MARLER: Georgia reminds Texas of long road to the top

By Chris Marler

ATLANTA — Georgia and Texas went to Atlanta to answer some questions. 

Was Texas going to run through the SEC in their first year in the league? Was Georgia going to once again fall short in the same building that’s haunted them for years? Who was going to win the conference and earn a first round bye in the College Football Playoff?

Perhaps the biggest answer we got was confirmation of what we knew all along, substance over style still reigns supreme in the SEC.

Kirby Smart told us that in October when these two first met. Counting Georgia out is a fool’s errand.

Sure, this Georgia team may not be as dominant or elite as any they’ve had in the last three seasons. This may even be the most flawed Georgia team since Kirby Smart’s first in 2016. Call them flawed, call them maddening, call them underachieving. All of those things may be true. What else is true is that this is the most battle tested team in the country. Nobody earned more on the field this season than Georgia.

This team finished the regular season with five games against top 20 teams. Four of those were away from home. Three of those were true road games. Two of those resulted in losses. And almost zero people seemed to think that would ultimately pay off in their favor in the postseason when the games matter most.

Strength of schedule matters. Especially in this league. Saturday showed that once again.

Texas did nothing remotely close to that. Texas did less than almost any other teams contending for a CFP spot.

Georgia played the No. 3 ranked strength of schedule in the country. Texas played the weakest strength of schedule in the conference.

Georgia had 35 days between home games. Texas played eight different SEC opponents and got to play against a backup quarterback in four of them.

Six of the seven SEC teams that Texas played this year not named Georgia finished in the bottom seven of the SEC standings. Only one of those seven teams finished above .500.

Again, strength of schedule matters. That’s why it’s been a calling card of the SEC for years and a staple in every argument that’s been made in favor of contenders from the conference to make this year’s playoff.

Texas came into the SEC and the 2024 season with a ton of talent, tradition, and above all else, arrogance. They’ll finish this portion of the season with two losses, zero wins over currently ranked teams, and a lot more humility than they had before. They’ll also finish with a spot in the playoff.

However, to think of what Texas was given in comparison to what Georgia earned, obvious questions about Texas as a legitimate contender remain.