No. 5 Georgia hands No. 1 Texas its 1st loss of the season after trash thrown on field

AUSTIN (KXAN) — No. 1 no longer resides in Austin, Texas.

No. 5 Georgia jumped out to a 23-0 halftime lead behind an incredible defensive effort and short fields following turnovers. It held on during a wild second half that saw fans throw trash on the field to beat top-ranked Texas 30-15 on Saturday at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium.

The Bulldogs dominated the first half with its defense, allowing Texas to rush for two yards and gain 38 yards of total offense. Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian replaced starting quarterback Quinn Ewers in the middle of the second quarter with Arch Manning after a slow start but the offense still sputtered. Ewers returned to the game and played the entire second half.

"I felt Quinn was a little uneasy and I wanted to give him a chance to step back and regroup," Sarkisian said. "I didn't know if we'd get a series or two with Arch depending on the clock, but I felt it was effective. Quinn played better in the second half, and he's our starting quarterback. I appreciate the fact we have a backup like Arch who can come in and provide a spark. But at the end of the day, Quinn is our starter. We have to do a better job around him and we have to coach better."

Ewers and Manning lost fumbles in the first half that Georgia converted to 10 points.

The Longhorns scored on their first drive of the second half to cut Georgia's lead to 23-8, and then things went sideways. Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron intercepted a Carson Beck pass and returned it 36 yards to the Bulldogs' 9-yard line, but an official flagged Barron for pass interference.

That caused Texas fans near and inside the student section to throw bottles and trash onto the field after the replay was shown on the stadium jumbotron. The replay showed contact between Barron and Georgia receiver Arian Smith, and while stadium personnel were cleaning up the mess and Sarkisian was yelling at fans to stop, officials talked about the play. The referee, Matt Loeffler, announced that "after discussion," the play was reversed to count Barron's interception and return, erasing the penalty. Texas scored two plays later to cut the deficit to 23-15.

"I was just asking the official what he saw to warrant DPI, and then the trash came on the field," Sarkisian said. "I understand the frustration and we all were in the moment, but I know Longhorn Nation can be better than that."

Sarkisian said the officials didn't tell him why they reversed the call.

During ESPN's postgame interview, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said the officials "tried to rob us with calls in this place," in response to the decision.

The SEC released a statement about the call a couple of hours after the end of the game that said, "the game officials gathered to discuss the play, which is permitted to ensure the proper penalty is enforced, at which time the calling official reported that he erred, and a foul should not have been called for defensive pass interference."

The statement continued, "while the original evaluation and assessment of the penalty was not properly executed, it is unacceptable to have debris thrown on the field at any time. The disruption of the game due to the debris being thrown onto the field will be reviewed by the Conference office related to SEC sportsmanship policies and procedures."

The Bulldogs tacked on another score in the fourth quarter and held off a last-gasp Texas effort. Georgia's average starting field position in the first half was its own 47-yard line and its own 38-yard line for the entire game. Texas turned the ball over on downs four times.

"We had the fight, we just didn't play well enough tonight," Sarkisian said. "I was proud of the team's ability to come into the locker room at halftime and regroup. We had to get a little more desperate and had to go for it on fourth down late. We didn't play our best, but we were still competitive."

Ewers finished 25-for-43 for 211 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He was sacked five times and Texas was 2-for-14 on third down. Gunnar Helm caught six passes for 62 yards.

Sarkisian said Ewers, "wasn't at his best."

"A lot of things I've seen him do I wasn't quite seeing," Sarkisian said. "I didn't think his eyes were where they needed to be, but he competed his tail off in the second half."

For Georgia, Beck finished 23-for-41 for 175 yards with three interceptions. Running back Trevor Etienne scored three touchdowns and rushed for 89 yards on 13 carries.

Georgia notched seven sacks for 59 yards and 10 tackles for loss. Texas averaged 1.1 yards per play in the first half. The Bulldogs had two players ejected in the second half for targeting calls, Joenel Aguero and Dan Jackson.

"They did a nice job disguising and held their two-safety shells," Sarkisian said. "They're well-coached and made it difficult to find explosive plays. They have talented players with talented coaches."

The game's attendance, 105,215, set a DKR record by two people, edging the crowd of 105,213 that showed up for the 2022 game against Alabama.

Texas (6-1, 2-1 SEC) travels to Nashville, Tennessee, next week to take on Vanderbilt at 3:15 p.m. on the SEC Network. Georgia (6-1, 4-1) has a bye and then takes on Florida in Jacksonville on Nov. 2 for the rivalry game nicknamed "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party."