ATHENS, Ga., — On a day when anything seemed possible, when Oklahoma won in Tuscaloosa with half as many yards as Alabama and Texas A&M set a world record for deficit-climbing in a 27-point comeback against South Carolina, Texas suffered from a severe lack of drama in comparison.
Frankly, it was just more of the same for the 10th-ranked Longhorns and Steve Sarkisian in a 35-10 rout at the hands of fifth-ranked Georgia.
The Bulldogs embarrassed the Horns in Austin, outlasted them in Atlanta and rubbed it between the hedges.
And Sark is now 0-7 against Kirby Smart, Ryan Day and Kalen DeBoer. If you want to get where the best teams go, sooner or later you probably have to beat one of those guys.
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Texas had a chance to do just that by cutting it to four points in the third quarter, but the Bulldogs’ 21-point barrage in the fourth quarter that included an onside kick put the game out of reach and the Longhorns on the bubble.
“The fourth quarter,” Sarkisian said, “for lack of a better word, was a disaster.”
Pretty good word at that, actually.
“We got our butts kicked,” safety Michael Taaffe said. “They beat us in all three phases.
“We handed it to them.”
Given how poorly it went, it might not seem like a good time for slogans, but the post-game message from the players and Sark was universal.
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“We’re not dead yet,” Taaffe said. “We’ve got two games to go. Leave it up to the playoff committee and see if we can get in.”
Contrary to what you may have read in this space recently, losing to the Bulldogs might not cost Texas a shot at the College Football Playoff after all, not if you believe Greg Sankey, anyway.
Do you think a team with three losses can make the field, commissioner?
“I do,” he said.
Of course, he figured three-loss Alabama was golden last year, only to watch the Crimson Tide get squeezed out by SMU and Clemson in the final reckoning. What gives Sankey confidence this year? A lack of quality depth from the other conferences as compared with the SEC, with four schools in prime position and accommodating schedules with only two weeks left in the regular season.
The way it looks now, the Big Ten will be whittled down to Ohio State, Indiana and Oregon, while the Big 12, ACC and Group of Five may have to settle for one apiece. Could change if Texas Tech doesn’t win the Big 12 and thus earn the conference title qualifier.
But, if the Red Raiders are all Brett Yormark gets, that leaves an opening for the SEC to take five.
“The level of competitiveness here,” Sankey said, “is unique by comparison to our peer leagues.”
He’ll get no argument here. The SEC may not be as good at the top as it’s been, but there’s not much drop-off, despite what Georgia’s 25-point win Saturday would suggest.
Even with the loss to the Sooners, the Tide is in, as is A&M, Georgia and Ole Miss. Question is, if it comes down to a fifth SEC team, and Texas, Vanderbilt and Oklahoma all win out, who gets it?
The Longhorns own head-to-head wins over both, and a win over A&M probably settles it. The Sooners have impressive road wins over Tennessee and Alabama and seem to be playing better since their loss at the State Fair.
Texas could have avoided all this speculation with a win over the Bulldogs. The Longhorns had all the karma. Peyton Manning turned out for a closer look, as did Colt McCoy and Matthew McConaughey. They were witness to what seemed like a winning look on the first drive, even if it just ended with a field goal. In the losses to Georgia last year, they rushed for a total of 60 yards on 55 carries. They piled up 33 on their first drive Saturday.
Finished with 23.
Of course, Arch Manning, who’s improved tremendously since the first quarter of the season, is used to dealing without a running game. He actually held his own with Gunner Stockton, finishing 27 for 23 and 251 yards. And that included five drops.
But soft secondary coverage by Texas allowed Stockton, 24 of 29 for 229 yards, to pick up whatever he needed.
The backbreaker came in the fourth quarter after the Bulldogs had gone up 21-10. They executed an onside kick perfectly, leading to back-to-back touchdowns.
“We actually practiced that,” Sarkisian said, grimacing a little, “and we didn’t field the ball. It was a risk play that they were really willing to take.
“Those are momentum-changing plays for sure.”
Not too late for Texas to change the momentum, but it’s gonna take some heavy lifting. On a day when the Sooners and Aggies were up to it, spectacularly so in A&M’s case, it made for a long night in Athens.
Twitter/X: @KSherringtonDMN
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