Georgia football faces Texas in the rematch

ATHENS – It will be a rematch in Atlanta as the Georgia Bulldogs will face the Texas Longhorns in the SEC Championship Game.

The Longhorns punched their ticket Saturday with a 17-7 win over Texas A&M.

Georgia came to Atlanta on November 16th with a win over Tennessee. The Longhorns took a 7-1 lead in SEC play while Georgia won 6-2.

Georgia had Saturday off after defeating Georgia Tech 44-42 in eight overtimes. Smart was clear that given the physicality of Friday’s game, his team couldn’t think too hard about who it would play.

“We have to turn around and play an outstanding opponent next week, no matter who it is,” Smart said. “And it will be physical. And I told the guys in the locker room, you can rub your bruises and sulk and do whatever you can to say, “I could have done better, but you better get ready to put it on and play again.”

Georgia has faced Texas before this season, defeating the Longhorns 30-15 in Austin. Defensively, Georgia had 7.0 sacks in the game and forced four turnovers. But quarterback Carson Beck had three interceptions in the game.

Beck has been on a roll lately, throwing 11 touchdowns and no interceptions in his last three games. GEorgia will need him to be at his best against Texas as the Longhorns will be looking to avenge their earlier loss.

“Momentum is a real thing,” Beck said. “But I mean, every week is separate from each other. Now we’re starting the postseason, you know. And it’s one week at a time. 1:0. I know I’ve probably said that about 20 times this year. But shoot, rest tomorrow. A much-needed day off for all of us. And then we’ll come back to it on Sunday.”

This is the first rematch in the SEC Championship Game since the 2017 edition. Georgia, which lost the first game to Auburn, punched its ticket to the College Football Playoff with a 28-7 victory over the Tigers.

The winner of the Georgia-Texas game will likely receive a bye into the College Football Playoff as SEC champions and one of the top four conference champions. The winner of the SEC Championship Game will play in the Sugar Bowl.

Both teams should be safe heading into the College Football Playoff. Texas was No. 3 before this week, while Georgia was No. 7. The No. 2, No. 6 and No. 12 teams all lost on Saturday. It’s worth noting that we don’t yet know how the College Football Playoff committee will punish teams that lose in the conference championship game.

The 2024 SEC Championship Game is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. ET, with ABC broadcasting the game. The game will be played in Atlanta. Georgia is 2-4 in SEC championship games under Smart, winning in 2017 and 2022.