AUSTIN — Over a span of 67 years, you’d think two titans like Texas and Georgia might have at least bumped into each other in a bar somewhere a few times. Just four meetings. They weren’t always exactly historic, but they included Darrell Royal’s debut, Craig Curry’s muffed punt and a premature declaration by Sam Ehlinger.
Turns out Texas wasn’t really back after all following the win in the 2019 Sugar Bowl.
And if a 30-15 whuppin’ by fifth-ranked Georgia was the measuring stick, it still isn’t.
On a Saturday when the winners of two of the last four national titles lost, and not for the first time, either, top-ranked Texas, undefeated and unchallenged, had an opportunity to solidify its case as a champion for college football’s new era.
But, instead of a changing of the guard, an astonished Royal-Memorial Stadium crowd witnessed a champion reasserting its claim to the throne.
The good news for Texas: Because of the expanded playoffs, the Longhorns not only aren’t out of the running with Texas A&M and LSU the only undefeated teams left in the Southeastern Conference, they could still make the SEC Championship game.
The bad news: What if it meant they had to play Georgia again?
“Hopefully,” Steve Sarkisian said, “we get another crack at ‘em.”
Careful what you wish for, coach. For the first time since their opening win over Clemson, the Bulldogs played like the Dawgs we’ve grown accustomed to seeing the last few years. Buoyed by the return of defensive lineman Mykel Williams, Georgia dominated the line of scrimmage, and its linebackers and secondary made plays in space, all but eliminating Texas’ big-play tendencies.
For that matter, imagine if Carson Beck hadn’t thrown three interceptions, including two in his first 10 tries? A Texas defense that had given up only three touchdowns all year went to halftime under siege, 23-0.
Meanwhile, Quinn Ewers got off to bad start for the second week in a row, only this time it wasn’t against the likes of Oklahoma. Describing Ewers as “a little uneasy” and his eyes “not where they needed to be,” Sark replaced him with Arch Manning with 4:43 left in the half to give his starter a chance to “sit back and regroup.”
The plan all along, Sark said, was to bring back Ewers to start the second half. No quarterback controversies here.
“Quinn’s our starting quarterback,” he said.
Twice, in fact.
Just the same, you couldn’t help but wonder if Manning might still be playing if he’d done anything to shake the Longhorns out of their malaise, the first time they’d been shut out in the first half since a disastrous loss to Arkansas in Sarkisian’s debut season.
Until Saturday, Manning had never played in a game in which Ewers was healthy or the Longhorns losing. He’d looked great against Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State, but that was pretty much the story of the Longhorns this season.
All of a sudden those wins over Michigan and Oklahoma, both 4-3 after losses Saturday, don’t seem so impressive.
The question now: How good is Texas?
“We are a better team than how we played tonight,” Sark said. “I know we can do better than that.”
Even so, he conceded the Bulldogs “have been the standard” in college football for a half-dozen years, and they seemed intent on reclaiming the title Saturday.
Kirby Smart even had the nerve to play us-against-the-world in a postgame interview with ESPN. Even called out ESPN’s pickers for taking Texas. Pretty tough to sell disrespect when you’d been the betting favorite in 49 straight games until Saturday, but Kirby gave it a go.
“No one gave us a chance,” he said. “No one believed in us. ... Our intent was to come eat and be hungry. I’m not interested in all the bells and whistles. What I want is a team that fights ... and they did tonight.”
Hard to say if “bells and whistles” was a shot at Texas’ parade of celebrities, from Matthew McConaughey, Glen Powell, Kevin Durant and a couple Longhorn gold medalists to Scottie Scheffler, guest picker on that Longhorn-lovin’ ESPN panel. But there was no doubt about Kirby’s intentions regarding the game’s most controversial play.
“They tried to rob us with calls in this place,” he told ESPN.
The so-called robbery: In the third quarter, Texas’ Jahdae Barron intercepted a Beck pass intended for Arian Smith and returned it to Georgia’s 9, only to have it nullified by a ruling of pass interference. Next thing you knew, Texas fans rained water bottles on the north end zone, prompting Sarkisian to walk across the field, arms raised, imploring them to stop.
The delay may or may not have given officials time to reconsider the interference call. Replays indicated it was, indeed, a bad call. In a statement from the SEC office, game officials said “they gathered to discuss the play, which is permitted to ensure the proper penalty is enforced, at which time the calling official reported that he erred.”
On second down from the 9, Southlake Carroll-ex Ewers hit Jaydon Blue for a touchdown that cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 23-15. But that was as close as Texas would get. Trevor Etienne, who ran for 87 yards, scored his third touchdown early in the fourth quarter after a trick play flipped the field.
But by then Texas had already sewn the seeds of its biggest letdown at Royal-Memorial in years. Decades, maybe. The trick now is to make sure it doesn’t linger. The Longhorns may yet realize their dream. Maybe next time they won’t wake up with a hangover.
Twitter/X: @KSherringtonDMN
More from Texas-Georgia
— 3 takeaways from Texas-Georgia: Quinn Ewers, Longhorns fall short in national spotlight
— Texas coach Steve Sarkisian clarifies Longhorns’ QB situation: ‘Quinn’s our starting QB’
— Texas-Georgia game delayed as fans shower field with debris after controversial call
— Texas inserts Arch Manning with Quinn Ewers, Longhorns off to rough start vs. Georgia
