What was expected to be a sort of revenge match ultimately didn’t play out. The Texas Longhorns once again fell to the Georgia Bulldogs and were unable to avenge their only loss of the NCAAF season. Despite this, Steve Sarkisian remains confident that his team has what it takes to make a strong impact in the upcoming playoffs.
The final loss, 22-19, left Quinn Ewers‘ team empty-handed. In what was an extremely close game, it ultimately came down to small details in the final moments of the matchup.
Naturally, such results can impact the team’s morale. However, the Longhorns’ coach knows that a new objective lies ahead, and they must recover as quickly as possible to make a deep run in the playoffs.
“The beauty for us is this stings, it’s hard, but we get a chance to regroup in a couple weeks and get into the College Football Playoff and go compete for a national championship. I think we’re plenty good enough to go win that, but we’re going to need to get healthy so we can put our best foot forward to make that happen,” Sarkisian stated.
Trey Moore #8 of the Texas Longhorns tackles Carson Beck #15 of the Georgia Bulldogs for a fumble during the second quarter of the 2024 SEC Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 07, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Sark also made it clear that he has full confidence in his players to bounce back from this setback: “These guys give me no reason for pause that they won’t rebound and play really good football in two weeks. They’ve done that over the last two years. This group will always bounce back. Our backs were against the wall a year ago. We had to win out to get to the Big 12 championship game. This year our backs were against the wall. We had to win out to get to Atlanta. They did that. Their ability is to respond to adversity, as they touched on, not hang their heads, get right back to work. It’s something that I continually am impressed by the resolve that they have.”
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Sarkisian acknowledges the great work done by his opponent
The Longhorns knew this wouldn’t be just another game. The Bulldogs have been one of the most solid teams in the NCAAF season, and once again, they proved it on the field with Carson Beck leading the charge. Sarkisian made it clear that they lost to a tough opponent.
“This was a heck of a football team. Like I said, I have a ton of respect for their program and their team. What Kirby (Smart) has done here for seven, eight years now. We knew it was going to take 60 minutes. I didn’t know it was going to take 60 minutes plus overtime,“ the HC said.
He also added: “We challenged them on Monday about whatever you got in your tank, we got to empty the tank Saturday. We’ll have plenty of time to recharge our batteries and refuel our tank. I think every guy that was out there battling, competing, left it all out there. That’s all you can ask as a coach.”
Head coach Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs and players celebrate after defeating the Texas Longhorns 22-19 in overtime of the 2024 SEC Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 07, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Sarkisian knows the value of having played in the SEC Championship Game
Losses are tough, especially in the final stages. However, Steve Sarkisian made it clear after the game that it was a privilege for the Longhorns to have competed in the SEC Championship Game against such a formidable opponent as the Bulldogs.
“I really value this game. I think this game means a ton to the Southeastern Conference. We joined this conference. I was fortunate enough to be part of this conference as an assistant, coached in it twice. This is a heck of a game. It’s an honor to play in it. It was an honor to play in it today. We didn’t come out on top,” Sarkisian stated.
He finally concluded: “Especially the way it’s structured where not everybody gets to play everybody, I think it’s probably the right thing to do, to have a championship game. Now it’s our job to kind of regroup and get ourselves as healthy as we can to go compete in a Playoff.“
