GEORGIA NOTES:
#5/#4 Georgia (5-1, 3-1 SEC) vs. #1/#1 Texas (6-0, 2-0 SEC) Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (100,119) Oct. 19, 2024, 7:30 PM ET – ABC (Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbsreit, Holly Rowe, Katie George) UGA Coach: Kirby Smart (99-17, 9th year); UT: Steve Sarkisian (78-49, 11th year; 31-14/4th @UT) National Radio: Westwood One (Nate Gatter & Derek Rackley); ESPN College GameDay Local Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network (Learfield): Scott Howard (PxP), Eric Zeier (Analyst), D.J. Shockley (Sideline); Satellite Radio: SiriusXM (82) & on the SiriusXM App SEC Network Re-Air: TBA; Series History: UT leads 4-1 Aiming To Be Elite Against One Tough Slate The Bulldogs opened the 2024 season ranked No. 1 in the AP and US LBM Coaches poll for the third time in school history (2008, 2023). Georgia dropped to No. 2 in the AP poll after its 13-12 road win over Kentucky on Sept. 14 and remained there for another week before falling to No. 4 Alabama on Sept 28. In this week’s AP poll, the Bulldogs are at No. 5 for the third straight week. Georgia was No. 1 in the US LBM Coaches poll until its first loss when it dropped to No. 5. For the second week in a row, Georgia occupies the No. 4 spot. This week’s opponent, Texas, is in the top spot in both polls. The Bulldogs have the longest active streak of being ranked in the AP top 10 (57 straight polls). Last Saturday in Athens, Georgia used an aerial attack of 459 yards (3rd most in school history and most since 1994) to defeat Miss. State 41-31 while Texas dispatched Oklahoma 34-3 in Dallas. UT now leads the nation in Scoring Defense at 6.3 ppg and is seventh in Scoring Offense at 43.2 ppg. Georgia-Texas Tidbits *First Meeting: Georgia entered the 1949 Orange Bowl on an eight-game winning streak and No. 8 AP ranking. Texas was 6-3-1 and playing in its first Orange Bowl and posted a 41-28 win. UT ran 58 times for 324 yards and five TDs, including 107 yards and a score by Tom Landry (eventual Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame coach) in his final game. *Second Meeting: The 1957 contest came at Grant Field in Atlanta in front of a crowd of 33,000 and was the first game of 33-year-old Darrell Royal’s tenure at UT as the Longhorns won 26-7. *Third Meeting: In 1958 in Austin, Georgia was trailing 6-0 early in the 4th quarter when future Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton put himself in (coaches had planned to redshirt him as the 3rd-string QB) when he saw starting QB Charlie Britt still sitting on the bench as the team took the field. He ran in and told his teammates, “I’ve come to win this game.” He directed a 21-play, 95-yard TD drive along with a two-point conversion for an 8-6 edge. UT answered with a 17-play, 72-yard TD drive capped by a 1-yard run by Bobby Gurwitz to lift 11th-ranked Texas to a 13-8 win. *Fourth Meeting: Ask a Georgia fan what time it is in Texas and you’ll likely hear it’s Ten to Nine! In the 1984 Cotton Bowl, UT entered 11-0 and ranked No. 2 with a shot at its fifth national championship if it beat No. 7 Georgia (9-1-1). Down 9-3 with less than five minutes left, the Bulldogs took advantage of a muffed punt return by Craig Curry at the UT 24. Gary Moss recovered it and Georgia later scored on a 17-yard scamper by QB John Lastinger with 3:22 remaining for a 10-9 lead as Vince Dooley’s Dogs claimed the upset and finished with a No. 4 ranking. *Fifth Meeting: Sam Ehlinger finished with three rushing TDs and 169 passing yards to lead Tom Herman’s UT squad to a 28-21 upset of No. 6 Georgia in the 2019 Sugar Bowl. The Bulldogs finished 11-3 and ranked No. 7 while UT ended the season 10-4 and No. 9.
SMART Football: Streaks ‘n Stuff *The 2024 Senior Class is an FBS-leading 47-3 (41-1 in the regular season) since 2021. The next best marks in this span belong to Michigan (44-5) and Alabama (41-7). Georgia’s only three losses since 2021 have come to Alabama. Georgia’s 2023 Senior Class set the school record at 50-4 with two national titles, an SEC crown plus went 6-0 in bowl/CFP games. *Georgia is 51-3 in its last 54 games. A school record streak of 42 consecutive regular season victories ended Sept. 28 this year with a 41-34 defeat at No. 4 Alabama. Also, Georgia had an SEC and school record streak of 28 consecutive SEC regular season wins snap that night. *Georgia is the only team to have finished in the top 7 of the final AP poll in each of the past 7 seasons. *Head coach Kirby Smart is unbeaten against all active head coaches over the past five years except Kalen DeBoer (Alabama). Georgia is 67-7 in that span. The coaches no longer active who have wins over Georgia during this stretch: Nick Saban (3) along with Will Muschamp, Ed Orgeron and Dan Mullen. *Georgia is riding a school-record 28-game home winning streak dating to 2019, which leads in FBS. *Georgia owns the nation’s longest active bowl streak at 27 seasons and has won its last seven matchups. *In the Smart era, the Georgia defense has ended the year ranked in the top five nationally in Scoring Defense five times including leading the nation twice (2019 at 12.6 ppg & 2021 at 10.2 ppg). Also, Georgia has been ranked in the final top 10 in Scoring Offense from 2021-23. *The Bulldogs were the only FBS team to finish the 2023 season nationally ranked in the top five in both Scoring Offense (40.1 ppg/5th) and Scoring Defense (15.6 ppg/5th).
