The 2024 college football season has already delivered some classic games, but another one could be on tap this weekend.
No. 1 Texas is set to host No. 5 Georgia in an SEC showdown, the first conference matchup between these two powerhouses.
The Longhorns enter Week 8 at 6-0 despite having to resort to their backup quarterback for several games. Of course, it helps when your backup is Arch Manning -- a redshirt freshman who helped the team not miss a step while Quinn Ewers dealt with an oblique injury. Ewers is now back in the lineup and Texas is fresh off a dominant 34-3 win over Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry last Saturday.
On the other side, the Bulldogs haven't quite been their usual selves in 2024. Georgia is 6-1 but the last few weeks have been shaky, with a 41-34 loss to Alabama in Week 5 and a 41-31 victory against lowly Mississippi State last Saturday. Another loss could potentially spoil Georgia's chances at making the expanded playoffs.
Former Bulldog running back Todd Gurley, despite his offensive background, sees defense being the key to victory in Saturday's contest.
"I think (Georgia) needs to, obviously, you know your typical answer, just pay sound defense," Gurley said in an interview with NBC while promoting his partnership with Bush's Beans and their new Hot Honey Grillin’ Beans. "Do your job. Do your individual job. Don't try to be a superhero and do the cornerback's job when you're the safety. Just be able to just listen to the coaches, do your job, take care of the ball.
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"That's one of the most important things, especially on offense. You know, from the receivers, no tips and overthrows. And it's going to start with (quarterback) Carson Beck, he's the leader. He's the commander in charge, obviously, other than (head coach) Kirby (Smart).
Georgia's starting quarterback has had an up-and-down season thus far. After entering the season with Heisman expectations, Beck has struggled in recent weeks. He had three costly interceptions in the loss to Alabama, and threw two more picks against Mississippi State.
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Gurley believes the 6-foot-4 senior just needs to rely on his teammates to get his season back on track.
"If your mindset is right at the beginning of the season, none of the stuff that's going on right now actually matters," Gurley said. "Because you know, football really is the ultimate team sport. We start from the coaches, even from administration to everything, to the training staff. So, I think him obviously realizing that and seeing that, like, 'Hey, I can't do this all by myself.'"
Beck won't be going into an easy environment as he looks to regain his early-season form. Texas hasn't lost at its home stadium since November of 2022.
The beginning of the game will be key for Georgia if it hopes to have any chance, Gurley believes.
"Going into Austin, having that crowd, you have to be able to try to hush that right away on the road," Gurley said. "Going to be a night game. Those guys are going to be excited. They're going against Georgia, who has been able to win a couple of national championships in the last couple of years. (Texas is) the No. 1 team in the nation, their first time in the SEC, so they're going to be trying to welcome (Georgia) to how they play football. But (Georgia) needs to be doing the same thing, vice versa."
While hesitant to pick a winner because of his obvious affinity for his alma mater, Gurley did mention the one thing that he thinks will ultimately decide who wins the game.
"Turnovers," he said. "I think turnovers from everything, from special teams to both sides, you're gonna gonna have to take care of that ball. But being able to convert points off of turnovers as well, which is a pretty simple answer too, right? It's football. We know most of the time, whoever has the most turnovers will probably end up losing a game.
"So, I think being able to just take care of the ball and getting points in the red zone, and it's going to come down to one or two red zone stops by either team, like it's just going to be stops that you need to make that's going to probably come back to haunt you in that fourth quarter at the end of the game."
Texas and Georgia will take the field for kickoff at 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, with the game airing on ABC.
