Texas Longhorns Return to Familiar Territory In Atlanta: 'Hunger In Our Heart!'

The Texas Longhorns will not let the Georgia defeat in Atlanta affect the CFP mentality.

Dec 21, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. (0) tackles Clemson Tigers quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) during the CFP National playoff first round at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Texas Longhorns are returning to an uneasy spot.

Early in the month, Texas secured a ticket to its first SEC Championship, rematching Georgia in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The game went to overtime, and the Longhorns were unable to lift the trophy in their maiden season in the conference.

As a result, the Bulldogs earned a second seed and a bye-week in the playoffs, while Texas fell to the fifth.

Coming back to Atlanta, the Longhorns will be facing fourth-seeded Big 12 champion Arizona State for a spot in the College Football Playoff semifinals. Though returning to the venue of the loss might still sting, the Longhorns are ready to move on.

"Of course, we're going to kind of feel that a little bit, but we want to move on and just get ready for Arizona State," linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. said. "They're a good football team and we don't want to just think about that game all over again. We wanna move on and just get ready to go."

On New Year's Day, the Longhorns will have a chance to change the story they've written in the stadium. After the loss to Georgia, Michael Taaffe told reporters this Texas team would be hungry for wins, and now, it will be able to prove it in the same field.

"We go to the SEC Championship and it's kind of a shootout as far as defense is," Taaffe said. "It didn't seem like many people were getting in the paint, Georgia or ourselves...We're moving forward with hunger in our heart and wanting to come out and play the way we should."

The Longhorns and Sun Devils will kick off at noon CT on New Year's Day.

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