Georgia 30, Texas 15: And now something completely different

Through the first six games of the 2024 season, the Georgia Bulldogs drove their fans crazy by doing the same things wrong over and over again. Losses of coverage. Jump balls could not be found. Spotty tackling. Inability to consistently run the ball on offense. Stunning penalties and game-changing turnovers.

Wash. Scratchhead. Shake visor. Shout out to Glenn Schumann. Repeat.

But tonight our intrepid heroes decided to do something completely different.

Oh, frustrated by the slow starts in the first half of a solid season? How about 23 unanswered points in the first half?

Oh, you’re tired of watching the Red and Blacks play from behind every week? What if you never fell behind in an away game against the country’s No. 1 team?

It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it was beautiful in a way that no Georgia football game had ever seen in 2024. Georgia defeated the Texas Longhorns tonight by being more physical, more confident and more aggressive.

It was a completely different team. The Bulldogs, who entered tonight’s game with the 13th ranked rushing offense in the SEC, managed 108 yards on the ground. Trevor Etienne scored all three Bulldog touchdowns on the ground and finished with 87 hard yards on 19 gutsy runs. Etienne came to Georgia to play in such games. And I’m so glad he did.

Etienne was aided in his efforts by a Bulldog offensive line that opened significant gaps against a deep and fast Texas front seven. I look forward to getting Tate Ratledge back into the rotation, most likely after the bye week. But I think as a unit, Georgia’s offensive line has certainly grown in his absence.

Carson Beck, for his part, seemed bored with throwing for 400 yards and tons of touchdowns. So he turned things around by going 23 of 41 for 175 yards, 3 interceptions and 0 touchdowns. Beck once again made some truly amazing decisions in football. But when it mattered most, he stepped up and scored the game-winning fourth-quarter goal in the first period. I have to say that this Texas defense was statistically the best in the country tonight and largely played like it.

Beck also fell victim to some truly crippling drops, including two on the first possession of the game and one by Landon Humphrey late on what could have been a third down conversion to put the final nail in the Longhorns’ coffin. The Bulldog receivers continue to play like they are coached by James Coley. That’s about all I can say on the subject.

I think about Beck’s final interception. Maybe you’ve seen it. Arian Smith’s path was blocked by a Texas defender, who then went through him to intercept the ball and was initially cited for pass interference. The Texas fans didn’t like the call and responded in the most childish way possible by throwing debris all over the field. In the past, such behavior was punishable by a penalty.

Instead, this SEC team decided to reward the fans’ youthful misbehavior by using the five-minute break to reconsider their previous call and rescind it.

Penalties cannot be reviewed, except for targeting calls, for which review is mandatory. So instead of officially reviewing the call, officials simply said they watched the play over and over again on the Jumbotron for three minutes and voided it on that basis.

You may recall that in 2021, the SEC fined Tennessee $250,000 because fans threw bottles onto the field during a game against Ole Miss. Tennessee also had to use videos to identify offending individuals and ban them from sporting events for the remainder of the academic year.

Instead, this SEC team has set a dangerous precedent.

It was ridiculous. Even though it wasn’t really crooked, the visuals were terrible. And the SEC absolutely needs to make a statement and take a stand on something that should never have happened. In the long and checkered history of SEC officials failing to cover themselves in glory, this was one of the least glorious moments.

But do you know who had many glorious moments tonight? Georgia’s defense. Texas was 0 of 7 on third downs in the first half and managed just 38 yards of total offense. On the night, Texas averaged 1.1 yards per carry on the ground, a tough 29 yards on 27 mostly futile runs. The Georgia defense’s ability to contain the Longhorns’ rushing attack was the key element that made all of the other chaos possible that night.

And boy, there was a lot of chaos. Jalon Walker has been known to Bulldog fans as an agent of chaos for quite some time. He’s now known as a one-man wrecking band to college football fans across the country after he personally made Quinn Ewers’ life miserable all night long.

When asked after the game how he managed to get the best out of his players, Kirby Smart responded emotionally: “These players bring out the best in me.”

In a rare moment of complete honesty from the famously cautious coach, Smart continued: “They tried to rob us in this place with calls. But these guys are so resilient.”

They (the officers) did it. They (the players) were. It’s too early to say this was a transformative game for the Classic City Canines. But it is the right time to praise them for excelling in a hostile environment and playing by far their best football of the season.

Last week I said this team isn’t good enough to win a national championship. I’m still not convinced I’m wrong about this. But tonight I saw a level of effort and composure that I didn’t know this team possessed and that they may have developed on the spot in Austin. This team is imperfect and inconsistent. But at their best, they seem to be a match for almost anyone.

The Bulldogs will now take a week off to get healthy and prepare for the Florida Gators. That’s a conversation for later. Tonight they memorably earned the 100th win of Kirby Smart’s tenure at Georgia. It was something completely different than what we’ve seen all season. And it was beautiful. See you later…

Come on buddy!!!