30-1 In Last 31 SEC Regular Season Games *Georgia saw its school and SEC record streak of 28 consecutive regular season wins in league play end this year at #4 UA. In the all-SEC 2020 schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bulldogs won their final three SEC regular season games and then went on a run that ended Sept. 28, 2024, in Tuscaloosa. * In 2021, Georgia posted its first perfect 8-0 mark in league play in school history. (The SEC went to eight games when it split into divisions in 1992). UA upset Georgia in the SECCG and then Georgia knocked off UA for the CFP title. * The 2022 Bulldogs followed it up with another 8-0 SEC mark, and the average margin of victory in those games was 25.5. They claimed the SEC title. * The 2023 Bulldogs made it three straight 8-0 league seasons (the only SEC school ever to accomplish that feat). It was the 10th undefeated league season in school history. UA defeated Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. * The 2024 Bulldogs are 3-1 in the SEC. They won their first one, edging UK in Lexington, fell at #4 UA and bounced back with home wins over AU and MSU the past two Saturdays. This year’s slate also features trips to #1 Texas this Saturday and then #9 Ole Miss (Nov. 9) plus the neutral site game with Florida in Jacksonville (Nov. 2). Georgia will play host to #8 Tennessee on Nov. 16 to close out the conference slate.
TEXAS NOTES:
THE OPENING KICKOFF • No. 1/1 Texas (6-0, 2-0 SEC) continues its 132nd season of football at 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday, Oct. 19, vs. No. 5/4 Georgia (5-1, 3-1 SEC) at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ABC with Chris Fowler (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst), Holly Rowe (reporter) and Katie George (reporter) on the call. • It’ll be just the third top-5 matchup in Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium history with the other two being in 2006 (#1 Ohio State 24, #2 Texas 7) and 1970 (#1 Texas 42, #4 Arkansas 7). • It’ll be a matchup between two of the nation’s winningest football programs as UT boasts the fourth most wins (954) in NCAA history while Georgia sits at ninth with 886 all-time wins. Texas holds a record of 954-392-33 (.704). The Longhorns’ 954 wins are the second most by an SEC program following Alabama’s 969 victories. • Last week, Texas defeated No. 18/16 Oklahoma, 34-3, on Oct. 12 in this year’s edition of the Allstate Red River Rivalry. It was UT’s second AP top-25-ranked win of the season. • Texas notched its first 6-0 start to a season since 2009. It’s the fourth time since 2000 that the Longhorns have started the season 6-0 (2024, 2009, 2008 and 2005). • Texas has been unanimous No. 1 in both The Associated Press and AFCA Coaches Poll for the past two weeks and held the top spot in at least one of the two major polls for five straight weeks. That’s the Horns longest streak at No. 1 since 1977 when they topped both polls for six consecutive weeks. • Following Texas’ 56-7 win over UTSA on Sept. 14, Texas moved to No. 1 in the AP Poll for the first time since Oct. 26, 2008. The Longhorns were ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll for two consecutive weeks before moving to No. 2 during Week 6. Texas is back at No. 1 for the second straight week. 6. The Longhorns are the undisputed No. 1 team after earning the No. 1 ranking for the third-consecutive week in the Coaches Poll as well. The Longhorns have 49 appearances at No. 1 in the AP Poll.
TOP-5 TUSSLE AT DKR-TEXAS MEMORIAL STADIUM • Saturday’s game between No. 1/1 Texas vs. No. 5/4 Georgia will mark just the third meeting of top-5 teams at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. It’s the first since 2006 when No. 1 Ohio State defeated No. 2 Texas, 24-7. The only previous top-5 matchup at the Longhorns home stadium came in 1970, when No. 1 Texas knocked off No. 4 Arkansas, 42-7. It will also mark the 18th time a top-5 team has played at DKR-TMS.
TEXAS X ESPN’S COLLEGE GAMEDAY • It’ll be the seventh time (third in Austin) in the last four seasons that Texas will be appearing on ESPN’s College GameDay as the pregame show airs live from the University of Texas campus this Saturday. • The show will air live from Ann Arbor for three hours from 8-11 a.m. CT, hosted by Rece Davis, Lee Corso Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, Nick Saban, Kirk Herbstreit and other ESPN personalities. • It marks the third-straight year that GameDay will broadcast at least twice in a season live from a game the Longhorns are playing in. The only other times that has occurred for the Longhorns was 2005, 2008 and 2009 when UT made three GameDay appearances those years. • Including eight visits to the Red River Rivalry and four neutral site appearances, it will mark the 24th time the GameDay set and its show will be a prominent fixture at a Texas game. The last time was earlier this season when the Longhorns defeated No. 10/9 Michigan 31-12 on the road in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Sept. 7. • Texas is 12-11 all-time when the Horns are one of the teams in College GameDay’s featured matchup, highlighted by a 5-4 mark when the show comes to the Forty Acres.
A TEXAS WIN WOULD … • Be Texas’ 955th all-time victory, the fourth-winningest program in college football history. • Give Steve Sarkisian his 79th victory as a head coach and 32nd at Texas in his 127th career game as a head coach. • Move Texas’ home winning streak to 12 games. • Secure UT’s 64th victory over Oklahoma and grant Texas a 64-51-5 series edge against the Sooners. • Record the Longhorns’ third AP Top-25 victory on the season and first AP Top-5 win of the season. • Record UT’s highest ranked win of the season and first since downing No. 3/3 Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Sept. 7, 2023. • Clinch Texas’ second-straight AP Top-25 win after defeating No. 18 Oklahoma 34-3 on Oct. 12. • Move Texas to 7-0 for the first time since 2009.