Matthew McConaughey raves about Sanford Stadium, Georgia fans after first visit

ATHENS — Matthew McConaughey is one of the more well-known college football fans. He’s a big-time supporter of the Texas Longhorns, his alma mater, and is frequently spotted at games.

McConaughey was in attendance for the famed 2018 meeting between Georgia and Texas, where Bevo famously charged at Georgia’s beloved mascot Uga. Texas won that game 28-21.

Yet on Saturday, it was the home team that got the best of Texas, with Georgia winning 35-10.

McConaughey was on hand for Texas’s first-ever trip inside Sanford Stadium. It was also the Oscar-winning actor’s first time inside the well-respected venue.

The star of Interstellar and True Detective came away very impressed with the stadium atmosphere, as he told Theo Von on a recent episode of This Past Weekend.

“This crowd was loud from the beginning,” McConaughey said. “Especially that first half and then the second half when they started to boat row (us). They were still really loud, but they were one of the higher decibels that I’ve heard.”

Georgia raced out to an early 14-3 lead, scoring on its first two possessions of the game.

The Bulldogs would not score again until the fourth quarter, when they took a 21-10 lead. Then Kirby Smart called for an onside kick, which the Bulldogs recovered.

By the time Texas got the ball back, it trailed 28-10 and nearly 12 minutes of game action had transpired.

“You can have 30,000 more people but if the rituals and the cheers aren’t in unison, it doesn’t … It’s not as intimidating. McConaughey said. “And yeah, they were happy I was there, but they were also giving me straight horns down and going ‘we’re gonna whip your you know tonight’, you know, so it was a good (time).”

After the win, Smart took note of the impact the crowd had on the game.

“What a great atmosphere for college football, I love it,” Smart said. “Fans were impactful in the game, and I thought the whole game management crew, it was an early atmosphere. Like we got there for warmups and it was really good. They impacted the game.”