Clik here to view.
The Georgia Bulldogs were the last team left out of the College Football Playoff, and the No. 5 team in the nation will look to take out their frustration on the No. 15 Texas Longhorns in the Sugar Bowl on Tuesday night in New Orleans.
Gerogia was in the Playoff in 2017, winning the Rose Bowl semifinal then suffering a heartbreaking overtime loss to Alabama in the National Championship Game. The Crimson Tide was Georgia’s ouster this season as well, beating the Bulldogs again in comeback fashion in the SEC Championship Game, dropping Georgia from fourth to fifth in the final committee rankings.
That sets the stage for Georgia’s 10th trip to the Sugar Bowl, and their first in 11 years.
They face a Texas team with four wins over ranked teams in 2018, including a win over then-No. 7 Oklahoma on Oct. 6. Sophomore Sam Ehlinger leads the Longhorns attack with 3,123 yards passing to go with 25 touchdowns against only five interceptions on the season.
The Longhorns will have their hands full contending with the dynamic Georgia running back duo of D’Andre Swift and Elijah Holyfield combining for 1,993 and 17 touchdowns on the ground, averaging 6.6 yards per rush. Holyfield is 44 yards shy of giving the Bulldogs two backs with 1,000 yards rushing.
Texas is making its fourth trip to the Sugar Bowl, and the first since after the 1995 season. This is the fifth-ever meeting between Texas and Georgia, with the Longhorns owning a 3-1 all-time advantage. The Bulldogs won their last meeting, a 10-9 triumph in the 1984 Cotton Bowl.
Georgia vs. Texas prediction
S&P+ projects an 18-point blowout by Texas, though Bill Connelly cautioned, “Big 12 Championship aside, Tom Herman teams are generally very good as an underdog; that’s really the only reason to think this one ends up close”
Time, TV channel, and streaming info
- Time: 8:45 p.m. ET
- Location: Superdome, New Orleans, LA
- TV: ESPN
- Streaming: WatchESPN
- Odds: Georgia is favored by 13 points.
Sugar Bowl news
- Georgia cornerback Deandre Baker, a first-team All-American and winner of the Jim Thorpe Award as the top defensive back in college football, will sit out the Sugar Bowl in preparation for the NFL Draft. Baker will remain with the Bulldogs for the game, though he won’t play. “It was really important to him to stay with the team, we support him as a coaching staff to stay around the team, be around the team,” coach Kirby Smart said.
- With both semifinals lopsided contests, especially early, several Georgia players took to Twitter on Saturday to express their displeasure at being the last team on the outside of the College Football Playoff looking in.
