Texas upends Tide in early season showdown
It turns out that the trendy preseason upset pick was right on.
By: Dave in Tuscaloosa
On the shoulders of Quinn Ewer’s monster performance, the Texas Longhorns strolled into a raucous Bryant-Denny stadium on Saturday night and took care of business, knocking off third ranked Alabama 34-24. It was a rare home loss for the Tide, as Bama under Nick Saban had only lost once to a non-conference foe in Tuscaloosa prior to Saturday night. Texas broke open a tight game in the fourth quarter, dominating the Tide to the time of 21-8 in the final stanza.
There is no debating this point…the better team won this game. Texas looked like an experienced, well-coached outfit under former Bama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkaisan, while the Tide looked like the inexperienced team that they are. Mistakes plagued the Tide, as the familiar tune of penalties and coverage busts cost them dearly, much like last year’s outfit. Bama was flagged for 10 penalties for 90 yards, including two head scratching snap violations by senior center Seth McLaughlin. The offensive line, lauded in the opener against Middle Tennessee State for being disciplined and much-improved over last year, was thoroughly dominated by the Texas front seven, yielding five sacks and garnering a mere 3.1 yards per carry with no back gaining more than 45 total yards. Meanwhile, Horn’s sophomore quarterback Ewers proved all the hype surrounding him is justified as he was rarely pressured and ended up passing for 349 yards on 38 attempts with three touchdowns and no interceptions. His counterpart, Bama’s sophomore Jaylen Miroe struggled mightily, passing for 255 yards and 2 touchdowns, yet he threw two costly interceptions that led to 10 Longhorn points. Milroe never looked comfortable, missing receivers and holding on to the ball for too long on multiple occasions. The Tide backs were never able to break a run of significance, the receivers did not create separation from the Texas back line, and with Bryce Young in the pros, Alabama did not have anyone who took over the game.
Most discouraging was the Tide secondary, who similar to last season, were called on multiple holds and pass interference penalties. Also, missed assignments and blown coverages allowed Ewers the opportunity to pick the unit apart. Texas receivers consistently found themselves behind the Tide secondary, including a Ewers to Adonai Mitchell 39 yard pass in the fourth quarter where Mitchell was so open he was lonely. The lone bright spot for the Tide was the kicking game, as senior Will Reichard remained perfect on the season hitting field goals of 42, 30, and 51 yards. Overall, Texas would outgain the Tide 454 to 362 yards.
Now is the time to recalibrate expectations for this Tide squad. I, along with many others, thought the preseason ranking of 4 was way too high for Alabama. This week they dropped to 10, which is the lowest ranking for the Tide in eight years. 10 is about where Alabama belongs right now, and although the naysayers will be screaming “I told you so” and will proclaim the Bama dynasty is over, all is far from lost for the ‘23 version of the Tide. The defeat, although painful, may turn out to be a huge positive. Coach Saban stated much wisdom after the game, stressing the importance of his young team not wasting this failure. All of the team's goals are still intact, but the margin for error is now gone. Saturday’s loss showed how far this team has to go, and questions throughout the week will no doubt center on Milroe and whether or not he can grow into a championship quarterback.
A lot of pressure will be put on coordinators Kevin Steele and Tommy Rees to shore up the secondary and the offensive line and get it done quickly. After a road contest against USF this Saturday, the SEC gauntlet begins. Teams that can score points will be a challenge for Bama, and the likes of Ole Miss, Tennessee, and even Texas A&M will be hard to top unless improvement is made on both sides of the ball. By the time Alabama plays LSU at home in November, the Tigers should be a well-oiled machine and definitely watch out for Auburn, who will be much improved this year under Hugh Freeze and should be a formidable opponent for Alabama, especially at home. Time will tell if Saturday night will serve as a springboard for another Crimson Tide championship run, or the beginning of a season that could result in 3-4 losses.