Georgia football was back in what could be considered its home away from home for Saturday’s SEC championship game against Texas, where they clamored away with an electric 22-19 overtime win to help Kirby Smart claim his third ever conference title.
This was the sixth game and fourth win for the Bulldogs in Mercedes-Benz Stadium since the start of the 2022 season. Smart is 3-4 all time in conference championships.
The game had a slow start with Texas coming out on top at halftime thanks to two long field goals by Bert Auburn.
Trevor Etienne was the first to score a touchdown on a 10-yard run after Gunner Stockton replaced Carson Beck at quarterback due to injury.
Georgia kicker Peyton Woodring added a bit more padding to the lead with a field goal after that, but Texas responded almost immediately with a touchdown of its own from DeAndre Moore Jr., which tied it at 13-13 after a successful PAT.
Georgia reclaimed the lead 16-13 with 4:32 on the clock in the fourth quarter thanks to Woodring, again, and Daylen Everette had a huge pick off Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers to turn the tides with three minutes remaining.
But the luck didn’t last long as Jahdae Barron immediately picked off Stockton to start the final drive in regulation and allow Auburn (Texas’ kicker, not the team) to tie it at 16-16. Overtime was an inevitability at this point, something Georgia got very familiar with against Georgia Tech last weekend when the Bulldogs needed eight overtimes to beat the Yellow Jackets.
Texas had to settle for a field goal, but on Georgia’s turn, Etienne managed to reach the end zone a second time on the night and cap it. Georgia was crowned in front of a crowd of 74,000 people.
The Bulldogs are now 11-2 overall and will advance to the College Football Playoffs. Matchups will be set tomorrow by the committee’s final rankings and broadcast on ESPN on Sunday, Dec. 8, at noon ET.
“It’s essentially a road game for us going to Atlanta to play Georgia,” Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said.
Georgia won on Texas’ home field 30-15. Now the No. 2 Longhorns will try to turn the tables against the No. 5 Bulldogs in their home state.
Texas safety Michael Taafe said there was some talk in the locker room that if they took care of business, they could see Georgia again.
“Nobody really talks about the teams that just made it to the championship,” he said. “People talk about the teams that were the champions.”
This is the third time Georgia has faced a team twice in the same season under coach Kirby Smart.
The Bulldogs split with Auburn in 2017 and with Alabama in 2021.
“I don’t mind going against a team twice,” safety Malaki Starks said. “I think it’s a little bit different. It’s never the same. Teams grow and they change. You can’t hang or your hat on the last one, win or lose.”
Said Smart: “In the NFL you play everybody in your division twice, you know, and then you might meet up with them again in the playoffs So, you know, when you flip a coin, there’s no greater chance that it’s heads or tails the second time you flip it. And I’m not comparing our game to a coin flip. I’m just saying that the previous matchup does not determine this matchup. You can’t overstate that to your players.”
Georgia (11-2) is crowned SEC Champions for the third time under Kirby Smart with a touchdown in OT by Trevor Etienne. The Bulldogs advance to the CFP.
Texas’ Bert Auburn settled for a field goal in OT to make it 19-16. Georgia is up next.
Peyton Woodring gets Georgia the lead back with a 21-yard field goal, capping a 16-play, 72-yard drive. 16-13 Bulldogs with 4:32 to go in the game.
Quinn Ewers tossed a pass to DeAndre Moore Jr. to start the fourth quarter, who ran for 41-yards to score Texas’ first touchdown of the night. The PAT from Bert Auburn ties it at 13 with 13:54 to go in the game.
Peyton Woodring nailed a 24-yard field goal to end the third quarter, putting Georgia up by a little more than a single possession. 13-6 Dawgs as we head into the fourth here at Mercedez Benz Stadium.
Texas’ kicker Bert Auburn flubbed another field goal attempt, this time a 51-yarder. His first flub was in the first half for 42-yards. Texas has not closed the gap, still 10-6 Georgia with 4:56 to go in the third quarter.
Gunner Stockton came in to replace Carson Beck after Beck was injured at the end of the first half. In 10-plays and 75-yards, Stockton is able to lead the Dawgs into scoring territory, where Trevor Etienne rushes for 10-yards to score the first touchdown of the night for either team. 10-6 Georgia with 10:27 left in the third quarter.
