Georgia, Texas set for top-five showdown

The eyes of the college football world will be on Austin, Texas this Saturday night as top-ranked Texas hosts No. 5 Georgia (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC).

Saturday night's showdown marks the first meeting between the two programs as SEC foes and the first regular season meeting since 1958.

The game will likely come down to the Longhorn's defense and Georgia QB Carson Beck. Per The Associated Press, the Longhorns rank No. 1 in total defense and scoring defense. While Texas handled Michigan in Ann Arbor and blew out Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry, both teams are relatively inexperienced, specifically at the quarterback position.

Impressively, when Oklahoma took a 3-0 lead on the Longhorns last Saturday, that was the first time all season that Texas trailed in a game. A contributing factor lies in the Longhorns' defense only surrendering three touchdowns all season.

For Georgia, this top five clash presents an opportunity to avenge a Week 5 loss to Alabama. In that losing effort, the Bulldogs struggled on third down (3-15) and turned the ball over four times. 

Coming off a 459-yard performance throwing the ball against Mississippi State, Beck may have a difficult time putting up similar numbers against Texas considering the Longhorns have only allowed one team to pass for more than 200 yards this season, accomplished by Michigan's Davis Warren (204) in Week 2.

Despite the impressive season up to this point for Texas, Georgia will present its biggest challenge yet. While this year's Bulldogs team has struggled more defensively than years past, Georgia still comes into Saturday's game with a 5-1 record (3-1 in the SEC). 

The current senior class at Georgia has only suffered three total losses, all of them to Alabama, and won two of the last three national championships under head coach Kirby Smart. As Georgia head into this matchup, another loss would put it in a vulnerable position regarding the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. While there are more spots available, having two losses at this point in the season will make Georgia's case less convincing than just having the single loss to the Crimson Tide.

Buckle up as two powerhouse programs in college football go to battle under the lights in an SEC showdown for the first time.