GEORGIA
It’s not a Playoff game, but it’s a darned fun bowl trip, so it’s time to switch gears and focus on the Sugar Bowl, where Georgia will meet the Texas Longhorns on New Year’s night.
It’s Georgia’s first trip to the Sugar Bowl in 11 years, and there are worse places than New Orleans to ring in 2019. Georgia doesn’t have much history with Texas — only four games — so this is a rare matchup of college football elites that should be fun.
Here are five things to know about the Longhorns:
1. How the Longhorns got here
The Sugar Bowl has tie-ins with the SEC and the Big 12, and since Alabama and Oklahoma are in the College Football Playoff, we get this matchup of the second-best teams in each league.
Texas finished the season 9-4, losing its rematch with Oklahoma 39-27 on Saturday in the Big 12 title game. The Longhorns gave Oklahoma its only loss back in October. Their losses were to Maryland, Oklahoma State and West Virginia. Georgia, of course, is 11-2, with losses to LSU and Alabama.
Tom Herman has the Longhorns heading in the right direction after a near decade of ineptitude. He was 7-6 a year ago and is two games better — so far — this year. This is Texas’ first major bowl berth since winning the 2009 BCS National Championship Game over USC.
2. Their best offensive player is QB Sam Ehlinger
Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Texas struggled to run the ball all year, so it relied heavily on quarterback Sam Ehlinger to win games. He threw for 3,125 yards and had 25 touchdown passes to only 5 interceptions. He went 10 games in a row this season without throwing a pick.
The sophomore from Austin, Texas, is 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, and he doesn’t mind running the ball and running people over in the process. He ran for 418 yards and 13 touchdowns this year, accounting for more than half of Texas’ 21 rushing touchdowns. He has been called a right-handed Tim Tebow by a few analysts.
3. Their best defensive player is Charles Omenihu
Charles Omenihu is a beast. The 6-foot-6, 275-pound defensive lineman led the Longhorns in sacks with 9.5 and had at least a half-sack in eight of their 13 games. He was named the Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year.
They don’t play a lot of defense in the Big 12, but don’t let that fool you when it comes to Omenihu, the senior from Rowlett, Texas. He’s explosive off the ball and will command some occasional double teams. Another guy to watch out for is defensive back Caden Sterns. He had 4 interceptions this year and was named the Big 12’s Defensive Freshman of the Year.
4. Their history with the SEC
There’s not a lot of recent history with the SEC. The Longhorns beat Missouri last year 33-16 in the Texas Bowl to finish its 2017 with a winning record at 7-6. They lost to Arkansas 31-7 at the end of the 2014 season. They played a home-and-home with Ole Miss in 2012-13, splitting the series.
Their biggest rival in the SEC, of course, is Texas A&M, but they’ve refused to play each other since A&M bolted for the SEC in 2012. They have played Georgia twice in bowl games, losing 10-9 in the 1983 Cotton Bowl and winning the 1948 Orange Bowl 41-28.
5. Worth noting … the coolest name ever
Yep, the coolest name ever has to belong to Lil’Jordan Humphrey, the junior wide receiver for the Longhorns. The first time I watched a Longhorns game that he played in, I kept wondering why the announcers were calling Jordan Humphrey “little” every time they mentioned his name. Then I finally got it.
It’s not just the name that will catch your attention. He’s a tremendous receiver. He has 79 catches this season for 1,109 yards and 9 receiving touchdowns. He has also run for a score, so he will definitely have the attention of Georgia’s secondary.
Let’s go dawgs! BTHOtu
Anybody remember the last time Georgia had to take the Consolation Prize of the Sugar for a loss to Alabama? Colt Brennan remembers.
If UGA clobbers Texas and I believe it will be ugly if Georgia doesn’t sulk which I think they will play angry and Alabama plays close to their potential against OU and both the BIG12 teams are put to shame can we(playoff commitee) not forget this when the argument comes around next year for possibly two SEC teams in the playoff.
I agree completely. The perception is that the teams in the Big 10, the Big 12, and the PAC 12 are soft compared to the SEC, but that’s only because it’s true. The eye test shows that the 4 best teams in the country include Bama and Georgia both. Clemson’s right up there with those two, but Oklahoma’s nowhere near any of those 3 teams. Looking at the bowl schedule, I’m a little concerned about South Carolina, but I think the SEC will sweep all the other games.
Clemson is equal to Bama and Georgia? Who have they played. They gave up over 500 passing yards to the Gamecocks. They are suppose to have one of the top defenses in the country. Yeah, right?
They are pretty good at run defense and the passing defense can be salty. I still say Bama would beat them by 20, but I wouldn’t put money on anything over 14.
Season BCS game Opponent Result
2004 Rose Bowl No. 12 Michigan W 38–37
2005 Rose Bowl (BCS National Championship Game) No. 1 USC W 41–38
2008 Fiesta Bowl No. 10 Ohio State W 24–21
2009 BCS National Championship Game No. 1 Alabama L 21–3
Get your sht straight. Texas lost the 2009 natty to Bama. It was the 2005 one they won to USC.
I think they lost to Bama in 2010, right? 2009 was Florida.
Sucks to call out someone for being wrong, only to end up wrong in your correction. Gig’em is right, 2009 was OK and Florida.
Five things to know about Tennessee’s bowl game opponent:
Are you lost?
It’s called sarcasm
It’s called dumbas$ism
Most of that article is right except that the Longhorns weren’t in the 2009 BCS championship game. The Longhorns lost in 2010 against The Tide because they only brought one effective QB to the game – Colt McCoy was really good, but once he left the game with an injury, the game was essentially over and The Tide added a championship to their wall. The Longhorns beat USC in 2005.
I bring up the discrepancy to say that Longhorns are proud of their record, so Georgia shouldn’t sleep on the bowl game and definitely should set a very early curfew in New Orleans for New Years Eve. The Longhorns aren’t very good this year, and if the Dawgs bring the game they brought to Atlanta last night, they’ll beat the ‘horns by 50. The Longhorns have been irrelevant for quite some time, though, and they will definitely be focused, so don’t let them gain an inch they don’t deserve. Give them a good Georgia beatdown and keep ’em there.
Please, please, please, Dawgs,
Beat the H3!! outta tu. The worst the better. Those of us from A&M are thoroughly sick of hearing how “Texas is back”. Please make it clear to them that the only back they are is back to being a doormat for SEC teams.
Also, I am looking forward to our game next year. I am hoping for one for the ages. Maybe without the 7 OTs, but a good clean game.
OH God please no 7 OTs!
Listen to aggy pointing out what “irrelevance” looks like. LMAO! Just like Arkansas said 25 years ago. “We’re irrelevant here in the Big-12, so we’ll just go to the SEC and be irrelevant there!”
You do realize the Aggies are better than the Longhorns right now right? Horns complain that it’s only Herman’s second year, but it took exactly one year with a subpar class for Jimbo to outdo Herman. How do you imagine that will play out next year when Jimbo has the players he recruited here? Horns fans are petrified that the Aggies actually are relevant. Your obsession with them has been amusing, although sad, to watch over the past few years.
Why isn’t UGA playing somebody better. Why not west va. Several match ups seem way off to me.
The Sugar Bowl is always the SEC Champ vs Big 12 Champ. Since both those teams are in the Playoffs the losing teams play in the Sugar Bowl!
The loser does not always get to go to the Sugar Bowl in this situation. It’s pretty much up to the conference. West Virginia could have went (fewer losses), but I don’t think the Big 12 wanted to see t.u. drop to a mediocre bowl game after competing for the conference championship.