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ATLANTA: Texas punches ticket to the SEC Championship with win over Texas A&M

Joe Cookby: Joe Cook12/01/24josephcook89
Gunnar Helm
Gunnar Helm (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

COLLEGE STATION — The Texas Longhorns, in their first year as members of the Southeastern Conference, will play in the SEC Championship Game following their 17-7 win over the Texas A&M Aggies in Kyle Field.

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Texas went 11-1 in the regular season for the second straight season and will play in a conference championship game for the second year in a row. In 2023, the Longhorns played in the Big 12 Conference championship game and defeated Oklahoma State 49-21 to win the fourth Big 12 championship in program history. It was their final season in the league ahead of their shift to the SEC for the 2024 season.

Under Steve Sarkisian, the Longhorns had another 11-win season in 2024, falling only to the Georgia Bulldogs in Austin. Texas defeated Colorado State, Michigan, UTSA, and Louisiana-Monroe in non-conference play. In SEC play, Texas defeated Mississippi State, fellow first-year member Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Florida, Arkansas, Kentucky, and rival Texas A&M.

Texas will face Georgia in the SEC Championship. The game will be played in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga. on December 7. With the win to clinch a 7-1 SEC record, the Longhorns will enter their rematch with the Bulldogs as the No. 1 seed in the league.

The season was one to remember for Texas, with a win over the defending national champions Michigan at Michigan Stadium in September. Quinn Ewers, who entered the season with Heisman hopes, played well through most of the first three games before ceding time to Arch Manning due to injury. Manning shined, starting Texas’ first-ever SEC game against Mississippi State.

Ewers returned for the Oklahoma game to improve his record against the Sooners to 2-1. He struggled mightily versus Georgia, and was even benched for a short amount of time, but he has provided steady play since sliding back into his QB1 role.

Throughout the whole season, the Longhorns were carried by arguably the top defense in the nation. Led by Alfred Collins, Barryn Sorrell, Anthony Hill up front and an elite secondary featuring Thorpe Award favorite Jahdae Barron and Malik Muhammad, safeties Michael Taaffe, Derek Williams, and Andrew Mukuba, and STAR Jaylon Guilbeau, Texas suffocated opposing offenses all year.

Texas looks to win its 30th conference championship next week. Texas won four Big 12 titles and 25 Southwest Conference Championships.

Thanks to their win over the Aggies, they’ll be trying to win a third conference title next Saturday.

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