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ATLANTA — The Georgia Bulldogs were struggling to get anything going against Texas, and there was little reason to be hopeful of a turnaround with their quarterback crumpled on the turf. Enter a guy who had barely played in his college career.

Little-used backup Gunner Stockton came off the bench in the second half after an injury to Carson Beck and led No. 5 Georgia to an improbable 22-19 overtime victory over the No. 2 Longhorns in the Southeastern Conference championship game Saturday.

The Bulldogs (11-2) won their third SEC title under coach Kirby Smart, but the trophy comes with an even bigger prize — a first-round bye in the new 12-team College Football Playoff. Georgia came into the game ranked fifth by the CFP, but now it is assured of playing in the Sugar Bowl quarterfinal game on New Year’s Day in pursuit of its third national title in four seasons.

“This team never, ever says no,” a jubilant Smart said amid the falling confetti at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Texas (11-2, No. 2 CFP) was denied an SEC title capper to its first season in the league and will host a first-round game on either Dec. 20 or 21. Both of its losses have been to the Bulldogs, who prevailed 30-15 when the powerhouse programs met in Austin during the regular season.

“This stings,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “But we get a chance to regroup in a couple weeks and get into the College Football Playoff and go compete for a national championship. I think we’re plenty good enough to go win that.”

The big question for Georgia amid the celebration was the health of Beck, the two-year starter who went down on the final play of the first half with an injured throwing arm. Smart would only call it an “upper extremity” injury and said an MRI would determine the extent of the damage.

Stockton, a third-year sophomore, had played only six games in his college career — all of them mere mop-ups of blowout wins. He guided the Bulldogs to a touchdown and two field goals before taking a hard hit on a run in overtime that sent his helmet flying.

“This kid is a winner,” Smart said about his backup. “This kid is special.”

Beck, who could barely lift his arm, came back in the game for first-and-goal at the 4. All he had to do — and could do — was hand off to Trevor Etienne, who powered into the end zone to end the first overtime game in the SEC championship’s 33-year history.

Georgia went beyond regulation to win for the second week in a row, following up an eight-overtime, 44-42 victory over Georgia Tech in the regular-season finale.

This one was even sweeter, especially after losing its offensive leader.

“We’re beat up, we’re tired, we’re mentally fatigued,” Smart said. “But I don’t know if I’ve ever had a more mentally tough team. They just keep coming, keep coming. They never say die.”

Beck went down on a wild final play of the first half while trying to heave one into the end zone. Trey Moore knocked the ball away with a blow to the right arm, setting off a wild scramble that ended with a couple of laterals and a Georgia lineman winding up with the ball.

More concerning for Georgia, Beck remained on the turf holding his throwing arm while teammates hovered over him. He finally trotted slowly off the field, but Smart said his day was done.

Not quite.

After holding Texas to a field goal on the opening possession of overtime, Stockton had to leave the game after a first-down run ended with a hit that knocked off his helmet.

“When we got the play and everybody saw it was Carson, we were pretty juiced up,” offensive lineman Tate Rutledge said.

Etienne took the handoff from Beck and powered up the middle. The ailing quarterback threw up his left arm in celebration, his right arm hanging by his side.

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers threw for 358 yards, but was sacked six times and threw a pair of interceptions.

The Longhorns had a 260-54 edge in total yards in the first half, but continually hurt themselves with penalties and led only 6-3. They finished with 11 flags for 94 yards, including a false start that wiped out a field goal.

Faked out In one of the biggest calls of the game, Georgia drove for a go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter with a bit of chicanery and plenty of good fortune.

With punter Brett Thorson sidelined with an injury, the Bulldogs called a gutsy fake on fourth-and-5 at their own 30.

The short snap went to protector Drew Bobo — son of Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo — who flipped it to Arian Smith coming around end for a 9-yard gain on what was technically a pass.

“He will go down with a higher passing percentage than his father,” Smart quipped, referring to Mike Bobo’s quarterback days for Georgia in the 1990s.

The Bulldogs fumbled twice after the fake but managed to recover it both times before settling for Peyton Woodring’s third field goal that made it 16-13 with 4½ minutes left.

Takeaway

Texas: This one really stings for the Longhorns, who squandered a prime chance to finish off their SEC debut season with a championship. The running game struggled to get anything going, finishing with just 31 yards on 28 carries. And there are plenty of questions about an offensive line that gave up a total of 13 sacks in the two losses to the Bulldogs.

Georgia: The best thing for the Bulldogs is earning extra rest for the playoff, especially with Beck ailing. But give plenty of kudos to Stockton, who completed 12 of 16 passes for 71 yards and made that huge run in overtime, shaking off an interception that gave Texas a chance to tie it on Bert Auburn’s 27-yard field goal with 18 seconds left in regulation.

Up next

Texas: The Longhorns will surely host a first-round game, but now will have to win four games to capture a national championship.

Georgia: Smart says he plans to celebrate for maybe 48 hours — instead of his customary 24-hour rule — because the Bulldogs don’t play again for nearly four weeks.

