ATLANTA – The Texas Longhorns took a narrow 6-3 lead into halftime over the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship on Saturday in Atlanta.

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers was impressive in the first two quarters, completing 16 of 25 passes for 228 yards and one interception. Longhorns receiver Matthew Golden was the star of the first half, however, as he had four catches for 107 yards after the first quarter. He finished the first half with five catches for 112 yards.

As for Georgia, quarterback Carson Beck completed 7 of 13 passes for 56 yards. The Texas defense held Georgia to just 61 yards of total offense.

However, the Longhorns committed a whopping eight penalties for 80 yards in the first half, which made the difference despite strong play from offense and defense.

The Longhorns got the ball first and things seemed to be flying through the air early. Ewers found DeAndre Moore Jr. for a 22-yard gain on 3rd-and-4 before connecting with Golden for a 19-yard gain. However, a pass intended for Isaiah Bond on 3rd-and-9 ended up high in the air, allowing Georgia defenseman Daylen Everette to get his third takeaway against Texas this season.

The Bulldogs couldn’t capitalize on the turnover and quickly went three-pointers.

Golden continued to shine on Texas’ second drive. Ewers found him open for a 50-yard gain on 3rd-and-14 before connecting with Bond for a 22-yard pickup two plays later. But an offensive pass interference call on Bond on the next snap set Texas back, forcing the Longhorns to settle for a 41-yard field goal from Bert Auburn.

Texas took a 3-0 lead.

The Texas defense continued to shine early, forcing another Georgia punt on the Bulldogs’ second drive. The Longhorns took over the offense, which led to more magic from Golden. On 3rd-and-14, he made a 32-yard grab to maintain possession.

Facing a 4th-and-1 outside the red zone, Arch Manning entered the game but acted as a decoy on a direct snap to Jaydon Blue. Despite the first down, a holding penalty on Bond a few plays later forced Texas to settle for a field goal again as Auburn extended the lead to 6-0.

Georgia finally got its first first down of the game, non-penalty, when Beck passed to Ben Yurosek up the middle for a 19-yard gain. However, the Texas defense came up big again, keeping the Bulldogs out of the red zone and forcing a 44-yard field goal from Peyton Woodring.

Georgia cut the lead to 6-3.

After two first-down grabs from Silas Bolden, the Longhorns got back into the red zone. Auburn came out to attempt another field goal and made it, but a Texas false start negated the play. He failed on the second attempt.

The two teams exchanged punts in the final minutes of the half. With 39 seconds left in the quarter, Georgia got the ball back and moved down thanks to another Texas penalty, this time for pass interference on Gavin Holmes.

Georgia gets the kick-off for the second half.

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