Steve Sarkisian pointed to his team’s penalties and red zone issues, but the Texas coach ultimately pointed to Georgia.

The Bulldogs defeated the Longhorns 22-19 in overtime after erasing a 6-3 halftime deficit with backup quarterback Gunner Stockton at center.

“A heck of a football team,” said Sarkisian, whose team held a three-point lead as revenge for a 30-15 home loss to UGA on Oct. 19.

“Like I said, I have a lot of respect for their program and their team. What Kirby has been doing here for seven, eight years.

“We knew it would take 60 minutes. I didn’t know it would be 60 minutes plus overtime.”

Kirby Smart, now a three-time SEC championship coach and two-time CFP national championship coach, knew his team would be ready.

“I’ve had a physically stronger team, I’ve had a more physically talented team, but I don’t know that I’ve ever had a mentally stronger team,” said Smart, whose UGA team secured a spot in the Sugar Bowl Jan. 1.

“They just keep coming and going, and they never tell them to die.”

Sarkisian, whose team outgained Georgia 260 to 54 yards, lamented the missed opportunities that made the comeback difficult.

The Longhorns only led by a field goal at halftime despite the disparity in yardage in the first half.

“Obviously the penalties were a problem in the first half because we faltered on some things and some thirds and longs and stuff like that,” said Sarkisian, whose team had eight penalties for 80 yards in the first half.

“Our defense played a fantastic first half. I think it was 260 yards to 54. But the score was 6-3. We obviously took advantage of the opportunities that came our way.”

In fact, Texas had pushed into UGA territory on its first four drives – and seven of 10 in the game – but only managed one touchdown the entire game.

Quinn Ewers, who completed 27 of 46 passes for 358 yards with a touchdown and two passes intercepted by SEC title game MVP Daylen Everette, was the story early in the game.

Ewers, with rising star Arch Manning behind him on the bench, rushed for 228 yards in the first half.

But then another backup quarterback emerged when unheralded Georgia redshirt sophomore Gunner Stockton was brought in to replace Carson Beck.

Beck had completed his first five throws, but then the UGA receivers dropped three passes and the Bulldogs’ offense stalled.

Beck was 7 of 13 passing for 56 yards and was sacked twice as he left the game at halftime after suffering an upper-body injury on a Hail Mary attempt on the final play before halftime and failing to adequately grip the ball during his attempt could injury assessment.

Stockton proved he was capable on the first possession of the second half with a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown run that put the Bulldogs back in the lead, 10-6.

“They made the change at quarterback,” Sarkisian said. “I think it fired them up a little bit because it gave them a different type of offense to run the quarterback.”

Texas fought back and tied the game at 13-13 when Ewers hit D. Moore Jr. on a 41-yard touchdown pass with 13:54 to play.

Georgia responded with a marathon goal-goal drive that covered 72 yards in 16 plays to set up Peyton Woodring’s third and final field goal of the day, a 21-yarder that put the Bulldogs up 16 with 4:32 left. 13 put the game in the lead.

Smart threw a quick strike to Sarkisian on the drive and called for a fake punt from the Georgia 30 on a four-and-five, where offensive lineman Drew Bobo – playing defensive back – took the snap and shoveled the ball to Arian Smith, who sprinted around the end for 9 yards.

“We lost some of our edge containment there, (but) I thought Jahdae (Barron) did a great job pursuing the motion,” Sarkisian said. “The kid they passed the ball to (Smith) is a 10.2 100-yard guy. I know him well and recruited him out of high school. At that moment it becomes a race.

“It wasn’t like we were completely duped and had no idea… It was a bang-bang game. Nice game from them. Good execution.”

Sarkisian’s Longhorns put together a great drive of their own in the final minutes, as Ewers carried the ball to the UGA 19-yard line to set up Bert Auburn’s game-winning 37-yard field goal with 18 seconds left to force overtime .

Georgia won the OT coin toss, opting to put Texas on offense first and then holding the Longhorns away with a field goal.

“Overtime was kind of a microcosm of the game, we couldn’t get the ball into the end zone,” Sarkisian said. “We had to settle for a field goal. That opened the door for them to score and win the ball game.

“If we are lucky enough to see them again, we need to improve in this area.”

The Longhorns, like the Bulldogs, await their fate in the CFP-12 team round.

Georgia at least knows it will play in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, likely against the team that wins the matchup between No. 7 and No. 10.

Texas could be the No. 7 seed — as well as No. 5 or 6 — and should host a game in Austin on Dec. 20 or 21.