For the first time since the 2009 BCS National Championship, the Alabama Crimson Tide and Texas Longhorns face off. For two of the bluest bloods in college football, they don’t play often. This is their first meeting in the regular season since 1922.
When they played 12 years ago, the Tide won 37-21 and Nick Saban won his first national title at Alabama. The game turned in the second series when Longhorns QB Colt McCoy, a Heisman finalist, was injured and exited the game. Texas turned to a true freshman QB and made it a close game, but in the fourth quarter, the Tide pulled away. The McCoy injury hangs over the game as one of the biggest “what-ifs” in a sport full of them.
The teams’ fortunes diverged from there. Alabama became the most dominant force in the sport, winning five more titles. Texas has had four head coaches since and has struggled to find a QB as dominant as McCoy.
This year, Alabama is coming off an SEC title and a loss to Georgia to the College Football Playoff National Championship game. Texas went 5-7 last season, its first with Steve Sarkisian as coach. Alabama seems every bit the CFP favorite with Bryce Young at QB.
The Tide enter as 20-point favorites, according to Caesars. It’s the longest odds the Horns have faced at home since 1978.
Here are the best moments and plays from the game:
First-half takeaways
Texas gave Alabama everything it could handle in the first half, with Quinn Ewers keeping the Tide off balance with quick-strike, quick-release throws, setting up a few deep shots, most notably to Xavier Worthy. But a big hit by Alabama’s Dallas Turner sent Ewers to the locker room at the end of the first quarter, eerily reminiscent of the last time these teams met in 2010 when Colt McCoy was knocked out of the game early. Ewers was 9-of-12 for 134 yards, with Worthy catching two passes for 68 yards, including a 46-yarder on the play before Ewers was injured. Alabama held Bijan Robinson mostly in check in the running game, but the Longhorns leaned on him on the last drive of the half with Hudson Card at the helm, and he came through with 26 yards rushing and a 42-yard catch. Defensively, the Longhorns were gashed on an 81-yard touchdown run by Jase McClellan in the first quarter, but held Alabama to 19 yards on 15 plays in the second quarter. Texas kicker Bert Auburn missed a 20-yard field goal as the half ended — a disappointing end to a gritty drive that left the game tied at 10. — Dave Wilson
Saturday marked Alabama’s first nonconference road game since a 2011 trip to Penn State. And it showed as the Crimson Tide committed an uncharacteristic 11 first-half penalties when faced with a raucous Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium crowd. The offensive line appeared to be especially rattled by the noise, getting flagged for three false starts and struggling to keep the pocket clean for quarterback Bryce Young.
Making matters worse for Young was the lack of separation created by his starting receivers as Kobe Prentice, Jermaine Burton and Traeshon Holden accounted for one reception apiece. Running back Jahmyr Gibbs was a consistent threat out of the backfield and Jase McClellan had an 81-yard touchdown run.
Lingering over the second half will be the status of Ewers, who was pressing the Alabama defense before an injury knocked him out of the game. The Tide front seven kept star running back Bijan Robinson contained for the most part in the running game, limiting him to 45 yards on 12 carries, but the secondary had its hands full with receivers Jordan Whittington and Xavier Worthy.
One name to keep an eye on: outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr., who led the country in sacks and tackles for loss last season but had a rocky first half with three offsides penalties. — Alex Scarborough
Alabama gets the first TD, Texas answers
TO THE 🏠 @thekidjase
📺: @CFBonFOXpic.twitter.com/6HdRxKHnEF
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) September 10, 2022
The Longhorns answered on the next drive with an amazing deep ball from Ewers to Xavier Worthy. Texas would score a few plays later with a short TD run by Bijan Robinson. However, the big news of the drive was Ewers going down with an injury. He was hit on a pass attempt and driven into the ground. He went to the locker room and Hudson Card took over.
An absolute DOT from Quinn Ewers 🎯
(via @CFBONFOX) pic.twitter.com/R3Vw64Ci4k
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) September 10, 2022
A STROLL IN THE ENDZONE @Bijan5Robinson 😎@TexasFootball ties it up once more! pic.twitter.com/tVzWPJC6hu
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 10, 2022
Longhorns legends in the house
TEXAS LEGENDS IN THE BUILDING@KDTrey5 x @VinceYoung10 🤘
pic.twitter.com/TKZ01NgMBQ— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 10, 2022
Game recognizes game @QuinnEwers 🤝 @VinceYoung10 pic.twitter.com/80rfZaqROU
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) September 10, 2022
Arrivals
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) September 10, 2022
Bevo Blvd. was electric 🔥 pic.twitter.com/297wuohAaI
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) September 10, 2022
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) September 10, 2022
SOON…⏳ pic.twitter.com/WKJHP8Zcjg
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) September 10, 2022
This guy’s ready
0:17
College GameDay cast commentates on Texas fan chugging a beer from his shoe.