Steve Sarkisian pointed to his team’s penalties and Red Zone woes, but the Texas coach ultimately pointed to Georgia.

The Bulldogs beat the Longhorns, 22-19 in overtime, after rallying from a 6-3 halftime deficit with backup quarterback Gunner Stockton under center.

“Heck of a football team,” said Sarkisian, whose team was a 3-point favorite to avenge its 30-15 home loss to UGA on Oct. 19.

“Like I’ve said, I have a ton of respect for their program and their team. What Kirby has done here for seven, eight years now.

“We knew it was going to take 60 minutes. I didn’t know it was going to take 60 minutes plus overtime.”

Kirby Smart, now a three-time SEC Championship Coach along with two-time CFP national championship coach, knew his team would be ready.

“I’ve had more physically tough, I’ve had more physically talented, but I don’t know that I’ve ever had a more mentally tough team,” said Smart, whose UGA team clinched a spot in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1.

“They just keep coming and keep coming, and they never say die.”

Sarkisian, whose team out-gained Georgia 260 yards to 54, bemoaned missed opportunities to make the comeback more difficult.

The Longhorns led by only a field goal at halftime despite the first-half yardage disparity.

“Clearly the penalties were an issue in the first half where we stalled out on some things and for the in some third-and-longs and whatnot,” said Sarkisian, whose team had 8 penalties for 80 yards in the first half.

“Our defense played a fantastic first half. I think it was like 260 yards to 54. But the score was 6-3. Clearly we went capitalizing on the opportunities we had.”

Indeed, Texas had driven into UGA territory on its first four drives — and seven of 10 in the game — but managed just one touchdown throughout the action.

Quinn Ewers, who finished 27-of-46 passing for 358 yards with a touchdown and two passes intercepted by SEC title game MVP Daylen Everette, was the story early in the game.

Ewers, with rising star Arch Manning behind him on the bench, gained 228 of those passing yards in the first half.

But then another backup quarterback emerged, as unheralded Georgia redshirt sophomore Gunner Stockton was called upon to relieve Carson Beck.

Beck had completed his first five throws, but then UGA receivers dropped three passes, and the Bulldogs’ offense sputtered.

Beck was 7-of-13 passing for 56 yards and was sacked twice when he exited the game at halftime, having suffered an upper-body injury on a Hail Mary attempt on the final play before intermission, unable to grip the ball sufficiently during his injury evaluation.

Stockton, on the opening possession of the second half, proved that he was capable by leading a 10-play, 75-yard TD drive that put the Bulldogs back in front, 10-6.

“They made the change at quarterback,” Sarkisian said. “I think it sparked them some, provided some different style of offense running the quarterback.”

Texas put up a fight, tying the game at 13-13 when Ewers hit D. Moore Jr. with a 41-yard touchdown pass with 13:54 remaining in the game.

Georgia answered with a marathon go-ahead scoring drive, going on 72 yards on 16 plays to set up Peyton Woodring’s third and final field goal of the day, a 21-yarder that put the Bulldogs up 16-13 with 4:32 left in the game.

Smart pulled a fast one on Sarkisian on the drive, calling for a fake punt from the Georgia 30 on a fourth-and-5 that saw offensive lineman Drew Bobo — playing up back — take the snap and shovel the ball to Arian Smith, who sprinted around end for 9 yards.

“We lost some of our edge containment there, (but) I thought Jahdae (Barron) did a heck of a job of chasing the motion,” Sarkisian said. “The kid they flipped the ball (Smith) to is a 10.2 100 meter guy. I know him well, recruited him out of high school. It turns into a foot race at that moment.

“It wasn’t like we got completely duped and had no clue … It was a bang-bang play. Nice play by them. Good execution.”

Sarkisian’s Longhorns put together a great drive of their own in the final minutes, as Ewers moved the ball to the UGA 19-yard line to set up Bert Auburn’s 37-yard game-tying field goal with 18 seconds left, forcing the overtime.

Georgia won the OT coin toss, and chose to put Texas on offense first, and proceeded to hold the Longhorns to a field goal.

“The overtime was kind of a microcosm of the game, we couldn’t put the ball in the end zone,” Sarkisian said. “We had to settle for a field goal. That opened the door for them to score and win the ballgame.

“If we’re fortunate enough to see them again, we’re going to have to improve in that area.”

The Longhorns, like the Bulldogs, await their CFP 12-team bracket fate.

Georgia at least knows it will be playing in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, likely facing the team that wins the matchup of the No. 7 seed and No. 10 seed.

Texas could be that No. 7 seed — as well as the No. 5 or No. 6 seed — and should be hosting a game in Austin on Dec. 20 or Dec. 21.