Steve Sarkisian finally made it over to a triumphant corner of Bryant-Denny Stadium and thrust both hands into the air to the sound of thunderous applause and that famous Hook ‘em Horns hand sign to those in front of him. It’s a sight people might want to get used to seeing around these parts. He was joining the No. 11-ranked Texas team he had just coached to a defining 34–24 victory against No. 3 Alabama. As they celebrated, they yelled three letters that are all-too-familiar to the rest of the 100,000 people on hand (although many of those in Crimson had filed for the exits): “S-E-C.”
The significance of what they did here is not lost on Sarkisian. Texas did what no team has done in this stadium in the previous 21 tries, and they’re only the sixth team to win here since Saban got the program rolling in 2008. They also broke Alabama’s 57-game nonconference win streak that dated back to 2007. Texas will enter college sports’ biggest and baddest conference next year, at which point this matchup will have SEC title significance. But for now, it was the return meeting to last year’s near-upset and the biggest nonconference matchup on the slate, and it bagged the bragging rights to buoy the rest of this Longhorn campaign if they can continue this momentary success.
“A lot of people walk in the stadium and the mystique of Alabama—they’re beat before the ball gets kicked off,” Sarkisian said. “I had to make sure that our players understood that we're good enough to come in here and win. But the moment doubt creeps in, that's when you can start making the mistakes that can get you beat. And so I wanted to be clear with our players that Hey, it's not about we fear them. We do respect that team. But we were good enough to come here and win if we played capable enough to do it, and we played that style tonight.”
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Texas finished what it started in this game, unlike last year’s contest when the Longhorns came out with a blistering start before Quinn Ewers went out with an injury and Texas was unable to hold onto its lead.
“You know, it definitely sucks going down in the first quarter last year,” Ewers said. “But like I said earlier, I don't play the what-if games. I just came out here with a mindset to attack their defense, and it was a lot of fun.”
In this game, Texas threw haymakers throughout, with eight passes gaining 15 or more yards. Ewers ended the day with 349 yards through the air and three touchdowns. Also, crucially, he didn’t have any interceptions, of which Alabama’s Jalen Milroe had two, leading to 10 Texas points. It’s hard to divorce the fact that that was the final margin in the game. The Longhorns kept Milroe under constant duress. As a phenomenal athlete, there were plenty of times that the Bama QB extended plays, and made the Horns pay. But Texas got their fair share of him as well, registering five sacks.
“I feel like we owed them this,” said wide receiver Xavier Worthy. “Last year, Quinn got hurt so I feel like we just wanted to come back in here and show what we really could do with our full power.”
Alabama had backbreaking penalties that nullified two touchdowns and proved to be drive-killers multiple times. A final offsides flag on 4th and 3 ended any faint hope of a miracle comeback. After all the fireworks through the air, Texas finished the game on the ground, rushing nine straight times before a Tide penalty that allowed them to kneel three times and get out of T-town with the win after holding the ball for the game’s final 7:14. They started the game generating explosive plays through the air and ended it with a bullyball style it seemed like Alabama is pivoting back toward.
“To be able to run it when they knew we were going to run,” Sarkisian said. “I know everybody wants to look at running stats, I recognize that, but you have to be able to run the football when they know you're gonna run the football. And clearly that's what that last drive was for seven minutes to go. And we finished the game with the ball in our hands.”
When the final whistle sounded, Texas players poured onto the field, as did their most famous fan, Matthew McConaughey, who by chance met up with Charlie Strong, an analyst at Alabama and an author of one of the last times Texas seemed back, a home win over Notre Dame in 2016. But in order for Texas to actually be back this time, they’ll have to parlay this into a successful season. We were told Texas was back after that overtime win. They lost to Cal, Oklahoma State, and Oklahoma in three of their next four. We were told Texas was back after the Sugar Bowl win over Georgia to finish the 2018 season. They went 8–5 the next year with a loss in Week 2 to LSU. What will make this one any different? Time will tell.
“This game's not going to define our season, we got 10 more regular season games to play,” Sarkisian said. “But I think it does serve as a good benchmark for us. Kind of what we're capable of, and what the potential of who we can be as a team moving forward.”
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Texas governor Greg Abbott joked with reporters on the field after the game that Sarkisian has earned a raise considering how the team played today. He’s been on hand for all of Texas’s games against Alabama in the Saban era—the one where Colt McCoy was brought to tears realizing he wouldn't be able to continue in the 2010 Rose Bowl and last year in Austin where Ewers went down. This time, he notes, Texas’s starting QB finished the game, and this time the Horns emerged victorious.
“This is a step in the right direction for the Longhorn team as coach Sark says,” Abbott said. “The team and the coaching staff should be very proud. They played well and they executed extraordinarily well, they deserved to win tonight. They deserved to win last year also. It’s good to see them be able to finish and finish strong and send a message to the country.”
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey told reporters before the game he’d be visiting with both school’s administrations during the game, and stood in the end zone nearest to the Longhorns faithful to his left as time ticked down. Above him was the section of recruits on visits soaking in the big game atmosphere. When it was over, Texas defensive back X'Avion Brice ran to tell them they should come to Austin instead. A Texas administrator with a burnt orange blazer lifted his sleeve up to reveal a houndstooth pattern across the jacket. He wore it as an omen, which turned out to be a good one. Near him, Sarkisian clapped all the way to the stadium’s uppermost corner where burnt orange cheers rained down and Texas’s band, relegated to the rafters as retribution for similar treatment of Bama’s band last year, began to play.
Alabama was able to “reciprocate a similar seating arrangement to what we had last year in Austin,” according to Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne. Texas was able to reciprocate the result of the game. And high in the sky, Texas’s fight song bellowed through an emptying stadium as the Longhorns exited victorious.
