Ahead of the 2025 season, many thought the Texas football game against Georgia would be a preview of the Southeastern Conference’s championship contest. But the reality is that as the regular season nears its homestretch, both the Longhorns and Bulldogs are fighting this weekend to stay in the title hunt.
No. 11 Texas (7-2, 4-1) heads to No. 5 Georgia (8-1, 6-1) Saturday for a showdown of significance. Because Texas and Georgia each has one conference loss and both No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 4 Alabama are unbeaten in SEC play, neither the Longhorns nor the Bulldogs can afford a setback at Sanford Stadium.
Article continues below this ad
Back in July, Texas and Georgia were picked to finish first and second in the SEC preseason poll that was voted on by the league’s media members. Georgia has won two of the last three SEC titles.
Here are five things to know about the Bulldogs:
Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton (14) throws a deep ball during the Georgia G-Day spring football game in Athens, Ga., on Saturday, April 12, 2025.
Joshua L. Jones/USA TODAY Sports
1. Texas has met Georgia QB Gunner Stockton before
Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton has emerged as a fringe contender for the Heisman Trophy. Over nine games, he has thrown for 2,040 yards and 15 touchdowns while also running for seven scores. Perhaps most notably, Stockton isn’t making many mistakes. He has completed 69.4% of his passes and just two of his 258 attempts have been intercepted.
Article continues below this ad
GOLDEN: Can Georgia continue its SEC mastery of Texas with a new QB?
This is Stockton’s first season as Georgia’s starter. But Texas is already familiar with his game. The Longhorns were introduced to Stockton in last year’s SEC championship game when the then-sophomore relieved an injured Carson Beck and helped guide the Bulldogs to an overtime win.
2. Georgia has seemingly found an offensive line that works
Georgia has done a lot of mixing and matching on its offensive line; the Bulldogs have started six different combinations up front. However, it does seem like Georgia has found some continuity in tackles Monroe Freeling and Earnest Greene III, guards Micah Morris and Dontrell Glover and center Drew Bobo. That quintet has started in each of Georgia’s last three games.
Article continues below this ad
Georgia’s line is coached by Stacy Searels, who worked at Texas under Mack Brown from 2011-13. Searels’ daughter, Taylor, is currently UT’s director of recruiting.
Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart talks to his players during a timeout against the Texas Longhorns in the second quarter at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium Saturday October 19, 2024.
Jay Janner/American-Statesman
3. Conference comebacks are commonplace for Georgia this season
Georgia is coming off a 41-21 win at Mississippi State. Georgia didn’t have to sweat in Starkville as much as Texas did Oct. 25, but the Bulldogs did find themselves trailing 7-3 at the end of the first quarter. Georgia has actually trailed in all but one of its SEC games this season. The Bulldogs did eventually lose to Alabama on Sept, 27, but Georgia successfully rallied in the fourth quarters of wins over Tennessee, Ole Miss and Florida.
Article continues below this ad
4. Georgia has been tough to beat at home
For awhile now, Georgia has enjoyed a homefield advantage at Sanford Stadium. Since the beginning of the 2020 season, Georgia is 32-1 at home. That loss, however, came this September against Alabama.
Texas has never visited Georgia’s campus before. Georgia has technically hosted Texas once, but that 1957 season opener took place in Atlanta. The Texas football program has a reason to look back fondly at that 26-7 win at Grant Field, but not because of the location: Darrell Royal made his debut as UT’s coach in that game.
MORE: Three questions facing Texas Longhorns after CFP update
Article continues below this ad
5. How often has Texas played Georgia?
Texas has won four of the seven games it has played against Georgia, and the Longhorns enjoyed a memorable win over the Bulldogs in the 2019 Sugar Bowl. Georgia, though, has gotten the recent last laughs in this series. In addition to beating Texas in the SEC championship game last year, Georgia also topped Texas by 15 points in Austin earlier last season.
