Since their Oct. 19 matchup, Texas and Georgia have gone 5–0 and 4–1 respectively, solidifying their qualifications for the SEC Championship game.
Georgia’s new No. 2 ranking after its beatdown of Texas dropped drastically after a loss to No. 16 Ole Miss, in which the Bulldogs only gained 245 total yards compared to the Rebels’ 397. Redshirt senior quarterback Carson Beck was held to 186 passing yards with zero touchdowns and one interception.
Since that loss, Georgia has flown through the regular season with wins against Tennessee, the University of Massachusetts and rivals Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets put up a valiant fight last week by leading the Bulldogs for the majority of the game and then forcing Georgia to play eight overtimes. Georgia finally won the game at 44-42, with Beck throwing 28 for 43 and ending the game with 297 yards for five touchdowns.
Texas has also zoomed through the final stretch of regular season play, going 5–0 against Vanderbilt, Florida, Arkansas, Kentucky and, most recently, Texas A&M. With double-digit wins against four out of five of these teams, Texas has climbed back up to the No. 2 spot in the AP Poll after dropping down to fifth after the loss to Georgia.
Vanderbilt was the sole team that came close to becoming the Longhorns’ second loss, with the game ending at 27-24 after a close second half. Junior quarterback Quinn Ewers threw for 288 yards — over 100 yards more than Vanderbilt’s quarterback, senior Diego Pavia — and three touchdowns.
In the most recent game against Texas A&M, Ewers threw for 218 yards and one touchdown. But the real star of the show was sophomore running back Quintrevion Wisner who had 33 carries for 186 yards. His performance cemented him as a key playmaker in Texas’ 11-man rotation. The Longhorns won the Lone Star Showdown 17-7, which bumped them up from No. 3 to No. 2 in the AP Poll.
Both teams’ defenses have put on stellar performances in the weeks following Oct. 19, with Georgia ranked fifth nationally and Texas ranked third in run defense. In both passing and rushing, Georgia has allowed an average of 332.1 yards per game, while Texas has allowed 247.2 yards per game from its opponents. Texas has only given up one 300-yard game this season, and it came against Florida.
Now, Georgia is entering the SEC Championship fifth in the AP Poll and second in the SEC. Texas will be traveling to Atlanta as second in the poll and first in the SEC, guaranteeing watchers a matchup between the SEC’s best on both the offensive and defensive sides.