Georgia coach Kirby Smart didn't want to give Texas a chance to hang around.
No. 5 Georgia perfectly executed a fourth-quarter onside kick in its 35-10 win over No. 10 Texas to move to 9-1 overall and become a virtual lock for the College Football Playoff.
After Gunner Stockton hit London Humphreys for a 30-yard TD and a 21-10 lead with 14:20 to go, the Bulldogs lined up for what seemed to be a routine kickoff. It was not. Kicker Peyton Woodring perfectly bounced a ball to running back Cash Jones against an unsuspecting Texas return team and Georgia retained possession.
GEORGIA RECOVERS THE ONSIDE KICK 😱pic.twitter.com/dQCcAcRXdi
— ESPN (@espn)November 16, 2025
Nine plays later, Stockton rolled to his right and found Lawson Luckie for a 6-yard TD and an 18-point lead that was insurmountable at that point.
Stockton finds Luckie for TD #⃣4⃣📺: ABC#GoDawgspic.twitter.com/AVTW0sb9dj
— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball)November 16, 2025
Just like it was a year ago, Texas' offense was hamstrung by Georgia's defense all night. The Longhorns trailed 14-3 at halftime and had little chance of getting back into the game after Georgia moved to effectively end the game early in the fourth quarter.
Texas QB Arch Manning didn't have the best game of his career — but he also didn't have much help from his receivers. In the first half, Texas went three-and-out thanks to three consecutive drops on well-thrown passes. But Manning's lone interception of the game wasn't close to his intended receiver and the Texas run game didn't provide a credible threat.
Stockton, meanwhile, showed why he could be a Heisman finalist by the end of the season. He finished with five total touchdowns after a rushing TD extended the Bulldogs' lead to 25 points.
To put it another way, Stockton had as many total touchdowns as he had incompletions. He finished 24-of-29 passing for 229 yards and four touchdowns with an interception while rushing six times for 29 yards and a TD.
He threw two first-half touchdowns to Noah Thomas. The Texas A&M transfer entered the game with just eight catches all season after he had 39 grabs for 574 yards and eight scores with the Aggies in 2023. Saturday night, Thomas doubled his season touchdown total in just 30 minutes.
Gunner Stockton to Noah Thomas for 6️⃣Watch Texas-Georgia on ABC and the ESPN Apppic.twitter.com/zQFWUyeoIO
— ESPN (@espn)November 16, 2025
Thomas' relative lack of production in 2025 is a great example of the receiving depth that Georgia accumulated after the 2024 season. The Bulldogs desperately needed better receivers a season ago and added Thomas and USC's Zachariah Branch in the transfer portal while bringing back Colbie Young and Humphreys after they had transferred ahead of the 2024 season.
Texas should miss the College Football Playoff
Georgia is a national title contender. Texas is not. And the Longhorns should miss the College Football Playoff. Even if they beat Texas A&M in the final week of the season.
Saturday night's game exposed flaws that Texas was never able to correct all season. The Longhorns have had a hard time putting together a consistent game thanks to an offensive line that has never been excellent. Manning has shown flashes in his first year as a starter, but he's still prone to an errant throw or two and the run game hasn't been as reliable as it was in 2024.
A year ago, Texas averaged 4.3 yards a carry. This season, the Longhorns are averaging fewer than 4 yards a rush attempt.
That's put more pressure on Manning as the offense also replaced its top two receivers from the 2024 season.
There's a slim chance the Longhorns could sneak into the playoff at 9-3 if they beat the Aggies. But that would require a lot of losses by teams ahead of them in the CFP rankings. While Texas can boast losses to both No. 1 Ohio State and No. 5 Georgia, it also needed overtime to beat Kentucky and Mississippi State — two of the worst teams in the SEC — and lost at Florida.
That's a résumé that's not playoff-worthy when compared to other at-large teams at 11-1 or 10-2.