The knee-jerk reaction will be to blame Quinn Ewers. Texas fans shouldn’t do that.

Yes, the Texas junior threw two interceptions against Georgia in the SEC championship game. But that wasn’t why the second-ranked Longhorns suffered a heart-breaking 22-19 overtime loss Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The offense needed touchdowns and had to settle for field goals. And kicker Bert Auburn missed two during regulation.

“You know, some plays didn’t go our way. We just couldn’t capitalize in some key moments in the first half,” Ewers said. “It’s just tough, tough, tough losing big games like this.”

Look at those 11 penalties, the second-highest total in coach Steve Sarkisian’s four years in Austin. Freshman Colin Simmons was called for being offsides twice on consecutive plays that wiped out back-to-back interceptions.

Sarkisian was so worked up about the officiating, he barked to ABC’s Laura Rutledge before halftime. “Hopefully they call them for a holding one of these times, too.”

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The running game was non-existent, just like it was in mid-October against Georgia. The Horns rushed for 31 yards after Quintrevion Wisner had back-to-back career highs the last two weeks. The offensive line was simply overwhelmed — again — as the Dawgs had an eye-popping 15 tackles for loss. 

There were dropped passes, including one in the end zone. The Horns went 6-for-18 on third down. They knocked out Georgia starter Carson Beck at the end of the first half, but backup Gunner Stockton engineered a 75-yard touchdown drive in his debut and took Georgia the distance.

No, don’t blame Ewers, who completed 27 of 46 passes for 358 yards. His one touchdown was a 41-yarder to DeAndre Moore Jr., but the Horns needed so much more.

Sarkisian was going to ride or die with Ewers over backup Arch Manning, just as the coach has done all season. Manning acted as a diversionary piece on a trick play during regulation and carried once for five yards in overtime. But there was no usage of Manning's running ability even though previous quarterbacks had run all over the Dawgs in recent weeks.

Don’t blame Ewers. That’s on Sarkisian, who noted earlier in the week that Georgia had the “heart of a champion.”

Now, the Longhorns (11-2) are going to host a first-round game at Royal-Memorial Stadium in the College Football Playoffs. Texas will likely be seeded No. 5 or No. 6. Georgia (11-2) will earn the first-round bye as the SEC champion.

Either way, both teams knew they were going to the postseason before things even started Saturday in Atlanta.

Still, that doesn’t change the fact that Texas wanted to become the first team to win an SEC title in its first year of joining the league.

Georgia is still top dog in the SEC for now. But Texas is still in the hunt for a national title.