Sure, Georgia football has another huge top 5 matchup coming Saturday against Texas, but this will be as much about a weekend in an unfamiliar locale for Bulldog fans as the game itself.

After all, the Bulldogs are going to Austin to play the Longhorns for the first time in 66 years.

Gunsmoke was the top TV show then. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof just hit the movie theaters. Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the White House.

Georgia lost to Texas 13-8 on Sept. 20, 1958, with quarterback Fran Tarkenton getting his first college action with a 95-yard scoring drive to take the lead, but the Longhorns won.

The SEC’s 12 members then included Tulane and Georgia Tech.

Those two are long gone and Big 12 imports Texas and Oklahoma are playing their first SEC seasons in a 16-team league.

Tom Hart of the SEC Network was on the play-by-play call for the Longhorns' first SEC game against Mississippi State on Sept. 28.

“It was more than I expected,” Hart said. “They had a reputation—and I feel like it was earned—of being a wine and cheese crowd.”

Kirby Smart has coached in the college game for more than 20 years now including at Alabama, LSU and Florida State, but he's never coached a game at Texas.

"That's one place I've never been," Smart said Saturday night. "I mean I've been, but I've never been for a game. I've been there to meet with their staff like years ago, but I know it's an SEC environment, I know it's a top-10 matchup. You're talking about a powerhouse program."

As a Missouri student, Hart attended a Tigers game at Texas as a fan in the 1996 season, a 40-10 Longhorns win.

“That was a totally different era based on their gameday presentation and atmosphere,” Hart said. “It’s now a big-time atmosphere befitting the history of the program. I don’t think it always was that.”

This is a matchup of big brands with College GameDay set to be on site. No. 1 Texas hammered Oklahoma Saturday 34-3 while No. 4 Georgia got more of a fight than expected in a 41-31 win over Mississippi State.

Texas with 954 wins is the fourth winningest college football program and Georgia with 886 is ninth.

"I'm excited, man," Georgia fifth-year wide receiver Arian Smith said. "Just going out there and playing our game, I feel it's going to be a great game."

Hart credited Texas AD Chris Del Conte for building up football gamedays with concerts and party tailgates near the stadium.

There’s a free “tailgate-meets State Fair” scene at Bevo Blvd., with food trucks, a giant LED screen, a Ferris wheel, carnival games and live music, according to Austin’s tourism website.

Georgia’s Magill Society donors had a chance to purchase a three-day package that included hotel, a welcome event, Friday night gathering, game day transportation and a Saturday pregame tailgate.

There’s also a Friday night event for Hartman Fund donors and Magill Society donors at Banger’s Sausage House & Beer Garden in Austin with Texas barbecue and live entertainment.

“We anticipate a great Bulldog presence in Austin,” Georgia Bulldog Club executive director Ford Williams said via email.

The get-in price for the game on StubHub is $366 a ticket, with club suite tickets with unlimited food and drinks and a private bar starting at $3,469 each.

Hart said of an Austin gameday: “We don’t have anything like it in the SEC given the setting. Imagine picking up Neyland Stadium and dropping it in the middle of Nashville. That’s the best comp you can have."

Former Georgia quarterback JT Daniels has the unique perspective of starting three games at Texas for three different teams with Southern Cal in 2018, West Virginia in 2022 and Rice in 2023.

“There were two battles I could never win in college,” Daniels said. “One was Texas and the second one was the back of my head hitting the turf. I never won either of those battles.”

Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium has a listed capacity of 100,119 and is on campus.

“It’s right there next to the bustling high-rises and the comedy shows and the concerts that make Austin so cool,” Hart said.

Add in the F1 race at Circuits of The Americas on Sunday and concerts by Sting and Eminem during the weekend and the game is part of a monster weekend.

“I think they’re going to be juiced up for it, without a doubt,” Hart said. “That fan base knows what they have and they have a very special team with skill players for days and days and a great offensive line and depth on the defensive side of the ball and they’re hungry for a championship.”

Daniels said he remembers the student section being full 90 minutes before kickoff.

“Depending on where you get off the bus, every Texas fan is going to boo you and yelling things at you, as it should be,” Daniels said. “It’s a big environment. They’ll get really loud on third down. Every time I’ve been there. It’s a fun experience to play in front of that many people that are that passionate about football.”

In other words, Texas is fitting right into the SEC.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Big matchup, big football weekend for Georgia football vs Texas