OTF Premium Snap Judgments: Another showdown with Georgia, another humbling loss for Texas

[Jeff Howe]

Texas was positioned to get the ball back with under four minutes to go in the third quarter of Saturday’s 35-10 loss to Georgia.

The Bulldogs lined up for a fourth-and-1 from their own 36. With the Longhorns poised to seize momentum, the championship pedigree of Kirby Smart’s program took it back and held onto it en route to a third win over Steve Sarkisian’s club in 13 months.

Texas (7-3, 4-2 SEC) cut the Georgia (9-1, 7-1) lead to four points when Arch Manning found Ryan Wingo in the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown with 5:27 left in the third quarter. After Gunner Stockton and Chauncey Bowens connected for a 10-yard gain for the first of two fourth-down conversions on a 10-play, 73-yard touchdown drive, a surprise onside kick recovery and a 9-play, 53-yard march to another Bulldog touchdown, Manning and the offense faced a 28-10 deficit when it got back on the field at the 8:49 mark of the fourth quarter.

Whether it was losing the line of scrimmage battle, a failure to execute in critical situations, dealing with one self-inflicted wound after another or Smart’s staff winning the chess match against Sarkisian and his assistant coaches, Georgia was better than Texas, across the board, for the third time in as many meetings as SEC foes.

For the Longhorns to ascend to the next level as a program, they’ve got to get through the Bulldogs. With Georgia off the regular-season schedule until 2028, the only way Texas will get another crack at the Bulldogs over the next two years is if it reaches the SEC Championship Game.

As the fourth quarter unfolded, one in which Texas outscored (21-0), outgained (119-64) and outclassed in virtually every possible measure, the preseason promise of the Longhorns competing for the SEC title and a national championship faded with every body blow the Bulldogs landed. As things stand, Texas won’t be back in Atlanta and, unless it benefits from a lot of unforeseen good fortune down the stretch, it won’t make a third consecutive trip to the College Football Playoff.

***

One of the reasons why Georgia is a bad matchup for Texas is the athleticism and length the Bulldogs possess up front. Once again, the Bulldogs won the battle at the point of attack in a landslide.

Georgia sacked Manning three times, recorded seven tackles for loss and held the Longhorns to just 23 net rushing yards on 17 carries. Even when adjusting rushing yards to exclude sack yardage, 39 yards (2.8 yards per carry) wasn’t close to what Texas needed to achieve much-needed balance on offense.

In their three losses to the Bulldogs over the last two seasons, the Longhorns have given up 16 sacks and 32 tackles for loss while mustering just 83 net rushing yards on 72 official attempts (1.15 yards per attempt). Georgia rushed for 128 yards (3.7 yards per attempt), 67 of which came in the fourth quarter, as the Bulldogs once again owned the line of scrimmage.

***

The chatter regarding Sarkisian’s struggles against Smart won’t die down. In fact, after Smart pushed all of the right buttons in the second half while Sarkisian’s offense sputtered and the Texas defense wore down, it’ll be louder than ever.

Sarkisian has done a lot of good in his five seasons on the Forty Acres. Nevertheless, his head-to-head win over Nick Saban in 2023 is starting to be overshadowed by Sarkisian’s combined 0-7 record against Smart (0-3), Kalen DeBoer (0-2) and Ryan Day (0-2), along with his 1-7 record against top-five opponents while leading the Longhorns.

Sarkisian’s success over the last two seasons has raised the bar to a championship standard. With that as the backdrop, Saturday’s loss adds even more importance to the regular-season finale against a Texas A&M team expected to roll into DKR with an unblemished 11-0 record.

If Sarkisian’s Texas squad goes 0-3 against top-five opponents in 2025 while the Aggies and Oklahoma advance to the CFP (a realistic outcome after the Sooners’ 23-21 road win over Alabama on Saturday), it’ll be a long offseason with a lot of tough questions to answer throughout 2026.

***

For the third consecutive meeting between the Longhorns and Georgia, the Bulldogs’ best players outpaced Texas’ top dogs.

Manning wasn’t bad (27-for-43, 251 yards, one touchdown and one interception), but Stockton was better (24-for-29, 229 yards, four touchdowns, one interception and a rushing touchdown). Although Anthony Hill (six tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss and an interception) and Colin Simmons (three tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack) made plays, they didn’t dominate the game the way they needed to for the Longhorns to win.

