No. 5 Georgia bounced No. 1 Texas from the ranks of the unbeaten on Saturday night, jumping out to a massive halftime lead on the way to a 30-15 victory at Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium in Austin.
The Bulldogs (6-1, 4-1) scored on four straight possessions in the first and second quarters to build a 23-0 lead at the break. The Longhorns (6-1, 4-1) briefly got back into the game with a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter, before Georgia put the game away with a touchdown and three straight defensive stops in the fourth.
It was a welcome to the SEC moment for Texas, which briefly benched starting quarterback Quinn Ewers in favor of redshirt freshman Arch Manning in the second quarter. The Longhorns were the last undefeated team in the SEC, which will enter November without an unbeaten for the first time since 2007.
Trevor Etienne ran for 87 yards and three touchdowns (2, 15 and 1 yards) and Peyton Woodring kicked field goals of 33, 48 and 44 yards for Georgia, which overcame an off night by quarterback Carson Beck. The Bulldogs’ senior threw for just 175 yards and was intercepted three times.
Texas put Ewers back in to start the second half, and the redshirt junior put his team on the board with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Bond and a 2-point pass to the same receiver to make it 23-8 with 10:57 left in the third. After a controversial interception (originally ruled pass interference) gave the Longhorns the ball in the red zone, Ewers found Jaydon Blue on a 17-yard touchdown pass to pull his team within 23-15 at the 2:12 mark of the third.
Georgia answered with Etienne’s 1-yard touchdown with 12:04 left in the fourth to go back up by two scores. Texas then turned the ball over on downs three straight times in Bulldogs territory, including at the 11 with 1:10 remaining.
Ewers completed 25 of 43 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns with an interception, while Manning was 3-for-6 for 19 yards in his two series of action. The Longhorns ran for only 29 yards as a team.
Georgia’s defense sacked Ewers and Manning seven times, with linebacker Jalon Walker totaling three sacks and four quarterback hurries. Safety Daylen Everette had a sack, an interception and a forced fumble, while linebacker Mykel Williams added two sacks and a forced fumble.
