SEC Championship Game Preview: Texas Longhorns vs. Georgia Bulldogs Rematch

Will the Texas Longhorns take over the conference in its first year? Or will we repeat the October game, where the Georgia Bulldogs came out victorious in a pretty convincing fashion?

Texas Longhorns linebacker Colin Simmons (11) reaches in an attempt to block a pass from Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck (15) in the fourth quarter of the Longhorns' game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Oct. 19, 2024. / Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

A team needs to win their conference championship to get a bye in the first round of the College Football Playoffs. And for Texas, they will have the opportunity to play in the SEC Championship after a successful 7-1 conference record in its first year.

But in order for the Longhorns to win, they will need to play the one opponent that beat them this year, the one that showed them what a "real SEC team is", the Georiga Bulldogs.

On October 19th, Georgia marched into Austin and delivered a hard punch in the guts of Texas beating them 30-15 and leading as much as 23-0 at halftime.

The game started in a stalemate, the first six drives resulted in no points but there were three turnovers, two interceptions from Georgia quarterback Carson Beck that resulted in zero points from the Texas offense, and a fumble by Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers that gave Georgia the ball at Texas's 13.

That fumble helped punch Georgia in for the first score and Georgia continued to pile on, leaving it at 23-0 with running back Trevor Etienne scoring two of the touchdowns for Georgia. Meanwhile, the Texas offense had eight first-half drives, three ended in turnovers, and none resulted in points despite the great field position.

The story of the game was Georgia's defensive line tearing up Texas to create tons of pressure and limit the run game. The Longhorns were in the negatives for rushing yards at halftime, and even tried to put in backup QB Arch Manning to create a spark after Ewers proved to struggle against the pass rush but to no avail.

The Longhorn defense tried to help again in the second half by creating more turnovers when Jahdae Barron intercepted Beck to put Texas in the red zone. Texas brought the game back to 23-15 but struggled to create any other real scoring chances after that while Georgia ran the clock.

Ewers had 211 passing yards and went 25 for 43 on passes (58.1% accuracy) which was the lowest completion percentage on the season for him. It was also the lowest QBR rating for him this season at a weak 20.3. His second-lowest QBR rating on the season was the Arkansas game where he still put up a 62.7. The five sacks were also the most he has taken in a game this year.

Carson Beck wasn't that great either. He only completed 23 of his 41 passes and had his second-lowest amount of passing yards on the year at 175. He had three interceptions and zero touchdowns.

The big difference between the teams came in the run game. While the Texas offense only rushed for 29 yards on 27 attempts, Georgia got 110 yards on only 28 attempts. The three touchdowns from Etienne propelled Georgia over Texas

Since then, Texas has taken care of business and has gone 5-0 since then while Georgia dropped a game to Ole Miss where the offense managed to only put up 10 points and the defense forced only one turnover.

With that loss, Georgia dropped to 10-2 and 6-2 in the SEC while Texas overtook them at 11-1 and 7-1.

As of right now, for the SEC Championship, ESPN likes the odds for Texas to get their revenge. They have Texas at -2.5 point favorites on ESPN Bet and have Texas at a 61.5% chance to win with their "Matchup Predictor".

Texas possibly winning the SEC Championship in its first year would have been unbelievable just a couple of years ago. Some can blame it on an easy schedule, but that argument will be void if they can just prove they can beat Georgia. But if they lose, they still should be a lock for the playoffs.

Georgia Bulldogs

2024 Record: 10-2, 6-2 in the SEC

Head coach: Kirby Smart

Offensive Leaders

Passing: QB Carson Beck

2024 stats: 283 for 435 (65.1 completion rate) for 3,429 yards. 28 touchdowns and 12 interceptions

Rushing: RB Nate Frazier

2024 stats: 123 carries for 587 yards (4.8 AVG) and eight touchdowns

Receiving: WR Arian Smith

2024 stats: 42 receptions for 709 yards (16.9 AVG) and four touchdowns

Defensive Leaders

Tackles: LB CJ Allen

2024 stats: 65 tackles (42 solo)

Sacks: LB Jalon Walker

2024 stats: 5.5 sacks (40 sack yards)

Interceptions: DB Dan Jackson

2024 stats: two interceptions, three pass deflections

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