The Texas Longhorns took their first loss of the season in ugly fashion. The Georgia Bulldogs came into town and unleashed chaos for the Horns, who had no answers for the Dawgs. Head coach Steve Sarkisian made something clear to his players after the embarrassing loss.
The SEC Championship race was shaken up by the Bulldogs’ commanding road victory in Austin. The previously undefeated Longhorns were knocked off their high horse. While their season isn’t hanging by a thread yet, their comfortable lead in the NCAA has certainly narrowed.
However, the extended College Football Playoffs keep Texas hopeful. Steve Sarkisian is not waving any white flag anytime soon and remains confident on their ability to compete with the best programs.
“The beauty of this format, losing a game like this doesn’t kill you. Everything we want is still in front of us,” Sarkisian said, via On3. “The challenge for us is to be able to regroup and get ourselves back up off the mat and prepare for a Vanderbilt team next week that’s going to be hungry for us coming to town.“
Head coach Steve Sarkisian of the Texas Longhorns reacts during the second quarter against the Georgia Bulldogs at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on October 19, 2024 in Austin, Texas.
Sarkisian acknowledges shortcomings against Georgia
Kirby Smart’s Georgia came out ready for the big showdown at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium, while the Longhorns, on the other hand, did not. They started slow and were overpowered by the Dawgs. Although the Bulldogs’ mascot UGA XI didn’t make the trip to Texas, it wasn’t about the size of the dog in the fight—it was about the size of the fight in the dog, and Georgia excelled in that regard. Coach Sarkisian kept it simple when assessing his team’s defeat.
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“Like I told the team, when you’re playing good teams you gotta fight for 60 minutes. But you have to play well as well, and we just weren’t able to get the recipe right,” Sarkisian told reporters. “We had the fight, we just didn’t play well enough tonight. So we gotta coach better, we gotta play better.”
Get back on track
The Longhorns will next face the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville. Before the season, the Horns would not have thought much of it, but after Vandy’s shocking win over Alabama, they must be prepared for any scenario. This will not be an easy game for Texas, not unless they put on their best performance.
Quinn Ewers needs to find his mojo and prove he is still the team’s leader on and off the field. The last thing Sarkisian needs right now is a QB1 battle between Ewers and Arch Manning. It’s in Texas best interest for Ewers to solidify his place as the starting quarterback and allow Manning to develop at his own peace as a redshirt. If the Longhorns have two starting QBs, then they’ll have no starting quarterback.
