Inside Georgia football's aggressive play calling in second half vs Texas

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The end of the third quarter and start of the fourth quarter for No. 5 Georgia football in its 35-10 victory over No. 10 Texas on Saturday, Nov. 15, was pumped chock full of adrenaline.

What started off with a play review by the officials to verify if redshirt senior running back Cash Jones had gotten a first down (spoiler: he hadn't), turned into a 10-play, 73-yard scoring drive that lasted more than six minutes.

"You always want to stay a step ahead," coach Kirby Smart said.

Redshirt junior quarterback Gunner Stockton had passed 2 yards up the right to Jones on a 3rd-and-3 at the Bulldogs' own 34-yard line. The Georgia punting unit took the field but after an official review, it was determined the play resulted in a 4th-and-1. Instead of settling for a punt, Smart pulled senior punter Brett Thorson and company back to the sidelines, sending the offensive line into a gutsy attempt.

"We thought we could get the first, and I talked to Mike (Bobo) about what he would call, if we were wanting to go for it because I was not wanting to go for it," Smart said of the first fourth-down conversion. "They reviewed it, backed it up further, which wasn't great, but he had a play I liked. I'd seen him run it and we felt like it would work. And it did. A lot of credit goes to the offensive and defensive staffs in this game.

A lot of credit goes to Mike (Bobo) and to Gunner (Stockton) for executing the play."

Stockton hit redshirt freshman running back Chauncey Bowens for a 10-yard gain to reset the downs and Georgia kept pushing to another third down. At 3rd-and-13, Stockton found Jones again for 8 yards and got Georgia to 4th-and-5 on the Texas 49-yard line.

Stockton made a deep pass to senior wide receiver Noah Thomas, which came up incomplete. And as fans' boos echoed around Sanford Stadium, officials had already thrown their yellow flags.

However, it was not a pass interference call on Texas, but an offsides that evidently gave Georgia the automatic first down, lining them up for another 10-yard push on the Texas 44-yard line.

"We weren't going to go for it," Smart said of the second fourth-down conversion.

Sophomore running back Nate Frazier rushed 7 yards up the middle to run out the clock, and the quarter ended with the Bulldogs comfortably seated for a 1st-and-10 on the Texas 37-yard line to begin the fourth quarter.

When the clock reset, Stockton found Bowens again for a 7-yard gain to the Texas 30-yard line and then followed it up with a 30-yard dime to junior wide receiver London Humphreys, who was waiting in the end zone to take a 21-10 lead.

Of course, the fun wasn't over then. Prepped to turn possession over, Smart, plotting something bigger than anyone could see, sent the kicking unit out.

Georgia then completed its first successful onside kick since 2013, recovered by none other than Jones, who received the golden savage shoulder pads in return.

"We work on that a lot, we practice it a lot," Smart said of the onside kick. "Little walk on kid from Texas, Cash Jones, I bet you he's taken 250 reps of that in his time being here, and he kept asking, 'When are we going to call it coach, I'd love to do it.' Just felt like it was there. They've got the best returner in the country, and I'd already seen him enough."

Jones' onside kick turned into another near six-minute drive, running 9 plays in 53 yards and ending in a 6-yard touchdown pass from Stockton to junior tight end Lawson Luckie to stretch Georgia's lead to 28-10.

"I didn't even know we were doing it," Thomas said. "I just heard the crowd screaming. I love when we play aggressive, because that's what we are."

The Bulldogs (9-1, 7-1) will host Charlotte (1-9) on Saturday, Nov. 22, to close out their 2025 regular season home schedule. Kickoff is set for 12:45 p.m. on the SEC Network.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: How Georgia football's aggressive play calling piloted it to win vs Texas

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