BY CHARLES ODUM
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Georgia owned the fourth quarter and beat Texas — again.
Gunner Stockton threw four touchdown passes — two to Noah Thomas — and ran for a score to outplay Arch Manning as No. 5 Georgia strengthened its postseason standing by overwhelming No. 10 Texas 35-10 on Saturday night for its sixth straight victory.
The Bulldogs outscored the Longhorns 21-0 in the fourth quarter.
“It’s the approach we take,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “We’re going to dominate and try to win the fourth quarter.”
After Texas trimmed Georgia’s lead to 14-10 in the third quarter, Stockton’s 30-yard touchdown pass to London Humphreys, followed by a successful onside kick, allowed the Bulldogs to put the game away.
“I would not say that they lost composure,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said about his players’ effort late in the game. “I think we lost some focus, we lost some intensity in the fourth quarter.”
Smart said Georgia’s offense “is like a big, strong anaconda. They keep squeezing you.”
Stockton’s 6-yard scoring pass to Lawson Luckie following the recovery of the kick iced the win. Stockton added a 4-yard scoring run late in the game.
With No. 4 Alabama’s 23-21 loss to No. 11 Oklahoma earlier Saturday, Georgia (9-1, 7-1 Southeastern Conference) could move into position for a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff. The Bulldogs also boosted their hopes of defending their SEC championship.
The Bulldogs claimed a 22-19 overtime win over the Longhorns in last year’s SEC championship game in Atlanta following a win at Texas earlier in the season. Georgia’s win in the Longhorns’ first visit to Athens gave the Bulldogs three wins in two years in the series.
“We’ve got to score every time we get the ball against good teams like that,” Manning said about Georgia.
Texas (7-3, 4-2) saw its four-game winning streak end, putting its playoff hopes in jeopardy.
“We messed up a lot of stuff, and you got to look in the mirror first and realize what you could’ve done better,” Texas safety Michael Taaffe said. “Everybody — coaches, players, staff, every person that’s involved in our hunt to win each and every week — has got to be better. You can’t do the pointing finger game until you look at yourself, so I got to be better.”
Georgia has rolled since its 22-19 overtime home loss to Alabama on Sept. 27. That loss ended Georgia’s 33-game home winning streak, which was the longest active streak in FBS.
Texas linebacker Anthony Hill’s interception midway through the third quarter gave the Longhorns the ball at the Georgia 36. The Bulldogs’ first penalty, a pass interference call against Zion Branch on a third-down play, set up Manning’s 7-yard scoring pass to Ryan Wingo.
Georgia answered with a 10-play touchdown drive capped by Stockton’s 30-yard scoring pass to London Humphreys. The Bulldogs covered a fourth-and-1 play on Stockton’s 10-yard pass to Chauncey Bowens and survived another fourth down when Longhorns outside linebacker Colin Simmons was called for an offsides penalty.
Smart kept gambling by calling the onside kick recovered by Cash Jones, a native of Brock, Texas.
“Every one of y’all would have thought I was an idiot if it didn’t work, and that’s OK, too,” Smart said.
The surprise onside kick decision was a hit with Stockton.
“It was awesome,” Stockton said. “I didn’t realize we were doing that. It was a big momentum play and I’m glad it worked out for us.”
QB comparison
Stockton completed 24 of 29 passes for 229 yards. His interception was only his third of the season. He now has produced 27 touchdowns this season — 19 passing and eight rushing. “He’s playing at a high level and a high clip right now,” Smart said.
Manning, who said this week he considered signing with Georgia until the end of his recruitment, completed 27 of 43 passes for 251 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Rally Dogs
The Longhorns’ only lead was 3-0. Georgia has trailed in seven of eight SEC games this season and is 6-1 in those games.
Home cooking
Georgia improved to 9-0 at Sanford Stadium against top 10 teams in Smart’s 10 seasons. Overall, Georgia is 55-5 at home under Smart.
The takeaway
Texas: Dropped passes and penalties hurt the Longhorns. Texas drew seven penalties for 43 yards in the first half and nine for 58 yards in the game. Wingo stumbled after his catch on the Longhorns’ first snap, and that 1-yard gain set the pace for the half. Wingo had a third-down drop at the end of the 13-play drive to set up a 33-yard field goal by Mason Shipley. The Longhorns ran for only 19 yards and were successful on only 2 of 12 third downs.
Georgia: After giving up the field goal on the opening drive by Texas, the Bulldogs’ defense gave up no more points in the first half. KJ Bolden had a second-quarter interception, Gabe Harris, Quintavius Johnson and Zayden Walker sacked Manning and CJ Allen had a big third-down stop of Jack Endries for a loss of 2 yards for the defensive highlights. Allen left the game with a leg injury in the first half.
Up next
Texas: Hosts Arkansas on Saturday.
Georgia: Hosts Charlotte on Saturday.
