Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs pulled out a massive 30-15 win at Texas Saturday night, knocking Longhorns, who had been ranked No. 1, from the ranks of the unbeaten.
The win boosted Georgia to No. 2 in the country in both major polls, behind top-ranked Oregon. With quarterback Carson Beck struggling and throwing three interceptions, it was on running back Trevor Etienne (87 rushing yards and three touchdowns) and the Georgia defense, which forced four turnovers from Texas quarterbacks Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning, to carry the load. Overall, it was a needed bounce-back for the Bulldogs, who were the No. 1 team for the first few weeks of the season before losing at Alabama.
It was also a victory that ESPN’s College GameDay panel did not see coming. Five GameDay members-host Rece Davis and analysts Lee Corso, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Nick Saban–picked the Longhorns.
Kirk Herbstreit abstained, as he always does for games he calls for ABC.
After the victory, Kirby Smart’s 12-year-old son Andrew made sure to let the GameDay crew know they got it wrong, posing for a photo showing the a screenshot of all of their picks.
Georgia tight end Oscar Delp posted the picture of young Andrew on his Instagram story.
— Jonathan Williams (@Dr_JWill) October 20, 2024
Wonder how Kirby felt about his son having some fun at the GameDay panel’s expense, especially Saban, his former boss.
Smart is definitely enjoying the victory though, one Georgia had to get with tough matchups against No. 18 Ole Miss and No. 7 Tennessee, plus the annual rivalry game against Florida, on the docket in the coming weeks.
Related: Week 9 Coaches’ Poll Top 25 Released After Wild Saturday