College Football Game of the Week: No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs vs. No. 1 Texas Longhorns

The No. 1 Texas Longhorns will be looking to stay at the top of the polls as they go head-to-head with the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs in a must-watch game for Week 8.

Texas heads into the contest undefeated at 6-0 with senior quarterback Quinn Ewers returning after being sidelined for close to a month with an oblique injury. Ewers returned to the field last week against then No. 18 ranked Oklahoma, throwing for 199 yards and totaling 2 touchdowns. Texas would win this game 34-3, continuing to prove they are a top team, especially with their starting quarterback.

Georgia’s campaign up to this point has been strong as well being 5-1, with their only loss coming from Alabama. The Crimson Tide would win the Week 5 matchup 41-34, but since the defeat, Georgia has built their momentum back up and looks to get back to the top of the polls where they sat at the beginning of the season.

Mississippi State traveled to Athens last week for a battle between the bulldogs, with Georgia ultimately coming out on top 41-31. The better of the Bulldogs look to keep this momentum going as they head to Austin this Saturday.

The Georgia offense runs through the backfield of senior quarterback Carson Beck and junior running back Trevor Etienne. Beck has nearly 2,000 yards on the season with a 3-to-1 touchdown-interception ratio. Etienne on the other hand has accumulated 335 yards of his own and scored four touchdowns in the season's first six games.

With the two prolific offenses going at one another, defense will play a huge role in the outcome of the game

Texas has been near impossible to score on this year, with their defense only allowing 38 points up to this point in the season. This has easily cemented them as the country's best defense up to this point and it will be interesting to see if Georgia can be the team to break them down.

On the other hand, Georgia sits at No. 28 defensively, having only allowed 96 points themselves.

This will be the first time the schools have played each other since 2019, when they faced off in that year's Sugar Bowl. Texas won the bowl game 28-21. However, with that game taking place over five years ago, both schools have completely different teams heading into their first matchup as conference opponents.

Going into the game Texas is listed as the favorites by a small margin, but counting out the Bulldogs would not be a wise decision for the Longhorns. The result will have major implications for the SEC Championship later in the year.

A Texas loss would create another one-loss team in the conference, while a Texas win might result in eliminating Georgia from a chance to play in the conference championship at the end of the season. This would be rough for Georgia fans, as this could be the second straight season they are out of the playoffs after winning the National Championship in back-to-back years in both 2021 and 2022.

Charles Wesolowski is a first-year majoring in journalism. To contact him, email cjw6772@psu.edu.