NEW ORLEANS — Texas coach Tom Herman said he isn’t sure if Georgia is the best team he has seen on film this season, but he will soon find out one way or another.
The No. 15-ranked Longhorns (9-4) will be looking to score an upset over the No. 5-ranked Bulldogs (11-2) at 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday in the Sugar Bowl.
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Herman was asked point blank if the Bulldogs were the best team he will have faced this season, and his response indicated that he believes the best might be No. 4-ranked Oklahoma.
“I don’t know, our rival to our north is pretty danged good, too, and we had two great games against them and we respect the heck out of them,” said Herman, whose Texas team split the two games with the Sooners this season.
“But (Georgia is) different. It’s hard to say ‘best’ when you’re talking about anything, and I would say certainly different.”
Georgia certainly knows that, having been left out of the College Football Playoff after a 13-person committed deemed them not one of the “four best” in the country.
“I think they (Georgia) pose some unique challenges, with how big they are up front on both sides of the ball,” Herman said. “(but) ‘best’ is difficult, (Georgia) are certainly as good as any team we have played in our two years here.”
Herman also stopped short of saying the Bulldogs run game, which led the SEC, is better than Oklahoma’s.
“Again, different, when we played Oklahoma in the conference title game they had gone six straight games of rushing for over 290 yards, so we have a lot of respect for what they do in the run game,” Herman said.
“But it’s different. As good, certainly, the schemes are different, the tempo is different, the one thing those teams have in common are massive offensive linemen and really talented tailbacks.”
Herman said his team is confident it can beat Georgia, even as a double-digit underdog.
“For the first time in a long time, I think we understand that our best is good enough,” Herman said. “If we play our best. we can play with and/or beat any team in the country.”
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