AUSTIN, Texas — Georgia football held a commanding 23-0 lead over No. 1-ranked Texas at halftime on Saturday night.

The Bulldogs used a balanced offense and dominant defense to overcome two Carson Beck interceptions in staking out to the lead at Darrel K. Royal Memorial Stadium.

The defense had three sacks and forced three turnover: the first a Quinn Ewers fumble at the Texas 13, leading to Georgia’s opening touchdown; the third turnover an Arch Manning fumble at the Texas 30, leading to Peyton Woodring 44-yard field goal, his third of the half.

The Longhorns were 0-for-8 on third down conversions in the first half.

“Great job up front, striking blockers and knocking them back,” UGA coach Kirby Smart told the Georgia Radio Network at halftime.

“If you can keep the run occupied, you can play different coverages to defend the pass.”

Beck was 16-of-28 passing for 100 yards in addition to the two interceptions — an ill-advised pass throw into double coverage, the other, a high throw that glanced off Lawson Luckie’s hands.

Trevor Etienne, meanwhile, had 62 yards and 2 touchdowns on 8 carries.

Smart, 7-5 against Top 5-ranked teams, said in the days leading up to the game that UGA would need to play at its best.

Defensively, that was certainly the case, as Texas managed only 38 yards of total offense, 23 of it coming after preseason Heisman Trophy candidate Quinn Ewers was replaced by Arch Manning in the second quarter.

Ewers was 6-of-12 passing for 17 yards and an interception, and the Longhorns had only 15 yards of total offense when he was pulled from the game before Texas’ seventh possession

Manning, in his limited first-half play, was 3-of-6 passing for 19 yards and reeled off a 21-yard run that was offset by two sacks and the fumble leading to Woodring’s field goal.

“We gotta quit kicking field goals and score touchdowns,” Smart said in his ABC sports halftime.