UGA Takes Down #1 Texas in Austin

What a sloppy, ugly, beautiful game between #1 Texas and #5 UGA in Austin this past week. UGA got off to its typical awful start offensively because apparently Carson Beck is now a turnover machine, but their defense was so utterly dominant from start to finish that it didn’t matter. The Dawgs jumped out to a 23-0 halftime lead that Texas never seriously threatened. Turnovers galore, trick plays, trash throwing, this game had it all. Let’s break it down. Read UGA takes down #1 Texas in Austin below.

Hey, make sure you check out our picks on the GW Daily Picks page.

The Good

Defensively, this was the best UGA performance in at least a couple years. UGA made Quinn Ewers look like a chump and completely nullified any running game they had. Texas was 2-15 on 3rd downs and 1-5 on 4th downs only mustering up 259 yards of offense.

They were limited to 1.1 yards per carry, due to an inept run game and UGA’s brutal pass rush which accounted for 7 sacks. They forced 4 turnovers, 3 fumbles and 1 interception as well. Just as Texas seemed to get some momentum in the first quarter, UGA’s defensive line stems out and two inside linebackers fill the A gap. Ewers snaps the ball, as one of those backers pressures, but the other drops into coverage. What Ewers did not see was that UGA also fired CB Daylen Everette from the near corner spot. A thunderous hit knocked loose the football and after a mad scramble, Everette also recovered it.

Ewers was never the same after that hit. Then, in the 4th quarter, UGA does the same set up, 3 linemen stem, 2 inside backers show pressure. This time, rather than drop one backer and send the corner, both backers blitz in Ewer’s face. He gets a pass off, but so poorly that WR Ryan Wingo had to take a knee to catch it, and they turned it over on downs. It was just Ewers who struggled. QB Arch Manning couldn’t get anything done either in his short stint and he also turned the ball over. 

Mykel Williams

For the first time since Clemson, DL Mykel Williams was healthy and he wreaked havoc all night. He had two sacks and forced a fumble. DL Warren Brinson also had his best game this season. LB Jalon Walker was a menace as well, getting 3 sacks and forcing a fumble as well. Damon Wilson had a great game, and Chaz Chambliss even sealed the game with a sack on 4th down. On the whole, UGA’s defensive line and outside linebackers were phenomenal. They changed the nature of the game. 

The DB’s

Also surprising in their effectiveness was Georgia’s defensive backs. Daylen Everette had the big sack/fumble and also had an interception as well. Julian Humphrey struggled at times, but also had some big moments, breaking up a 4th down pass and defending another pass in the end zone.

DB Joenel Aguero had the best game of his career before getting ejected on a debatable targeting penalty. He finished with 5 tackles. Safety Malaki Starks was back to his normal performances and Dan Jackson was all over the field before he too was ejected for targeting. That call was less debatable. 

There’s not enough to say about how dominant the defense was in this game. It was a masterclass, and it saved the Bulldogs as the offense was kind of terrible the entire game. 

RB Trevor Etienne showed that he is someone UGA can lean on when times get tough. He ran for all three touchdowns in the game and again showed himself to be a threat out of the backfield. He turned short gains into first downs and was as effective as you could possibly hope against the #1 scoring defense in college football. 

Field Notes

UGA Special Teams were almost perfect in this game. K Peyton Woodring went 3/3 on his field goals and P Brett Thorsen had a great game, with his 4 punts averaging 54 yards each. 

Center Jared Wilson was back in this game after a leg injury. He played pretty well. 

The Bad

UGA’s offensive tackles continue to look rough. LT Earnest Greene was beaten multiple times. RT Xavier Truss also was walked back into Beck from a bull rush. RT Monroe Freeling didn’t get a ton of snaps, but wasn’t great. 

QB Carson Beck was bad, again. His footwork and mechanics are awful, throwing multiple interceptions because of it. He continues to back-pedal and throw off of a bad base. He has likely been coached, I assume, to blindly trust his receivers. Well, they continue to let him down, running wrong routes and dropping multiple passes. He made some nice plays with his legs, but unless someone was completely uncovered, Beck didn’t get them the ball. He, and the offense’s performance, are exactly why I didn’t pick UGA to win. He’s erratic, and may even be broken.

The Ugly

Receivers. Dillon Bell, Arian Smith, London Humphreys, and Lawson Luckie all dropped passes that were major plays, taking away an explosive, 3rd down conversion, or causing a turnover. 

The refs. Whew, baby that defensive pass interference call and then correction was an absolute disaster. It probably wasn’t DPI, but to call it, spot the ball and then change it was a massive error. To allow the fans throwing trash on the field to impact a call set a dangerous precedent.

The SEC office also had zero spine to acknowledge the error in procedure. The officiating was awful throughout the game, with UGA getting multiple spots that were incorrect, nearly costing them a touchdown, and definitely costing them continuing drives. RB Trevor Etienne had to score 2 or 3 times from the 1 because of poor spots. On one of Texas’ only explosive plays, UGA DL Warren Brinson jersey is being pulled from behind quite obviously, or Quinn Ewers would have been hit as he threw. This holding was on the goal line and could have resulted in a safety, instead Texas hit an explosive pass.

The targeting calls on UGA weren’t great either. Safety Dan Jackson was ejected, though I think that was the right call. DB Joenel Aguero was also ejected, but I think that was a missed call. And safety KJ Bolden didn’t get called for targeting that they should have flagged. Just ugly, ugly officiating that I think will lead to repercussions down the line in other games in the SEC. Oh, and the head referee has family that attends Texas and owns a business in Texas. Probably not a good idea to have him for that game. 

Final Thoughts

If this is the defense that can show up the rest of the year, UGA’s offensive inconsistencies won’t be so concerning. It’ll be closer to 2021 UGA. Beck needs confidence, and he needs his teammates, specifically his offensive tackles and receivers, to do their job. IF, and I’m not optimistic, IF UGA can figure it out offensively and keep their stars healthy on defense, they look like the top team in the nation.

However, I also think Ewers and Texas couldn’t get the run game going and so the Dawgs could hunt on passing downs freely. UGA cannot do that against mobile QBs. 

Texas, welcome to the SEC. Not a good first impression for your fan base or football program.