Georgia showed it’s still one of college football’s elite teams while handing Texas its first loss of the year in the third matchup of the 2024 season between two top-five-ranked teams.
Texas entered the game as the No. 1-ranked team in college football but will lose that designation when the polls are updated Sunday as the fifth-ranked Bulldogs went into Austin and handed the Longhorns a 30-15 loss.
Georgia’s defense dominated the game’s first half, forcing three takeaways and five sacks to lead the way for the Bulldogs to race out to a 23-0 lead before halftime. Texas was so bad on its first six drives of the game, gaining just 15 combined yards of offense, that Steve Sarkisian benched Quinn Ewers in favor of Arch Manning for the Longhorns’ final two possessions before halftime.
Texas started the second half with a successful onside kick, and Ewers led a touchdown drive on his first series back in the game to put the Longhorns on the board.
The most controversial moment of the game came late in the third quarter when an interception by Texas’ Jahdae Barron was initially ruled to be defensive pass interference. After a barrage of bottles thrown from Texas’ student section forced a stoppage in play, the officials conferred and determined that they should not have called a penalty, giving Texas the ball in Georgia territory to set up another Longhorn touchdown that cut Georgia’s lead to 23-15.
Texas fans threw debris onto the field after an interception was called back due to pass interference.
— ESPN (@espn) October 20, 2024
The refs reversed the call after further discussion. pic.twitter.com/3PAgLcD1hQ
That would be as close as Texas would come to coming back. Georgia responded on its next possession with an 11-play, 89-yard touchdown drive to make it a two-score game again. Texas proceeded to turn the ball over on downs on each of its final three possessions.
With Texas’ loss, there are no longer any undefeated teams standing in the SEC. It leaves just 10 total undefeated teams in the FBS: Indiana, Penn State, Oregon, Miami, Pittsburgh, BYU, Iowa State, Army, Navy and Liberty.
Georgia’s win continued a trend of the lower-ranked team winning top-five matchups in college football so far this season. Alabama was the No. 4 team in the AP Top 25 while Georgia was No. 2 when the Crimson Tide defeated the Bulldogs 41-34 on Sept. 28. Oregon was ranked third in the AP poll while Ohio State was ranked second when the Ducks beat the Buckeyes, 32-31, last week in Eugene.
