Another week, another high-octane game to look forward to! The No. 1 against the No. 4. The undefeated team against the only head coach to have won national championships in the current cream. The Longhorns are chasing the natty, and Steve Sarkisian is chasing Kirby Smart. Well, these two teams could possibly meet in the SEC championship or even the playoffs. Before that works out, this is the chance to get one over each other. How are the things looking for them? What are the predictions? Let’s hear from an NFL legend.

No one knows the intensity of games between two quality teams better than Heisman winner and former Alabama player Mark Ingram II. Appearing on his The Triple Option podcast, Ingram discussed the matchup between the Bulldogs and the Longhorns. The game marks the 3rd top 5 showdown this season, and both teams will go against each other for the first time in the regular season since 1958. Quite a stat, that! What will the game look like? Can it live up to the hype like the other two top 5 showdowns? Well, Ingram believes so.

“I am expecting it to live up to the hype. You know why? Because Georgia is in a must-win game. If they lose this one, it is panic time in Athens.” Who is he favoring to have an edge? ”I don’t think Texas is going to lose. I think they are going to win. But I think it’s going to be a close game. I think they win by a point, two points, or three points. What is it minus three and a half? Yes, it is minus three and a half. So, I got Texas winning by a field goal. They are going down. This is one of the most complete teams in the nation- offense and defense,” Ingram said.

Moreover, some injury updates will be music to Steve Sarkisian’s ears. “Isaiah Bond, there is some uncertainty if he’s going to play. They are optimistic that he’s going to play versus Georgia. That’s a huge break for them,” as per Ingram. Sarkisian already had his QB1, Quinn Ewers, back in their Red River rivalry thumping of Oklahoma (34-3). Ewers looked rusty after missing several games, but he may be back to his Heisman-contender self against the Bulldogs.

Despite all that, Ingram is only giving an edge to the Longhorns by a field goal as he knows that Carson Beck and Kirby Smart would be a tough duo to reckon with for the Longhorns’ defense. Beck hasn’t had the best of times since the loss against Alabama. He has increasingly thrown interceptions but also made some quality plays. This is the first time since the SEC championship clash in 2021 that a Smart-led team would go a game as an underdog. However, when it’s football, you better know that the cards can be overturned anytime. With a few pointers working in the Bulldogs’ favor, it seems even more feasible.

Can the prediction turn reverse? Analyzing the odds

Despite having a slight edge in the pre-game odds, Texas is a newbie in facing an opponent as resilient and mammoth as the Kirby Smart Georgia Bulldogs. It was only Mississippi State’s 73rd-ranked offense that gave a rough test to the Longhorn’s defense so far. So, tackling the 35th-ranked Bulldogs will not be a cakewalk for sure. As Mark pointed out, the fight is going to be a tiff. The result can also be a surprise very few might have seen coming, especially after how Steve Sarkisian has been in the mud facing the top five opponents in his 11-year coaching career.

On the other hand, Smart showcased his astute game-handling power and sustainable success even in the trickiest cases, learning it from the best, Nick Saban.

So, he will vest all to avoid the crashed fate against Alabama, and it will be a treat to see who will have the last laugh between the tentative best and the third best in the season.