{"id":69786,"date":"2024-12-06T17:00:58","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T22:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=69786"},"modified":"2024-12-05T23:12:06","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T04:12:06","slug":"georgia-vs-texas-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/12\/06\/georgia-vs-texas-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgia vs Texas Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

The SEC Championship Game <\/span>is taking<\/span> place this Saturday at the vaunted Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta. <\/span>The game<\/span> features a rematch between two powerhouses from earlier in the season. The 2nd-ranked Texas Longhorns will face off against the only team that has handed them a loss this season in the 5th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both teams <\/span>are likely to<\/span> be in the College Football Playoff regardless of the outcome, but there is still a first-round bye and an easier path to a national title at stake. For Texas, there\u2019s also the added motivation <\/span>that comes with<\/span> avenging their only loss of the season. With so much on the line, let\u2019s dive into what to expect from both teams as they gear up for the SEC Championship Game.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two Different Paths<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Both<\/span> Texas and Georgia have found themselves right where they, and just about everybody else, expected them to come championship weekend. In the annual preseason poll conducted at SEC Media Days, the Bulldogs and Longhorns were the favorite matchup. While both squads ended up where they expected to be, they both took very different paths to get there.<\/span><\/p>\n

Georgia entered the season <\/span>in the midst of<\/span> one of the most dominant stretches in college football history. Kirby Smart<\/a>\u2019s team had as many losses in the past three seasons as national titles coming in. This along with th return of Heisman favorite Carson Beck signaled to many that the dominance was here to stay. <\/span><\/p>\n

As the season began to roll though, it became clear to everybody that this wasn\u2019t the same Georgia team or Carson Beck<\/a> we\u2019ve become accustomed to. Beck regressed massively early on, and the defense took a massive step back along with him. Meanwhile, the Longhorns started their season <\/span>off<\/span> with six straight dominant wins and appeared to be everything we assumed Georgia would be.<\/span><\/p>\n

This <\/span>all<\/span> led to a primetime matchup in which a one-loss Georgia rolled into Austin for a meeting against the then-top-ranked Longhorns on the road. Many assumed <\/span>that we<\/span> would see the Longhorns roll against a <\/span>clearly<\/span> faltering Georgia squad. This wasn\u2019t meant to be, however, as the Dawgs rolled despite Beck throwing three interceptions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Coming out of the contest, Georgia appeared to have reasserted <\/span>their<\/span> status as the cream of the crop <\/span>in the conference<\/span>.<\/span> This sentiment would be short-lived, however, as the Dawgs continued to struggle while Texas regrouped. A second loss to Ole Miss appeared to eliminate the Dawgs from conference contention entirely.<\/span><\/p>\n

Several key upsets down the stretch allowed them to backdoor their way into Atlanta in the end. Meanwhile, Texas continued their dominance down the stretch to set up a rematch against the only team to beat them. This leads us to where we are now with a conference title on the line. With the paths that both teams took getting here covered let\u2019s dive into what needs to happen for both to secure a win.<\/span><\/p>\n

Can <\/span><\/strong>the <\/span>Longhorns\u2019 Offense Roll?<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Texas ranks top 15 in the nation in just about every offensive metric you can name. This fact is reflected in the results of their games. Well, all of the games except for one that is. In their first meeting, the Dawgs held a previously unstoppable Longhorns offense in check. Texas recorded season lows in scoring, and total yards, and forced a season-high four turnovers.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was clear that Texas had no answer whatsoever for the Georgia defense, who on a dime snapped back into the dominant form we\u2019ve come to expect in recent years. The Dawgs played so well that it didn\u2019t matter Beck had his worst game of the season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Simply put, the Dawgs had Steve Sarkisian’<\/a>s number the first time around. Now, some may look at the results of that game and say that it was a fluke. There may be some merit to this sentiment<\/span>. After<\/span> all that same Georgia defense allowed Georgia Tech to put up 42 points and 563 yards of offense on them just last week.<\/span><\/p>\n

The thing about Georgia though, and this is something we\u2019ll get into further down, is that you <\/span>never know which team is going to show up. You could get the version we saw against Tennessee where they dominated <\/span>in<\/span> every facet of the game. Or you could get the version we saw against Ole Miss which was the <\/span>exact<\/span> opposite.<\/span><\/p>\n

The point here is that Texas can\u2019t simply rely on the assumption that what happened in round one was a mere fluke. They have to come out and establish their offense early, and force Georgia on the back foot. They can\u2019t afford to give away possessions or make careless mistakes. If they want to win, they need the offense to roll.<\/span><\/p>\n

Can Beck Come Through?<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

For Georgia, everything will likely come down to which version <\/span>of<\/span> Carson Beck decides to show up. Much like Georgia <\/span>as a whole<\/span>, Beck\u2019s performance has varied drastically from week to week. Some days, like this past Saturday against Georgia Tech, he looks every bit the part of a Heisman contender. Others, like the first game against Texas, he <\/span>looks<\/span> utterly lost.<\/span><\/p>\n

Much like the Longhorns can\u2019t afford to assume that Georgia\u2019s defense <\/span>simply<\/span> won\u2019t play to the level they did last time, the Dawgs can\u2019t afford to have Beck play poorly.<\/span> Luckily for Georgia, the past several weeks have seen the embattled quarterback string together several of his best performances.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the three games since the Ole Miss debacle, Beck <\/span>is completing<\/span> 65% of his passes. He has also thrown for 941 yards, 11 touchdowns, and most importantly zero interceptions. <\/span>It\u2019s possible we\u2019ll <\/span>see Beck peak at exactly the right moment. The rest of the team will need to play their part as well in order to have a shot though.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody needs to do their job beyond just receivers and catching balls,\u201d Smart said when asked <\/span>about<\/span> what the team can do to support their quarterback. \u201cYou help the quarterback with a better run game. It might be read by our backs, and our backs running the ball better. It might be seeing the holes and reading things better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While the run game is certain to be an important factor in taking the pressure off Beck, pass protection will be the biggest key. The Longhorns have arguably the best pass rush in the country, and Georgia has struggled at times in pass protection. If Georgia wants to secure their third SEC title in the Smart era, <\/span>then everybody has to<\/span> play their part.<\/span><\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

As simplistic as it may sound, the winner of this game is likely to be decided by which offense can move the ball more effectively. For Texas, that means avoiding costly turnovers and sacks which cost them in the last matchup. For Georgia, that largely falls on Carson Beck playing to the level he has <\/span>the<\/span> past several weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Overall, it\u2019s <\/span>very hard<\/span> to make a firm prediction on how this matchup unfolds. It could be a close hard <\/span>hard-fought<\/span> last-second nail bitter, or it could end up being a blowout. That\u2019s the beauty of these matchups though. It\u2019s best versus best, and the winner gets the inside track to a national title.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Georgia
Photo courtesy: Staff Photo\/Gary Cosby Jr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The SEC Championship Game is taking place this Saturday at the vaunted Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The game features a rematch between two powerhouses from earlier in the season. The 2nd-ranked Texas Longhorns will face off against the only team that has handed them a loss this season in the 5th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs. Both […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5264,"featured_media":69811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[34494,34152,1150,204],"class_list":["post-69786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-sec","tag-2024-college-football-playoff","tag-2024-georgia-bulldogs-football","tag-sec-championship","tag-texas-longhorns"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5264"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69786"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69813,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69786\/revisions\/69813"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}