The Longhorns’ constantly produced physical play, toughness and “out-SEC’d” a supposedly more smash-mouth Georgia team, and did so impressively.

“I’m proud of the physical nature in which we played this game,” Texas coach Tom Herman said. “At this point in our program's trajectory, that's what we're going to need to do to win, is we have got to out-hustle people, we've got to outhit people. And we've got to play with a purpose and a passion greater than anybody in the country. And tonight I feel like we did that.”

There were times when Texas could have deviated from its plan and used the pass more — especially when Herman was unbending in his desire to have quarterback Sam Ehlinger use his running ability and brute power to score its final touchdown, early in the fourth quarter, but instead the Longhorns sent a message — stop us if you can. Georgia, ultimately, could not.

“I am sure we wouldn't have been able to do that at Week 1 or Week 2, but we have continued to develop,” Herman said. “We did it tonight against an unbelievable defense. When you get down there, you've got to be able to punch the ball in. It certainly provided us a validation.”

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Texas’ fast start — the Longhorns drove 75 yards in 10 plays capped by an Ehlinger 2-yard TD run on their opening drive — gave it the early momentum and allowed it to move to its in-your-face attack. That opening drive mixed five runs with five passes, and the Longhorns only passed 15 more times the rest of the game.

"We knew coming in that we had to come in and start fast,” said wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey, who led the Longhorns with seven catches for 67 yards. “That’s exactly what we did. Once we went down and scored, we knew that we were going to be in the game all game.”

The Texas defense limited the Bulldogs to just 72 yards rushing, 179 yards short of their season average of 251 per game. That was just the third time this year Georgia had been held to less that 180 yards on the ground.

"You can’t be at The University of Texas if you’re not physical, or that’s not your mentality,” Texas cornerback Kris Boyd said. “That’s part of our culture and who we are. That’s the standard of who we are."