Kirby Smart Shades Texas Longhorns After Blowout Win in Athens

The Texas Longhorns were humbled in a major way on Saturday night in Athens, as the Georgia Bulldogs used a dominant fourth quarter to secure a 35-10 win.

No. 10 Texas was looking for a big-time boost to its College Football Playoff resume, but instead likely fell completely out of contention in the process.

The loss was just another chapter in the book of how to dominate Texas by Kirby Smart, who dropped another memorable quote when speaking to the media after the game.

Kirby Smart: "We're Hitting People"

Steve Sarkisian and Kirby Smart — Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian and Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart interact after a game at Sanford Stadium. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Smart put an emphasis on the Bulldogs' focus toward physically dominating the opponent instead of how much NIL money they are making.

Make no mistake: Georgia players certainly make their fair share, but it's mental approach that sets them apart.

"You have to recruit physical players, and they have to buy into that process," Smart said. "I don't know that a lot of these kids nowadays, they want a check. They don't want physicality, and if you have the check and no physicality, you end up with nothing. So we're not just getting checks at our place. We're hitting people."

“You’re not just getting checks at our place. We’re hitting people.”#Georgia HC Kirby Smart last night after defeating #Texas 35-10. pic.twitter.com/68YSVzIE8s
— OnTexasFootball (@ontexasfootball) November 16, 2025

Talent Isn't The Issue

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning looks on after a game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Texas' third straight loss to Georgia has nothing to do with a talent discrepancy. There’s never been much question about the talent on Steve Sarkisian’s roster since he took over in 2021. Last season, the Longhorns saw 12 players get selected in the NFL Draft, but it still wasn’t enough to beat Georgia in both meetings.

The Bulldogs have certainly had ample NFL talent of their own but it's clear that Smart's junkyard approach has made all of the difference in his team's advantage over Texas.

It’s not exactly news, but Smart has clearly established a 1-of-1 culture in Athens that leads to wins like what we saw Saturday night. Sarkisian and the Longhorns saw this at face value once again at hopefully learned a valuable lesson in the process.

This was never more apparent than it was in the fourth quarter when Georgia outscored Texas 21-0 to put the game away after the Longhorns had cut the lead to 14-10 in the third.

"It's the approach we take," Smart said. "We're going to we're going to dominate and try to win the fourth quarter. It's what we do in practice. It's what we do in the offseason. It's what we build our core culture around is being a more physical team."

The Longhorns have some major self reflection to do this offseason if they want to strive to be at Georgia's level in the future.