AUSTIN, Texas – Even before kickoff, it was clear something felt different. When Georgia came out for warmups and the entire team lined up, Jalon Walker was standing alone in front of them yelling. That’s his normal routine, he told me later.

But it wasn’t just him. The body language throughout the team seemed more locked in.

Georgia was back, to borrow a phrase from its opponent. You saw it on the field, especially on defense, where Walker and company looked like the 2021 Georgia defense, while quarterback Carson Beck and the offense looked like the 2021 Georgia offense, imperfect but good enough.

It would be an exaggeration to point out that Saturday’s final score, 30-15, was three points off 33-18. So let’s not point that out.

On the other hand, it’s also an exaggeration to say that no one believed in Georgia, which was a five-point underdog on the road against the No. 1 team in the country. But there was Smart who declared it, first in the ABC postgame interview and then at his press conference.

“I was proud of our guys,” Smart said. “Nobody really gave us a chance. Everyone doubted us.”

Ah, there it is.

“Our entire program was called into question,” Smart said. ‘Who watched the programs this morning? I didn’t do that, I was in meetings, but I got 8,000 text messages about it.”

He meant the show in the singular, as on ESPN’s “College GameDay,” where the four picks — Desmond Howard, Lee Corso, Pat McAfee and Scottie Scheffler — all chose Texas.

‘It’s hard not to see it. But that just adds fuel to the fire, man,” Georgia tailback Trevor Etienne said. “I mean, we’re all we have, we’re all we need. That’s the mentality we have in this locker room.”

That’s the problem with the Smart program. It thrives on disrespect. It seeks it out, and when it can’t find one, it creates it. Nolan Smith, the defensive captain of the 2022 team, loudly proclaimed that people had picked that year’s team to finish 7-5, but later admitted he had made it up.

The more Georgia won after that, the more difficult it became. And maybe that was the problem. Maybe that’s why it just didn’t seem right this year, as the team tried to find its identity, both on and off the field.

Besides, he still may not have found it. As great as the defense looked against Texas, especially in the first half, and in the opener against Clemson, there were plenty of concerning moments in between. As rocky as the offense looked against Texas — a paltry four yards per play, three Beck interceptions — it has had a stretch this season where it has been explosive, and it made those plays when it absolutely had to on Saturday.

“If we can put it all together,” Beck said, “our best game is still out there.”

But the mental identity of this year’s team may finally be coming into focus. We saw it in the second half of the Alabama game, even in defeat. We saw it from the start against Texas as the Bulldogs roared to a 23-0 lead. Then we saw it again after the chaotic, controversial sequence that most people will remember from the game: the pass interference call that was overturned after a stoppage caused by Texas fans throwing debris on the field, and the Longhorns’ subsequent score to get it. 23-15.

“I knew it in Alabama, I knew it wouldn’t be a problem. We don’t give back,” Smart said. “It doesn’t mean we’re guaranteed a win or anything, but I told you the momentum was gone. Everything was gone. And on third-and-12, or third-and-whatever it was, Beck steps up and fires one to Arian over the middle, and it changed.

Arian Smith got open upfield and Beck hit him for a long gain. And on the very next play, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo pulled off a double-reverse flea flicker, setting up an even longer gain.

Aggressive play-calling, the way Smart wants it now. Very different from the years before 2021, when he was criticized for being too conservative in attack, not going fourth down when he should, and so on. Now Smart may be going for it too much.

With just over two minutes left, leading 30-15 and facing a fourth-and-1 from his own 39, Smart opted to go for it instead of kicking it away and letting Texas use the clock to come to the field. The decision backfired, but Texas didn’t score anyway and Smart didn’t regret it afterward.

“What do I gain, 50 yards of field position versus winning the game? We go for it every time,” says Smart. “If I ever get a chance to end the game with less than a yard, I want to count on the offense to do that. Just like we did on the touchdown run to create that.

That referred to Smart going for it on fourth down from the goal line and clinging to a 23-15 lead, instead of kicking the field goal with a chip shot to make it a two-possession lead. That decision paid off, with 330-pound guard Micah Morris turning into a fullback to help clear Etienne’s path to the end zone.

In itself, each of these decisions may involve analysis, hunches, or whatever. But they all fall under the post-2021 philosophy that Smart should be the hunter, not the hunted, and that he sends a message to his team with his aggressive decisions.

The squib kick to start the second half? That was actually an accident, as it turns out. Peyton Woodring, who was perfect on Saturday with field goals, just missed the kickoff. Otherwise, Smart seems content to take risks, letting his coordinators take chances and handle a few that miss.

That, and the disrespect card, are the ways Smart has run his program differently than Nick Saban. Their personality differences may explain why: Saban barely knew how to use a computer, while Smart has bunny ears, is well aware of what is said about his team and likes to choose what can benefit his team.

That might be a better approach in this age of mega-conferences and the 12-team College Football Playoff. It will be much harder for one program to be dominant the way Alabama was, and the way Georgia was on the brink. The Bulldogs’ 29-game winning streak that ended last season is likely the last of its kind. Texas got knocked over once on Saturday, but it’s still Texas. Alabama may be on the decline, but it’s too early to draw any conclusions. Tennessee, LSU, Texas A&M … this is a tough league, and it will continue to be that way.

Every edge will be needed. Thus, Georgia, even with all its talent, even with all it has to offer, will rely on what works for the country.

“Look, I know everyone thinks I’m playing that doubter role, and I don’t care about any of that,” Smart said. “I mean, I don’t, but after the game it’s a lot easier to say. I don’t bring it up with our players. Everyone thinks we’re preaching, ‘No one believes in me’ and all that. But our intention was different. When we walked onto that field, we had a completely different intention.”

The ‘intention’ was not specified. Another buzzword Smart uses. But it was clear the intention was effective on Saturday. And that whatever this team had going for it mentally leading up to this game, it had to try to replicate going forward.

Georgia got right back into the national title conversation on Saturday. It rejuvenated his season. But there’s still a lot of that season left. And we’re still not sure if we’ll get this Georgia team for the rest of the season.

Even Smart acknowledged that when he got philosophical on Saturday.

“I think we’re a very well-respected program, and we’ve got a really good team, and we’ve played some really good halves,” he said. “We have shown that we can be very good. We just have to be able to keep it going longer.”

(Photo: Tim Warner/Getty Images)