Texas-Georgia score: Dawgs ride defense as Longhorns suffer worst home loss by No. 1 team since 1982

No. 5 Georgia outscored No. 1 Texas 30-15 to get back into the SEC title race and pick up a landmark road victory. The Bulldogs used a stellar defensive performance, holding the Longhorns scoreless and to under 50 total yards in the first half. The loss is the largest by a No. 1 team at home since Dan Marino’s Pittsburgh in 1982.

Georgia’s defense controlled this game from the first snap and gave them offensive scoring opportunities. The Bulldogs forced an interception and a strip sack on Texans quarterback Quinn Ewers, both of which were caused by cornerback Dylan Everett. Georgia’s five punts in the first half averaged just 17.8 yards as the defense created short fields.

The Texans’ offense was so bad in the beginning that coach Steve Sarkisian benched quarterback Quinn Ewers for backup Arch Manning. While Manning ran for 21 yards, he surrendered a strip sack of his own for this dominant Georgia defensive effort.

Texas faced a tough counterattack when Ewers came back in the second half. The Longhorns took a 15-0 lead behind a pair of third-quarter touchdown passes. However, Georgia traveled 89 yards on a 5-minute drive to push the lead back to 15 points in the fourth quarter, which was enough to bring it home.

Georgia quarterback Carson Beck threw three interceptions, two of which came in the first quarter, but responded with a 175-yard touchdown run in the win. Running back Trevor Etienne scored a hat-trick with three rushing scores and 110 yards from scrimmage. The pitchers threw for two touchdowns and finished with 211 yards.

• Texas is the first AP No. 1 team to lose at home since Oregon lost to No. 14 Stanford in 2012. The loss was the most by a No. 1 team at home since 1982.
• Texas’ 23-0 halftime deficit was the largest by a No. 1 team since Notre Dame in the 2013 BCS National Championship Game, which ended in a 42-14 shellacking. It was also Kansas’ first 20-point deficit since 2021.
• Georgia’s win means it has now won seven of its last eight games against a top-five AP opponent. Kirby Smart also became the fifth-fastest coach to win 100 games.