t have a No. 1 wide receiver either. Ryan Wingo was not ready to be the guy this season. I’m far from being out on Wingo, but he’ll still have questions going into next season, let alone this one. How was that missed? Some might say Emmett Mosley was hurt to start the season. That wasn’t ideal, but the thought with Mosley wasn’t that he’d come in and be the No. 1.

Sark also did not have anything close to approximating the proper tight end personnel to run two-tight end sets. And then there’s running back which seemed to be as obvious of a need as offensive line. Was he too selfless when it came to adding offensive transfers? Did he have too much faith in his ability to scheme his talent into being better than their individual talent or readiness?

4. What Is His Run Game Identity for 2026?

Assuming some coaching turnover, this is a major question for next year.

  •     If he wants to run outside zone, he can get by with smaller, experienced players.
  •     If he wants to run downhill “because that’s who we are,” then he needs big, powerful linemen.
  •     If he wants to run both, then he needs elite talent and he needs to be willing to spend big.

5. Strength & Conditioning Considerations

I’m not as down on Torre Becton as some of my colleagues and friends, but I do have questions about why the offensive linemen aren’t stronger. I know the answer—they don’t lift heavy enough—but why is that? Sark should call Pete Carroll and Nick Saban and share strength numbers for his offensive linemen and ask how they compare to offensive linemen at USC and Alabama. It’s either strength, technique, inflexibility, or a combination thereof. Each deficiency comes with its own follow-up questions.

6. Culture

With each assignment bust or penalty flag I see floating through the air, I wonder if Sark’s consistent talk of “culture” is him trying to manifest it into reality. I mean, I know he’s done very well to foster a strong locker room. We chronicled the culture when it was a zygote and watched it grow. But when I see lack of discipline, and sometimes even lack of effort, I begin to wonder if culture slipped and if so, why?

7. Willingness to Make Hard Decisions

You can’t be a leader—much less a leader of an enterprise the size of Texas Football—if you don’t make hard, even painful decisions, whether it’s regarding his coaching staff or current roster. I’m sure there’s more that I’m missing, but that’s what comes to mind this morning. There is a lot of work to be done, but Sark has already made much bigger fixes in his time at Texas, and he’s been through much more adversity in life.

 

Posted
6 hours ago, ClubWhatever said:

Guys, Scipio tried to tell us that LG and S weren't fixed.  I didn't listen and now I feel dumber than him about football.

Yeah, no shit.  Scipio needs to tell us where on the doll the strawman he keeps arguing with touched him.  He's insufferable about this, his writing talent notwithstanding.  

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