Longhorns Make Statement Near Upset of No. 1 Alabama
It shouldn't have been close. It should've been a blowout.
One team should have walked into Week 3 feeling high about its future. The other would have questions on what direction the team was headed before the start of conference play.
The thing is, the outcome was the opposite of what many expected. Texas was the team that should've been on cloud nine. Alabama was the team that would've needed a swift wake-up call — or what coach Nick Saban would call an "ass-chewing" — for the outcome of Saturday's matchup in Austin.
But when Alabama outside linebacker Dallas Turner delivered a crushing blow to Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, the momentum switched. Even with a 2-yard touchdown run by Bijan Robinson, the life had been sucked out of Memorial-Royal Stadium for fans to erupt with joy.
Texas fans didn't want to admit it, but they knew where this game was headed. And even if Texas coach Steve Sarkisian won't use the term "what if" to describe the 20-19 loss to top-ranked Alabama, one can't help but wonder about a different outcome.
What if Ewers got up? What if he came back and played?
"We believed in our locker room that we could go win this game,” Sarkisian said. “And we played like a team that believed they could win this game. And we played like a team that thought they were going to win the game.”
Texas isn't back following its heartbreaking loss at home. Not yet at least. The Longhorns, however, are trending in the right direction. They look like a roster capable of holding their own against the giants of college football.
Heading into conference play come Sept. 24 against Texas Tech, the Longhorns look like viable contenders in the Big 12. Few teams often force a Saban-led roster to go down to the wire, let alone nearly lose on the road.
Last year's roster would've found a way to fold by halftime. Players know it, too.
"I think that game wouldn’t have been close around the third quarter,” running back Roschon Johnson said of the outcome. “They probably would’ve separated.”
Defensive implosions from Texas allowed teams to fight back in the second half of games last season. Points came easy. Stops were hard to come by.
That wasn't the case Saturday. Alabama quarterback Bryce Young had to fight for every yard throughout four quarters to set up Will Reichard's 33-yard field goal with eight seconds on the clock. Nothing came easy thanks to a formidable pass rush led by Ovie Oghoufo, Keondre Colburn, and Alfred Collins.
If the front seven couldn't stop Young, the secondary would. Receivers dropped balls left and right. If passes weren't bobbling in the receiver's hands, they were being knocked out by defenders such as cornerbacks D'Shawn Jamison and Ryan Watts.
Alabama, a near-three touchdown favorite, needed Young to show the nation why he won the Heisman a season ago. If Watts only registered the sack on first-and-10, the clock would've kept running, and Texas might be sitting at 2-0.
“Let’s call it like it is: Nobody gave us a chance in this game,” Sarkisian said. “None of you. None of the national media. Nobody gave us a chance."
This version of Texas might be onto something. Sarkisian won't accept moral wins, but he very well could after showing his former mentor that playing at DRK is different than scheduling high-profile matchups at neutral sites.
The Longhorns would bend, but they never broke. They rebounded on defense following an 81-yard touchdown run from Jase McClellan in the first quarter. They held Alabama to 80 rushing yards, making the Tide's offense one-dimensional.
The Horns forced six consecutive punts before Young found running back Jahmyr Gibbs for a 7-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Hudson Card didn't buckle under the pressure, leading the Horns downfield to set up a 49-yard field goal from Bert Auburn to retake the lead with less than 90 seconds left.
Sarkisian said postgame that the Horns played "Texas football" in front of a record-setting 105,000-plus crowd Saturday morning. Players said that this game was different than others in years past.
“The past five years I’ve been here, I’ve never seen a team just grind as hard throughout the whole game,” Coburn told reporters.
Even when everything clicks for a team, sometimes it's not enough to take down Alabama. Arkansas knows the feeling far too well. Last season in Tuscaloosa, quarterback KJ Jefferson found a way to dice up Alabama's secondary for 385 yards and three touchdowns.
The Hogs still lost by a score thanks to Young's heroics with a 40-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jameson Williams in the fourth quarter. Arkansas was nearly perfect, and yet it wasn't enough.
Texas faced that same Arkansas team last season in Fayetteville. That version of the Longhorns collapsed in the final 30 minutes, allowing 24 unanswered points in a 40-21 upset. The defeat eventually began the downward spiral of the Longhorns' flaws in the second half of games that led to a 5-7 record.
This Texas team wouldn't have imploded week after week. Heck, they might have even finished with double-digit wins. And while Texas didn't play perfectly, it did enough to earn a nod in the top 25 rankings entering the new week.
“If that was the best team in the country and we took them down to the wire, that should instill a lot of confidence in them that we can play with anybody,” Sarkisian said.
Two plays were the difference on the afternoon. If the officials ruled Young down in the end zone or called intentional grounding, it would've been a safety, giving Texas 21 points instead of 19. If Watts makes the hit, does Alabama respond on the next play?
Even with the loss, the Longhorns won in a sense. They earned the respect of the fan base. National media outlets will follow the "what if" narrative until given a reason otherwise.
No one is doubting Sarkisian or Card moving forward, either. One coached a hell of a game with his back against the wall. The other left it all in the field, giving everything he had for a chance to bring down college football's undisputed giant.
Texas isn't back, but it getting closer with outings like Saturdays. Sarkisian said his goal all along was to play in Arlington come Dec. 3. This roster can do it, even with Ewers sidelined for up to six weeks.
Everything is starting to come together on the Forty Acres in Year 2 of the Sarkisian era. Can it last?
Fans are about to find out.
“It still feels like a loss,” Texas linebacker DeMarvion Overshown said. “But I’m excited about the rest of the season.”
You can follow Cole Thompson on Twitter at @MrColeThompson
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