Georgia football will be in a unique position ahead of its Week 8 game against the No. 1 Texas Longhorns.
For the first time since the 2021 season-opener, Georgia football will be listed as an underdog in a game.
As of this publishing, Georgia is a 3.5-point underdog against Texas. The over/under for the game is currently at 56. The last time Georgia football was an underdog of any kind came back during the 2021 season. Georgia was a 2.5-point underdog in that game.
The Bulldogs won that day 10-3. Since then, Georgia has won multiple national championships since then.
Georgia is just 1-5 against the spread this season, with the season-opener against Clemson being the only time Georgia has covered in a game this season.
Georgia is 5-1 and ranked No. 5 in the country. But the Bulldogs will have their hands full on Saturday when it takes on the top-ranked Longhorns.
Texas has not lost a game this season and is the SEC’s last unbeaten team. Texas has won every game this season by double digits, including a 34-3 drubbing over Oklahoma this past weekend.
Georgia and Texas have a common opponent in Mississippi State. Texas beat the Bulldogs at home 35-13, while Georgia won 41-31 this past weekend.
Regardless of what the point spread says, Georgia isn’t accepting the role of underdog.
“I don’t think we’re really worried too much about outside expectations,” Georgia safety Dan Jackson said. “I don’t personally believe that we’re ever an underdog, but that’s kind of how I’ve been seeing (it) throughout my career. I’m not worried about the guys we have in our room one bit, so.”
The last time Georgia played the No. 1 team in the AP Poll, the Bulldogs came away with a win as that was back in the 2022 National Championship Game. The last time Georgia played the No. 1 team in the AP Poll during the regular season was against Florida in 2009. Georgia lost that game 41-17.
This won’t be the first time Georgia has gone on the road this season, with the Bulldogs beating Kentucky and losing to Alabama.
The task against the Longhorns will be plenty tough, especially with how head coach Kirby Smart has challenged his team this week.
“I want to see them play their best game against Texas,” Smart said. “I mean simply, stated, we have not played our best game. We have not put a complete game together, and that’s what every coach’s goal is. Right? To play your best game moving forward. That’s what’s going to be needed to go on the road at Texas and play. We got to play better and that’s the only goal I’m thinking about right now, how we play this week.”
To find a time Georgia lost to a team that wasn’t Alabama, you’d have to go back even further than the 2021 season. That came against Florida, who Georgia lost to 44-28 in 2020.
The Longhorns made the College Football Playoff a season ago and won’t be an easy team to beat, with Smart putting the Longhorns in the same weight class as some of his past championship teams.
“I mean the consistency you watch them play with it reminds me of you know some of our better teams here, our best teams here,” Smart said. “I’m like man they’re they’re good on D, they’re good on O, they’re good on special teams and they’re playing at a high level.”
Georgia’s game against Texas is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET start on ABC.
