ATHENS, Ga. — From No. 1 to possibly done?
Texas football fell behind No. 5 Georgia early and collapsed later on in a costly 35-10 loss Saturday at Sanford Stadium. Voted atop the Associated Press and US LBM Coaches preseason polls and ranked 10th in the College Football Playoff rankings this week, Texas dropped to 7-3 on the season with a 4-2 mark in SEC play.
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Is the Texas season over? Not technically. With games against Arkansas and Texas A&M left on the schedule, Texas could conceivably still do enough to impress the College Football Playoff committee.
More: Why coach Steve Sarkisian thinks SEC needs to change late-season scheduling
Before Saturday’s game, SEC commissioner Grey Sankey held court in the Sanford Stadium press box and said he believed that a three-loss team could remain in the playoff picture. Sankey noted that as a three-loss team last year, Alabama “earned that top-12 ranking.”
Texas Longhorns wide receiver Ryan Wingo (1) drops a pass during the game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Alabama actually earned the No. 11 ranking on Selection Day last year. The Crimson Tide, however, wasn’t seeded in the College Football Playoff bracket. Since Arizona State and Clemson won the Big 12 and ACC championships, those two teams cut in front of Alabama even though they were respectively listed 12th and 16th in the final rankings. A similar scenario could play out this year since the playoff saves spots for the five-best conference champions, which is why No. 15 Miami and No. 24 South Florida made the cut in this past week’s projected playoff field while No. 11 Oklahoma and No. 12 BYU were left out.
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In other words, Texas will probably need to be ranked in the top-10 when the final rankings are released Dec. 7. This Tuesday, UT will find out how much the Georgia loss will cost them in the rankings after a weekend in which it lost by 25 points while Oklahoma, Miami and No. 13 Utah, No. 16 Georgia Tech, No. 17 USC, No. 18 Michigan and No. 19 Virginia all won (No. 14 Vanderbilt was idle while BYU was also playing a late game against TCU).
Texas scores first but still falls behind early at Sanford Stadium
On Saturday, Georgia (9-1, 7-1) scored touchdowns on its first two possessions while Texas just tallied three points over the first two times it touched the ball. The story of those game-opening drives? How the offenses fared on third down.
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Texas went 0-for-3 on third down during its first two possessions with the most egregious of its misses being a pass dropped by Ryan Wingo that likely would have given Texas a first down inside the Georgia 10. Meanwhile, Georgia set up its first touchdown with a third-and-10 conversion and then scored its second touchdown on a third-and-goal try.
That 14-3 score held up into the halftime break as Texas struggled through a first-half performance that featured three drives into Georgia territory but three offensive drops and seven penalties.
More: Does Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian have a big game problem?
In the third quarter, an interception by linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. and Georgia’s first penalty of the night — a pass interference on a third-and-13 play — set Texas up for its first touchdown of the evening, a 7-yard catch by Wingo. Any momentum gained by the Longhorns was quickly stunted by a 10-play drive that featured Georgia converting two fourth-down attempts and a Gunner Stockton touchdown pass. Georgia then recovered its first onside kick since 2013 and Stockton later threw his fourth touchdown pass of the evening to lift Georgia to a 28-10 advantage.
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Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian walks the sideline during the game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Up next: Texas returns home for Arkansas game
Texas will return to Royal-Memorial Stadium for its final two games of the regular season. Next weekend, the Longhorns will host SEC bottom-dweller Arkansas (2-8, 0-6).
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The Longhorns closed out the 2025 season with a 2-3 showing in its road games. Texas also lost games at Ohio State and Florida, and needed overtime sessions in order to escape its trips to Kentucky and Mississippi State with victories.
Texas has now lost three times to Georgia since it joined the SEC ahead of the 2024 season. Last year, Georgia recorded a 30-15 win over UT in Austin and then beat the Longhorns in the SEC championship game.