In the most anticipated game of this young college football season, Texas football went on the road and pulled the upset over Alabama.
Even more surprising was the fact that Texas nearly went wire-to-wire in this contest. They opened the scoring with a field goal to go up 3-0 late in the first quarter and they never really looked back.
By halftime, Texas led 13-6, holding Alabama to just two field goals in the first 30 minutes.
The third quarter belonged to Alabama, as the Crimson Tide registered a Will Reichard field goal and a 49-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Burton from Jalen Miroe to give Alabama a 16-13 lead.
The Longhorns answered almost immediately, regaining the lead with an Adonai Mitchell touchdown, and then a Jonathan Brooks touchdown less than a minute later.
Amari Niblack caught a touchdown pass from Milroe to bring Alabama back within three, but once again, the Ewers-to-Mitchell connection delivered, and Texas put away Nick Saban and Alabama in Bryant-Denny.
Here’s what we learned.
1. The Longhorns never let Milroe get comfortable
Between both teams, the biggest question heading into this matchup was undoubtedly Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe. The new starter was solid in the season-opener against Middle Tennessee State, but this was his first big test. The Longhorns made it extremely hard on him.
Milroe was never able to get into a rhythm on Saturday night. He finished 14-of-27 for 255 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He made big plays, but he never had the offense operating on a consistent basis.
The Longhorn front had Milroe running around all night long. Texas registered five sacks and countless hurries. A huge chunk of those incompletions were cases of Milroe being forced to throw the ball away after being chased out of the pocket.
The Texas defense also did a great job of eliminating Milroe’s support in the running game. The Longhorns registered five tackles for loss and held the Crimson Tide to just 107 yards on 35 carries.
2. Quinn Ewers was tremendous
Milroe may have been the biggest question in this game, but Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers was the biggest star. He cemented himself as one of the biggest names in the sport on Saturday with a tremendous and commanding performance.
Last year in this matchup, Ewers went 9-of-12 for 134 yards, and tonight he picked up right where he left off.
Ewers finished the night 24-of-38 for 349 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those scores came in the fourth quarter as Texas pulled away from the Tide, including a 39-yard touchdown to Adonai Mitchell that put the Longhorns ahead ten.
This was even more impressive considering, like Milroe, Ewers didn’t have a great deal of rushing support. Texas gained 105 yards on 37 carries, averaging a measly 2.8 yards per carry.
When the rubber met the road, it was Ewers who needed to make plays, and he delivered time and time again. There’s been so much early-season talk about Shedeur Sanders, Caleb Williams, and Michael Penix Jr., but no quarterback in the nation has the signature win that Ewers just pulled off.
3. Texas is back
The phrase “Texas is back” was a joke for a long time. It served as the catchphrase for a series of false starts for the program, flashes in the pan in which the hype far outweighed the reality.
That’s no longer the case.
The Longhorns played a 1-point game against Alabama last year and got this victory on Saturday night. Against the best dynasty in the sport, Texas has stood toe-to-toe and come out on top.
They’ve also taken control of their biggest rivalry in the Red River Shootout, beating Oklahoma last year by a resounding 49-0.
This is the furthest along the program has been since 2005. Of course, that year ended with a national title.
There’s still a lot of winning to be done to return to that former glory, but Steve Sarkisian has created some serious optimism in Austin, and now he’s delivering result after result to validate that excitement.