Texas lost to Georgia 22-19 in Saturday's SEC Championship Game. Here is what Longhorn head coach Steve Sarkisian had to say after the game.
"I think the challenging games like this is to maximize the opportunities when you get them. In the first half we had some great opportunities and we just couldn't capitalize the way we would have liked. Clearly the penalties were an issue in the first half where we stalled out on some things and for the in some third-and-longs and whatnot. Our defense played a fantastic first half. I think it was like 260 yards to 54. But the score was 6-3. Clearly we went capitalizing on the opportunities we had. They made the change at quarterback. I think it sparked them some, provided some different style of offense running the quarterback. I thought our guys showed a great deal of resiliency and fight today to fight back to force overtime. But at the end of the day we weren't effective enough in the high red to put touchdowns on the board. I think that in and of itself was probably a microcosm of the game because we had plenty of opportunities, but we didn't capitalize on them."
On Georgia's defense in the red zone: "They're a good football team. They've got good schemes, good players. There were a couple bang-bang plays we weren't able to get. I think the negative plays kind of hurt us when we got there. I think a couple of the penalties when we got down there hurt us, as well. You're playing behind the chains, which is never where you want to be in the red area. Anytime you're in third-and-long in the high road, red, those are difficult circumstances to be in. I wish we could have executed a little bit better earlier in the game and stretch the lead when we had some better opportunities. Late in the game, at the end of the ballgame, some of those throw-type situations... The overtime was kind of a microcosm of the game. We couldn't put the Bailey in the end zone. We had to settle for a field goal. That opened the door for them to score and win the ballgame. If we're fortunate enough to see them again, we're going to have to improve in that area."
On what he went through at the end of the game: "Yeah, no, this was a heck of a football team. Like I said, I have a ton of respect for their program and their team. What Kirby has done here for seven, eight years now. We knew it was going to take 60 minutes. I didn't know it was going to take 60 minutes plus overtime. We challenged them on Monday about whatever you got in your tank, we got to empty the tank Saturday. We'll have plenty of time to recharge our batteries and refuel our tank. I think every guy that was out there battling, competing, left it all out there. That's all you can ask as a coach."
On if he feels Texas should have to play this game and how he feels about the extra wear and tear: "I really value this game. I think this game means a ton to the Southeastern Conference. We joined this conference. I was fortunate enough to be part of this conference as an assistant, coached in it twice. This is a heck of a game. It's an honor to play in it. It was an honor to play in it today. We didn't come out on top. Especially the way it's structured where not everybody gets to play everybody. I think it's probably the right thing to do, to have a championship game. Now it's our job to kind of regroup and get ourselves as healthy as we can to go compete in a Playoff. We have time. We essentially have a bye to get ready for that game. We'll do the best we can. I know our players will from a rehab and recovery standpoint. We'll find out who we're playing, put together a plan and go to work."
On Georgia's fake punt: "We had a return set up. They ran a motion. I thought we actually defended it relatively well. We had a return on where we were doubling the gunner. We lost some of our edge containment there. I thought Jahdae did a heck of a job of chasing the motion. The kid they flipped the ball to is a 10 200 meter guy. I know him well, recruited him out of high school. It turns into a foot race at that moment. It wasn't like we got completely duped and had no clue. By the same Jahdae could make that tackle, it was fourth and five or something, and they might have gained six or seven yards on the play. It was a bang-bang play. Nice play by them. Good execution."