Georgia was finally getting something going offensively, but an Arian Smith second-down drop at the Texas 10 and an incompletion on third down led to a field goal try. Peyton Woodring connected from 44. It’s Texas 6-3 with 6:41 to go in the first half.
Texas is outgaining Georgia 193-9, but again had to settle for a Bert Auburn field goal. This time, it was from 42 yards. Longhorns 6-0 with 10:22 to go in the first half.
Quinn Ewers hit Matthew Golden on a 50-yard completion to set the Longhorns up for a field goal. Bert Auburn booted it from 41 yards. Texas leads 3-0 with 5:17 to go in the first.
Daylen Everette forced a fumble on a sack and had an interception against Texas in the Bulldogs win in Austin. He picked off another Texas pass on a pass off of Isaiah Bond, but Georgia was stopped on a Carson Beck third down run and punted.
Steve Marlowe is the referee for Georgia vs. Texas today. He worked last year’s Bulldogs game against Missouri.
Defensive lineman Christen Miller who has been out with a shoulder injury and running back Branson Robinson dressed out and are listed as game time decisions.
Georgia running back Trevor Etienne is dressed out and warmed up pre-game after being taken off the SEC availability report due to his rib injury. He was questionable Friday.
Etienne wasn’t one of the first two running backs that went first when I spotted them before the team hit the locker room. That would be Nate Frazier and Roderick Robinson.
With both teams seemingly safely in the playoff field, Kirby Smart and Steve Sarkisian were asked this week about the value of conference championship games
“I’m an SEC enthusiast that believes in an SEC title is a significant marker to your season, the kind of season you had,” Smart said. “Also it gets you a bye and it gets you an opportunity to rest and recover while others play formidable opponents, tough opponents. It removes you from that. You’re playing for an opportunity to rest possibly.”
Said Sarkisian: “We take this very seriously. This is a big deal to us. I think so many times in the world that we live in, it’s focusing on what’s next, what’s next, what’s next, the CFP, the national championship. Hey, we’ve got a great goal in front of us that we have an opportunity to achieve, that I’m sure Kirby and his team feel the same way.”
Kirby Smart, shadowed by three state troopers working his security, just made his lap around the field. He usually checks out weather conditions, but the roof is closed so nothing going there. A football from a Texas player warming up squirted his way and he knocked it back on the field with his foot.
Texas is favored by 3, according to BetMGM.
Interesting stat posted on X fron Chris Fallica, the former ESPN GameDay personality who is now with Fox: “Since 2021 when Georgia won its first national title under Kirby Smart, the Dawgs have been an underdog twice UGA won both games over Clemson in 2021 and at Texas earlier this year, allowing a combined 18 points…”
Georgia of course went eight overtimes to beat Georgia Tech last week.
“We’re going to have to play all of 60 minutes and maybe beyond,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian knows this building well. He was the Falcons offensive coordinator in 2017 and 2018 and coached in this game in 2016 and 2020 while on Alabama’s staff.
“I would argue some of our best football over the last two years has been played on the road,” Sarkisian said of his Longhorns.
If you are keeping track at home, this is the 33rd SEC championship game and 31st time the game is played in Atlanta.
This is the 12th SEC championship game for Georgia and seventh under Kirby Smart.
This section will be updated when the game begins
NOTE: Georgia vs. Texas will be broadcast nationally on ABC. Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit will call the game from the booth at Sanford Stadium with Holly Rowe and Laura Rutledge reporting from the sidelines. Streaming options for the game include ESPN+ (subscription needed) and FUBO.
Texas 27, Georgia 24
Texas has the more effective running game now and stopping the run isn’t Georgia’s strong suit of late. The Longhorns dug too big a hole with turnovers in the first meeting. Georgia’s defense had a lot to do with that, but this one feels like a close Longhorns win.
Game lines and odds from BetMGM as of Thursday:
Georgia: RB Branson Robinson (foot, questionable), DL Joseph Jonah-Ajonye (lower extremity, out), RB Trevor Etienne (ribs, questionable), DL Christen Miller (shoulder, questionable), RB Chauncey Bowens (foot, questionable)
Texas: OT Kevin Banks (ankle, probable), DB Derek Williams (knee, out), RB CJ Baxter (knee, out), RB Christian Clark (Achilles, out), RB Velton Gardner (eye, out).
Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s roof should be closed so the temperature inside will be ideal. The forecast outside calls for a high temperature of 55 under sunny skies and winds northwest at 5 to 10 miles per hour, according to weather.com.
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