NEW ORLEANS -- Sam Ehlinger ran for three touchdowns, the Texas defense largely held Georgia's offense in check, and the Longhorns earned their first 10-win season since 2009 by beating the Bulldogs 28-21 in the Sugar Bowl on Tuesday night.
Ehlinger was the star, running for a 2-yard touchdown in the first quarter, a 9-yard score in the second, and a 1-yard TD in the fourth. The 6-3, 230-pound sophomore finished with 64 yards rushing on 21 carries and also threw for 169 yards.
No. 15 Texas (10-4) continued its quick rise under Coach Tom Herman, capping his second season with a Sugar Bowl victory.
Texas stretched its lead to 28-7 with 11:49 left in the fourth quarter on Ehlinger's 1-yard run, finally scoring on fourth down after his first three attempts at running for the score fell short of the end zone.
No. 5 Georgia (11-3) was a 12½-point favorite and claimed it would be ready for the Sugar Bowl despite just missing a spot in the College Football Playoff after a loss in the SEC Championship Game. But a sloppy opening sequence indicated otherwise.
Texas jumped out to a 17-0 lead by early in the second quarter, largely because of Georgia's mistakes on special teams and offense.
The most costly was when D'Andre Swift fumbled deep in Georgia's own territory, giving Texas possession at the 12. Three plays later, Ehlinger escaped trouble in the pocket and scored on a 9-yard run to give the Longhorns a 17-point advantage with 14:53 left in the second quarter.
Georgia got back into the game with a methodical 12-play drive that ended with Jake Fromm finding Brian Herrien for a 17-yard touchdown, but Texas still took a 20-7 advantage into halftime.
Fromm completed 20 of 34 passes for 212 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. The Bulldogs scored a touchdown with 14 seconds left to pull within 28-21 but Texas recovered the ensuing onside kick.
OUTBACK BOWL
IOWA 27, NO. 18 MISSISSIPPI STATE 22
TAMPA, Fla. — Safety Jake Gervase made an interception in the end zone to help preserve a late lead, and the ball-hawking Iowa Hawkeyes beat Mississippi State in the Outback Bowl.
Gervase also batted down an errant fourth-down pass to end the Bulldogs’ final drive at the Iowa 32 with 25 seconds left. Two earlier Mississippi State (8-5) threats in the fourth quarter led to only three points.
The Hawkeyes totaled just 199 yards, with 75 coming on a touchdown pass from Nathan Stanley to Nick Easley, but they converted three takeaways into 17 points.
Stanley threw for 214 yards and three scores. The Hawkeyes won despite net-ting minus-15 yards rushing, and their three running backs totaled 4 yards on 15 carries.
Iowa (9-4) earned its biggest post-season victory since an Orange Bowl victory over Georgia Tech to cap the 2009 season.
Sports on 01/02/2019