AUSTIN, Tex. — Georgia entered Saturday night’s showdown with Texas as an underdog for the first time in 50 games and it’ll leave the Lone Star State with a win over the nation’s No. 1 team. Georgia jumped out to a 23-0 lead inside Darrell K Royal Stadium and it outlasted the Longhorns 30-15.
Carson Beck did just enough and his mistakes didn’t come back to haunt the Bulldogs thanks to stellar defense. Beck tossed three interceptions in the contest but his defense forced three fumbles and picked off a pass to set him up time and time again in the first half.
The offenses took turns making mistakes in the first half and Georgia made the early ones. The Bulldogs went three and out to open the game and Beck threw the first of his three interceptions on the second play of the next drive. Texas, however, wasn’t able to capitalize as Georgia kept it from getting into field goal range.
The Bulldog defense followed that up with a play that set the offense up for the first score of the game. Daylen Everette sacked Quinn Ewers deep in his own territory and forced a fumble. He was the one who came up with the football in the end at the Longhorn 13-yard line.
Georgia punched in a few plays later on a two-yard touchdown run from Etienne. Woodring’s PAT made the Bulldog lead 7-0. The Bulldogs would go on to score 16 more in the first half while holding Texas to nothing.
A Woodring field goal pushed Georgia’s lead to 10-0 and it grew to 17-0 when Etienne ripped off a 15-yard touchdown to cap off a drive that started at the Texas 34-yard line. The defense continued to set the offense up with short fields, picking off a pass and causing another fumble via sack, but it couldn’t get enough going against the Texas defense to manage more than three points per drive. The lead was 23-0 in favor of the Bulldogs at the break.
Texas owned the third quarter and it started with the opening possession of the second half. The Bulldogs attempted a squib kick that Texas was able to field at its own 45-yard line. The Longhorns went on to score several players later on a touchdown from Ewers to Isaiah Bond. The Longhorns went for two and got it, cutting Georgia’s lead to 23-8.
The Longhorns marched with their second possession but turned it over on downs. Georgia, however, gave it right back with Beck’s third interception of the game. Jahdae Barron picked the pass, intended for Arian Smith, off at the UGA 45-yard line and he returned it to the nine.
The play was initially ruled defensive pass interference and the home crowd, disagreeing with the call, threw things onto the field. After it was cleaned up, the officiating crew decided to pick up the flag after a discussion.
Texas took over inside the Georgia 10-yard line and scored two plays later. After Mykel Williams sack on first down, Ewers found Jaydon Blue for a 16-yard touchdown. The PAT cut the Bulldog lead to 23-15.
Georgia responded with its best drive of the night, one that started at its own 11-yard line. Beck jumpstarted the drive with a strike to Smith, a pickup of 21 yards to move the sticks. A 43-yard hookup with Oscar Delp came immediately after that and the Bulldogs would eventually find the end zone on 4th and goal from the one-yard line. Etienne punched it in and the UGA lead grew to 15 points at 30-15.
The Bulldogs also lost a pair of defensive backs in the fourth quarter as both Dan Jackson and Joenel Aguero were flagged for targeted and ejected. Georgia turned to freshman safety KJ Bolden and redshirt sophomore JaCorey Thomas to finish the game.
Texas was forced to go for it on fourth down with its next two possessions and it failed both times. The Georgia offense was able to scratch out a first down after taking over at its own 19-yard line with 5:26 left in the game. It allowed them to bleed clock and forced Texas to use all three timeout. Kirby Smart elected to go for it on
