Everything Steve Sarkisian said after gut-wrenching SEC Championship loss

An instant classic took place inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday afternoon as Texas football fell to No. 5 Georgia 22-19 in the SEC Championship. It was the first SEC Championship decided in overtime in the 33-year history of the game.

Texas football and Steve Sarkisian fall short of Georgia in SEC Championship Game

The Longhorns dominated the first half. Texas outgained Georgia 260-54, led in time of possession 20:11-9:49, but only entered the locker room with a 6-3 lead. Offensive miscues, including back-breaking penalties, an interception, and a missed field goal, proved to be the difference.

On the last play of the first half, Georgia quarterback Carson Beck suffered an elbow injury that kept him on the sidelines for the rest of the game. In stepped redshirt sophomore and former five-star Gunner Stockton.

Stockon led the Dawgs on a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to start the second half, setting the tone for the Georgia faithful.

Although Stockton did not press the ball down the field, his presence clearly energized the Bulldogs on both sides of the ball. Stockton finished 12-16 for 71 yards and provided a much-needed rushing element from the quarterback position. His eight-yard carry in overtime proved to be the difference, as Trevor Etienne scored the game-winner on the subsequent play.

Texas looked to be the better team most of the afternoon, but they could not overcome 11 penalties, two interceptions, and two missed field goals. It did not help that three of Georgia's fumbles bounced out of bounds or right into the hands of a Bulldog.

This loss stings; there is no denying it. That said, Texas has to regroup and refocus with a national championship on the line in the coming weeks.

Here is everything head coach Steve Sarkisian said after the loss.

On the loss:

"This is the life of a competitor. You get into this arena, you compete at the highest level against quality opponents, there's going to be sways and flows in the ball game that sometimes go your way and sometimes don't. I think the challenge in games like this is to maximize the opportunities when you get them. In the first half, we had some great opportunities and we just couldn't capitalize the way we would have liked."

"I think every guy that was out there battling and competing left it all out there."

“The competitor in us tells us we don’t have time to hang our heads. We don’t have time for the 'poor-mes'.”

On the offense:

"We weren't effective enough in the high red [zone] to put touchdowns on the board."

"There was a couple bang-bang plays we weren't able to get. I think the negative plays hurt us when we got there, and I think a few of the penalties hurt us as well. Now you're playing behind the chains, which is never where you want to be in the red area."

On the defense:

"Our defense played a fantastic first half."

"They made the change at quarterback. I think it sparked them some and provided some different style of offense, running the quarterback."

Going forward:

“We’ve got a four-game playoff. We’ve got to regroup. We’ve got to get healthy and start this four-game run to get back to Atlanta on January 20th.”

"These guys give me no reasons for pause that they won't rebound and play really good football in two weeks."

"We'll do the best we can and our players will from a rehab and recovery standpoint. We'll find out who we're playing and put together a plan and go to work."

"We're going to compete for a national championship. That's where my mind is at."

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