Another big game at Sanford Stadium, another most predictable outcome

ATHENS — Was there any reason to doubt?

For its first visit to Sanford Stadium, No. 10 Texas brought a vaunted defense and the biggest name in college football at quarterback.

On a night when Kirby Smart brought his talented team to bear, the Longhorns’ arsenal was not nearly enough for the appointed task.

Alabama proved earlier this season that Georgia is not unbeatable at home, although it helps to be Alabama, Smart’s lone nemesis.

But, otherwise, the challenge of beating the Bulldogs at Sanford remains among the most fruitless of pursuits in all of college football.

Saturday night, Smart had his No. 5 Bulldogs tuned up to drum the Longhorns, playing more physically, energetically and cleanly in their 35-10 win. Texas had not lost by that wide a margin since 2015.

“That’s why they’ve kind of been the standard of college football for the last 10 years,” Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said.

Pitted against the No. 2 rushing defense in Football Bowl Subdivision, Georgia outgained Texas 128-23 in the run game. The Longhorns committed nine penalties to one by the Bulldogs.

“We always take pride in saying at Georgia, if we do what we’re supposed to do, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing or who’s on the other side of the ball,” right tackle Earnest Greene III said. “We’ll do what we’re supposed to and be successful.”

On top of that, Georgia seized moments with deft fourth-down conversions, well-timed blitzes and, most memorably, a surprise onside kick that caught the Longhorns flat-footed.

In so doing, Smart’s well-prepared Bulldogs brought the twin objectives of securing a spot in the College Football Playoff and winning the SEC championship closer than ever.

On a bonkers Saturday, Sanford Stadium offered a sanctuary of predictable sameness.

On the same day that its top-10 SEC peers were falling behind by 27 points to three-win South Carolina before rallying (No. 3 Texas A&M), losing to Oklahoma for the second year in a row (No. 4 Alabama) and fighting for its life against head coach-bereft Florida (No. 7 Ole Miss) — all in their home stadiums, no less — Georgia was as dependable as the tide (the ocean kind, not the crimson one).

Big games at Sanford nearly always end the same way — with Smart walking jubilantly off the field with his family to the full-throated cheers of the red-clad masses.

In Smith’s tenure, Georgia is now 16-2 against top-25 opponents at Sanford and 9-0 against top-10 opponents.

Under his leadership, the Bulldogs are 31-4 against SEC teams in Athens. Overall, UGA is 55-5 at Sanford under Smart and three of the losses occurred in his first season.

In those nine wins over top-10 opponents, the average margin of victory has been 18.4 points. This is not threading a needle. It has been a series of muggings achieved through preparation and execution.

Saturday night, Bulldogs players were fueled by a phrase driven home by Smart during the week — “down and dirty.”

“That’s our persona; that’s who we are,” Smart said. “If you’re willing to get down and dirty, if you want to get down in the weeds and you want to go in there and hit people, stop people, crack people — if you’re wiling to get down and dirty, then we’re going to take it down there and we’re going to see how long you’re willing to stay down there with us and how long you want to do it.”

Georgia’s willingness to be the tougher team revealed itself most clearly in the fourth quarter. Leading 14-10 going into it, the Bulldogs outscored the Longhorns 21-0, outgaining them 119-64 and holding the ball for 11:18 of the 15 minutes.

“It’s the approach we take — we’re going to dominate and try to win the fourth quarter,” Smart said.

The chef’s kiss moment was the surprise onside kick early in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Gunner Stockton had led the offense on a 10-play, 73-yard touchdown drive extended by two fourth-down conversions that put the Bulldogs up 21-10.

That score had followed Texas cashing in Stockton’s lone interception for its only touchdown of the game, which tightened up the game at 14-10.

Kicker Peyton Woodring struck a textbook onside kick that hopped right into the arms of Cash Jones, giving Georgia the ball at its 47-yard line.

“Coach, he’d been telling us, big-time games, we’re going to need something to use to give the team some momentum,” said safety K.J. Bolden, a member of the kickoff team.

“That’s something we’ve been practicing all week, and he kept telling us we were going to run it,” he added. “I didn’t kind of believe him at first — I’m not going to lie — but he called it and we executed it so perfect.”

With the Texas defense summoned back to the field, the Bulldogs drove 53 yards for a touchdown and an unassailable 28-10 lead. Texas, which came into the game allowing 78.2 rushing yards per game, gave up 38 rushing yards on that drive alone.