No. 3 Alabama will visit No. 11 Texas at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday night in a duel of college football powerhouses and one of the most anticipated nonconference games on the 2023 season. Last season, Alabama needed a 33-yard Will Reichard field goal with 10 seconds left to win 20-19 at Austin, Texas. The outcome was unexpected, as reigning Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young failed to get the Crimson Tide offence going for the most of the game. Meanwhile, the Longhorns scraped together enough offence to keep things close after losing starting quarterback Quinn Ewers late in the first quarter.
Young has already departed and will play in his first NFL game this weekend, but Ewers is back and ready to complete what he began.
Both of these clubs have high hopes for the season. Last season, Alabama failed to win the SEC, and Georgia has risen to the top of the sport. It’s been widely reported that the Nick Saban dynasty has come to an end. Meanwhile, the Longhorns have been hearing how it’s become an annual practise to proclaim that Texas is back, only to discover that the only thing returning is another poor season.
This weekend, both have an opportunity to silence the critics.
How to Live Stream Alabama vs. Texas
Saturday, September 9 | 7 p.m. Eastern Time
Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
ESPN | fubo (free trial) | TV: ESPN
Alabama vs. Texas: What You Need to Know
Last week, Jalen Milroe looked excellent at quarterback for Alabama: There was lots of gnashing of teeth and anxiety about Alabama’s QB fight this summer, as reports suggested that none of the finalists performed well enough to accept the position and the big challenge of replacing Young. Then Milroe on the pitch last week, and everything looked to be back to normal. Milroe threw for 194 yards and three touchdowns while also leading the Alabama offence with 48 yards and two more touchdowns. Granted, it was against Middle Tennessee, and Texas is a harder nut to crack, but a five-touchdown performance before a big game is a terrific way to boost confidence.
Last year, Ewers dominated the meeting: It’s true that Texas was kept to a field goal when Ewers was on the field last year, but it wasn’t his fault. Ewers completed 9 of 12 passes for 134 yards before being replaced by Hudson Card due to a shoulder injury. It’s difficult to forget how precise and dynamic the Longhorns offence looked with Ewers in the game, and it’s impossible not to wonder what might’ve occurred if he hadn’t been wounded.
Former Nick Saban assistants are 2-28 against him: It’s a metric that gets thrown around a lot because it’s remarkable and Saban has a lot of former assistants coaching teams all across the nation. When you win as many national championships as Saban, other schools want to employ your assistants. However, as Texas’ Steve Sarkisian pointed out last week when questioned about it, it’s not like coaches who have never worked for Saban have had much success against him. In his 16+ seasons at Alabama, he’s lost 27 games, six of which occurred in his first season.
Predictions and predictions for Alabama vs. Texas
SportsLine consensus odds
I’ll start by emphasising that I, too, find it strange to be picking Texas, a serial underachiever, versus Alabama. My fingers are rebelling against me as I write, but I must ignore them since this is how I genuinely feel. I feel Texas will win this game outright because it is a highly skilled team with the superior quarterback in the matchup. That is significant. That being said, even if Alabama does what it does (win), I’m not sure how frequently the Tide can win by more than a score, so I’m taking the points.
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