SECCG Preview: Don't replicate. Just dictate.

It's Texas. Again.

With (almost) everything on the line, Texas comes to Atlanta to face a Georgia team that bullied them in Austin.

Both teams have (likely)^* secured a spot in the CFB Playoffs. So, just go out and win right?

Yes, but as we're all hearing, it's hard to beat a team twice in one season. Some recent examples:

In 2017 Georgia "got the dogshit" beat out of them on the plains by Malzahn's Tigers. Couple weeks later, it was ALL Dawgs in Atlanta. In 2021, Alabama jumped up and surprised Georgia in the SECCG, only to see the Dawgs take care of business with it all on the line in Indy.

This is a little different with the Dawgs having slowed the Longhorns' roll to a stop in Austin back in October. So now we're avenging our road win.

You can throw most everything out the window. I think this game comes down to these two points:

1. Which team runs the ball better consistently. We stuffed their run game on Oct 19th. Wisner had two yards per carry less than his season average. For us, Etienne had a great game, but even though he's upgraded to questionable, I doubt we see him. We need Frazier to have a night!
2. Protect the Mercedes Benz' real estate. Both teams turned the ball over back in October. Longhorns' were more costly. Don't give them a short field. Live to play another series and let Thorson do his thing when necessary.

I recall being very underwhelmed by the Longhorns' offensive line after the first meeting. Perhaps that was mostly due to our Muschamp-infused defensive gameplan, because they have played much better in recent weeks. Especially in College Station last week. They've reasserted their ground attack, which could mean Sark goes earlier to Arch Manning to see how we handle the RPO. Who knows.

But we do know it's going to be hard to replicate what happened in Austin. But that doesn't mean we can't dictate what happens tomorrow in Atlanta. GATA and Go Dawgs!

^*because you never know what shit narrative the committee is going to use week to week

Initial thoughts on Texas Dos

(No, I'm not here this morning to discuss Disney's Show on Brackets. We can talk about that when it matters - Sunday afternoon.)

It's hard to come up with anything we could sink our teeth into. Mainly, because if we've learned anything this season, Georgia has a knack for starting perilously slow. Many times it's the entire team (Kentucky, Bama, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Tech). Other times it's just the offense (Clemson, Texas).

In Austin, we punched them in the mouth. No, the offense wasn't blowing fuses on the scoreboard. But a 23-0 lead at halftime doesn't just come from their QBs on the sideline looking like they are deer stuck in the headlights.

So I think we're in for a closer match on Saturday at 4pm in the Benz. From what I can tell, their offensive line play (which was abysmal in Austin) has improved. Some. If our defensive front can create something similar to the chaos they did in Austin, that would be a good place for us to start constructing some keys to this all important SEC Championship Game victory.