***

The final score isn’t a direct reflection of how far Texas is from reaching Georgia’s level as a program. Still, until the Longhorns can hold up better in the trenches, avoid shooting themselves in the foot (nine penalties for 58 yards) and play better situational football (a combined 4-for-15 on third and fourth down; the Bulldogs also went 4-for-4 in the red zone with four touchdowns), they’ll likely continue to suffer the same fate in games of this magnitude.

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[Jeff Howe]

That wasn't fun to watch, it was less fun to write about and it's going to be worse to discuss publicly.

We'll get through this together.

[cdibbs]

We are the Penn St of the SEC. Sark is our James Franklin. 

[Roy Hinojosa]

Does this loss affect recruiting?

[Jeff Howe]

Just now, Roy Hinojosa said:

Does this loss affect recruiting?

Typically, one loss doesn't impact things that much. If things spiral from here, that would be a different story.

[uthorn1374]

6 minutes ago, cdibbs said:

We are the Penn St of the SEC. Sark is our James Franklin. 

Perfect comparison

[Roy Hinojosa]

Just now, uthorn1374 said:

Perfect comparison

Unfortunately, Sark is going to have to wear that badge of shame until he gets over the hump. He's got a chance the last game of the season.

[Roy Hinojosa]

All season I've been calling for the Pop Tarts Bowl, is that possible? If we don't make the CFP, that's the only bowl that's worth it.

[drag worm]

Outclassed and outcoached again. A sloppy undisciplined team vs a well oiled machine. Advantage Kirby every time. 

[alrightalrightalright]

Well @Blake Munroe was closest with 27-20 Georgia

[GoHorns1]

Change in OL philosophy and blocking schemes? Flood has developed individual players but never an elite OL group. Flood inherited the great Bama OL from Brent Key the Georgia Tech HC

[Waxahorn]

This is the most disappointed I have been during Sark's tenure in Austin. Outcoached and outplayed again. It's actually depressing.

The team doesn't belong in the CFP. There needs to be some serious soul searching about our coaching staff and our roster this off season.

[Shmatt]

Lmao OU and A&M are going to the playoffs over us. 

[Judd_Irby]

The Texas defense has given up 38 point to Mississippi State, 31 to Vanderbilt, and now 35 to Georgia (not to mention 29 against Florida).  Can anyone actually tell me that we have a good defense?  I present these numbers to justify my position.

[Brian Carter]

I hope the big money puts pressure on him to change.  I can think of too many games where we had talent but got the loss because of coaching and physicality.   

[Roy Hinojosa]

How does it get fixed? If you make a lot of changes, wouldn't that potentially set us back with so much flux? The QB, secondary, the o-line, running backs and wide receivers have had issues all year. 

[Roy Hinojosa]

Just now, Brian Carter said:

I hope the big money puts pressure on him to change.  I can think of too many games where we had talent but got the loss because of coaching and physicality.   

I hope so, but the last time that happened Sark decided he's ok taking his ball and going home.

[dentonhorn]

Was just thinking about bowls that are not in the playoffs. I don’t know about y’all but not at all interested. I think when they expand the playoffs the fringe bowls lose even more interest. We won’t due to the practice time thing, but would you be for not accepting one? 

[Jeff Howe]

13 minutes ago, Roy Hinojosa said:

All season I've been calling for the Pop Tarts Bowl, is that possible? If we don't make the CFP, that's the only bowl that's worth it.

That bowl doesn't have an SEC tie-in.

Neither does the Alamo Bowl, for those wondering.

[Jeff Howe]

1 minute ago, dentonhorn said:

Was just thinking about bowls that are not in the playoffs. I don’t know about y’all but not at all interested. I think when they expand the playoffs the fringe bowls lose even more interest. We won’t due to the practice time thing, but would you be for not accepting one? 

For all intents and purposes, the bowl game is the first game of the 2026 season.

[Roy Hinojosa]

Don't bowl games give us more practice time for the young players, not to mention Arch and the offense getting more reps together.

[SchoolColors]

1 minute ago, Roy Hinojosa said:

Don't bowl games give us more practice time for the young players, not to mention Arch and the offense getting more reps together.

Sure especially with all the opt outs and those who will enter the portal doing so

[Dustin Wells]

If we want to win, we have to coach like we want to win, we have to run the team like we want to win. HCs that win championships or want to win championships, like Saban, Kirby, and Kiffin have OCs. Sark needs to do the same, if he does we win. 

[Roy Hinojosa]

I did have a bet if we won I would doordash some Arby's steak nuggets, so thankfully I don't have to do that.

[Jeff Howe]

10 minutes ago, Roy Hinojosa said:

I did have a bet if we won I would doordash some Arby's steak nuggets, so thankfully I don't have to do that.

Your colon thanks you.