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Ohio State’s defense stymies Arch, No. 1 Texas

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Ohio State's defense stymies Arch, No. 1 Texas

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Julian Sayin had a 40-yard touchdown pass to Carnell Tate early in the fourth quarter, Ohio State got a couple of key stops in the red zone and the third-ranked Buckeyes opened the defense of their national championship with a 14-7 victory over top-ranked Texas on Saturday.

It was the fourth time the No. 1 team in the AP preseason poll has met the previous season’s national champion in the opener. The defending champ has won the last three.

“Just a gritty win to start the season,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “We just felt like in Week 1, we didn’t want to beat ourselves. We took that into consideration with everything that we did.”

Arch Manning completed 17 of 30 passes for 170 yards, a touchdown and an interception for the Longhorns.

Texas was 1 of 5 on fourth down, including being stopped twice in the red zone. Manning was stuffed at the 1-yard line on fourth-and-goal by Caden Curry and Lorenzo Styles Jr. on a QB sneak in the third quarter.

The Longhorns were driving for a tying touchdown late in the game but Jack Endries was stopped by Caleb Downs 1 yard short of a first down to end hopes of a comeback.

“Ultimately, not good enough. Obviously you don’t want to start off the season 0-1,” Manning said. “They’re a good team. I thought we beat ourselves a lot, and that starts with me. I’ve got to play better for us to win.”

Sayin was 13 of 20 passing for 126 yards. His best pass of the day came with 13:08 remaining in the game, when Tate beat Texas cornerback Jaylon Guilbeau for the long score. Tate juggled the ball before pulling it down in the end zone to put the Buckeyes up by two touchdowns.

CJ Donaldson opened the scoring midway through the second quarter on a 1-yard run up the middle to cap a 13-play, 87-yard drive that took eight minutes off the clock. The Buckeyes benefitted from a pair of penalties, including a face mask call on Colin Simmons that wiped out an incomplete pass on third-and-4.

Texas finally got points with 3:28 remaining in the fourth quarter when Manning connected with Parker Livingstone on a 32-yard touchdown.

The Longhorns defense forced a three-and-out, giving Texas a chance to tie.

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Texas-Ohio State live: Buckeyes lead 7-0 at halftime

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Texas-Ohio State live: Buckeyes lead 7-0 at halftime

After an entertaining Week 0 appetizer and a smattering of games Thursday and Friday, it’s time for Week 1 of the college football season to finally kick off. And the game to start off the first full Saturday of the season couldn’t be much better.

It’s the Texas Longhorns vs. the Ohio State Buckeyes. It’s the No. 1 and No. 3 teams in the preseason AP poll facing off. It’s a College Football Playoff rematch and Arch Manning’s first major test as starter against the defending national champions.

Needless to say, it’s going to be good.

We’ll be keeping track of Texas-Ohio State — and any other notable happenings that might pop up — as the college football season returns. Here’s everything that’s going on across Week 1 in college football:

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Corso bids farewell to ‘GameDay’ with OSU pick

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Corso bids farewell to 'GameDay' with OSU pick

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Just as it was the first time, Lee Corso’s final headgear pick was Brutus Buckeye.

Corso selected the third-ranked Buckeyes to beat top-ranked Texas on his final appearance on ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Saturday.

He made the prediction on the 50-yard line at Ohio Stadium 16 minutes before kickoff, quite a change from the first time in 1996 when it was done in the parking lot outside the Horseshoe.

“To everyone who has been a part of the journey, thank you,” Corso said during the opening segment of Saturday’s show.

It was the 46th time Corso donned Brutus Buckeye’s head. Ohio State is 31-14 the previous occasions.

Coach Ryan Day gave Corso an Ohio State helmet with a buckeye leaf on it for each time he chose the Buckeyes. Day also gave Corso an additional sticker to put on in case he picked the Buckeyes.

An area restaurant also made an 85-pound cake of Brutus’ head.

Corso, who turned 90 on Aug. 7, has been a part of “GameDay” since its start in 1987 and has made pregame shows entertaining under a simple philosophy: “Football is just the vehicle. It’s entertainment, sweetheart.”

The three-hour show was a celebration of Corso more than a finale. Besides looking back at Corso’s career, the show analyzed Saturday’s key games and included an interview with Bill Belichick, who makes his debut with North Carolina on Monday night against TCU.

It was the 26th time “GameDay” was in Columbus. It was outside Ohio Stadium on Oct. 5, 1996, where Corso’s popular headgear prediction segment began.

Corso donned Brutus Buckeye’s head before Ohio State faced Penn State, and the rest is history.

Corso has worn 69 schools’ mascot headgear and has dressed up as Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish leprechaun, the Stanford tree, and Founding Fathers James Madison and Benjamin Franklin.

He has a 66.5% winning rate on his headgear predictions (286-144), which is much better than his 73-85-6 mark in 15 years as a coach at Louisville, Indiana and Northern Illinois.

Besides ESPN, Fox Sports showed Corso’s pick.

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