Saturday night in Athens delivered a harsh reality check for Texas. The Longhorns suffered an embarrassing 35-10 beatdown at Georgia’s hands. For the unversed, this marked their third straight loss to the Bulldogs.
Now, ESPN just dropped its Week 12 college football power rankings, and it showed how much Burnt Orange damaged them. Kirby Smart’s squad jumped slightly, but the Longhorns did slide from No. 11 all the way down to No. 17.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach broke down the entire scenario because Arch Manning’s numbers were just half of the story.
Manning completed 27 of 43 attempts for 251 yards with one touchdown. His ratio of successful passes improves, but not the mechanics, which are still inconsistent.
The offensive line got cooked from the jump. Manning took three sacks, and Georgia held Texas to a pathetic 23 rushing yards on 17 attempts. It is very surprising to see the Bulldogs have limited the Longhorns to 35 rushing yards or fewer for the third straight game.
They committed nine penalties for 58 yards and dropped numerous passes. Then, Bulldog’s fourth-quarter dominance added insult to the injury. They outscored the Longhorns 21-0 and an onside kick recovery sealed Texas’s fate.
Bulldogs jumped from No. 5 to 4 in the same rankings, a one-spot jump that might not look so crazy after dominating a primetime showdown.
However, they are set for a CFP berth with a 9-1 record, while the Longhorns now sit with three losses. Historically, no three-loss team has ever made the College Football Playoff.
But they still have a chance to play spoiler. Longhorns host rival Texas A&M on November 28 in a matchup that could end the Aggies’ shot at reaching the SEC title game.
But this is very critical math. They cannot afford to make room for any single error since this is not a cherry cake recipe for playoff football.
Sami Haider is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. His coverage spans the NFL, NBA, MMA, boxing and NASCAR, with work featured in Sports Illustrated, EssentiallySports, College Football Network and Pro Football & Sports Network. Haider covers breaking news, game recaps, player updates, previews and predictions, and historical features across Texas sports.