‘They tried to rob us’: Georgia stun No 1 Texas on first trip to Austin since 1958

Trevor Etienne ran for three touchdowns, the first two set up by cornerback Daylen Everette’s takeaways, and fifth-ranked Georgia defeated Quinn Ewers and No. 1 Texas 30-15 on Saturday night.

Etienne’s final score was a one-yard dive on fourth down with 12:04 to go. That came on the heels of an ugly sequence when Texas fans littered the field with water bottles and other trash after officials called a pass interference penalty that initially negated an interception and long return before the flag was picked up and a Longhorns TD set up.

“These players get the best out of me,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “They tried to rob us here with phone calls. And these guys are so resilient.”

Georgia (6-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference), which started the season ranked No. 1, has won three in a row since a 41-34 loss at then-No. 4 Alabama, when the Bulldogs overcame a 28-0 deficit and went late during an exchange of long TD passes.

The Bulldogs never trailed in their first trip to Austin since 1958 to take on the SEC newcomer who had gotten through the first half of its schedule virtually unscathed.

“Nobody gave us a chance. Everyone doubted us,” Smart said, then referenced ESPN’s College GameDay pregame show that aired from the Austin campus earlier in the day. ‘Did you see the show this morning? I didn’t do that because I was in meetings, but I did get 8,000 text messages about it.”

Texas (6-1, 2-1) beat reigning national champion Michigan in Week 2 and trailed by less than four minutes all season before facing back-to-back national champions for the Wolverines.

The 15-point loss was the most lopsided loss to a No. 1 team at home since Notre Dame’s 31-16 win at Pittsburgh in 1982, according to Sportradar, when Dan Marino was the Panthers’ quarterback.

“Unfortunately we didn’t play our best football tonight, but we were still competitive. Hopefully we can get them again,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “They’ve been the standard in college football for about five, six, seven years now and we played them really well in the second half.”

Georgia quarterback Carson Beck improved to 19-2 as a starter, including a 7-2 mark against ranked teams. He was 23 of 41 for 175 yards and finished with three interceptions, although Texas got none of the two he threw in the first quarter. The Longhorns had just 38 total yards when they trailed 23-0 at halftime.

Jahdae Barron’s pick and 36-yard return to the Georgia 9 late in the third quarter came after contact with Arian Smith, which drew a pass interference penalty. Sarkisian was furious with the officials and then went to the far corner of the field, where students were signaling for them to stop throwing.

While the debris was being collected, the officials discussed the game and picked up the flag. Two plays later, Ewers threw a 17-yard touchdown to Jaydon Blue to put the Longhorns up 23-15.

Ewers completed 25 of 43 passes for 211 yards.

Everette’s blind sack late in the first quarter got the ball loose from Ewers, and the defenseman recovered on the Texas 13 after several of his teammates tried to pick up the fumble. That led to Etienne’s 2-yard TD for a 7-0 lead.

A 15-yard TD run by Etienne, with a late lunge in the end zone, made it 17-0 after Everette stepped in front of a receiver for an interception at the Texas 34.

“We all always say that takeaways come in bunches,” says Everette. “We practice taking small details seriously.”

Peyton Woodring made three field goals for Georgia before halftime, the last a 44-yarder as time expired after freshman Arch Manning, starting for a second series, fumbled while being sacked.