4 takeaways from Texas football’s last-second loss to Alabama

An absolutely wild game for head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Texas football program did not end in their favor in the end. Texas gave head coach Nick Saban and the No. 1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide everything they could handle and more.

In fact, it took the Crimson Tide a game-winning field goal with less than a minute remaining to get the one-point win in the end. Alabama kicker Will Reichard notched the game-winning 32-yard field goal for the Crimson Tide after Bryce Young led his team down the field during a two-minute drill.

That game-winning field goal from the Tide gave them the win in the end by the final score of 20-19. This game wound up being closer than anyone really expected. Texas fought very hard, which included a couple of key injuries.

Hudson Card and Texas football fall short of Bryce Young and Alabama 20-19

Here’s a look at four takeaways from the Longhorns’ one-point loss to Alabama on Sep. 10.

Quarterback depth is suddenly a question mark

We all know about the unfortunate shoulder injury that redshirt freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers suffered late in the first quarter of this game. But it then became apparent that Texas had suffered another unlucky quarterback injury when junior Hudson Card came up limping after his first few snaps of the game.

Card was limping throughout the entire game, and it often showed with the lack of velocity that he was able to get on some of his passes in the second half. Granted, Card still showed a tremendous amount of resilience and toughness in this one, and we have to commend him for that.

The problem that Texas now faces throughout the rest of this difficult September schedule has to do with quarterback depth. We don’t know how long Ewers will be out after he missed the rest of this game, and was shown in a shoulder sling.

And if this lingering ankle injury for Card is something that hangs around for a while, that could spell trouble for the Longhorns. We will continue to monitor the injury situations for these two quarterbacks, as it will be imperative for Texas to get healthier at the position before Big 12 play begins.

Quinn Ewers is going to be special

The version of Ewers that we saw in this game, at least for the first quarter, was much different than the one we saw in the win in the regular season opener against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks. The Texas offense was rolling while Ewers was in this game.

He had multiple nice throws that really put a lot of stress on the talented Alabama defense. That included a nice 46-yard deep ball to star sophomore wide receiver Xavier Worthy just prior to the shoulder injury he suffered at the end of the first quarter.

Before he exited this game with the shoulder injury, Ewers completed nine of his 12 passing attempts for 134 passing yards, no passing touchdowns, and no interceptions. He showed some more highlighting plays that really put his insane arm talent on display.

It’s also clear that Sark trusts Ewers a lot more to open up the offensive playbook than Card. There was a ton of motion, deep throws, and overall aggressive playcalling when Ewers was in the game.

I don’t know if it was due to the injury to Card or just a lack of trust in his ability to open up the offense, but it was clear that Sark was way more willing to open up the playbook for Ewers.

Jaylan Ford led a revitalized Texas defense

One of the most positive storylines from the first two games of the season for the Longhorns was the play of this defense. Texas looks so much better on defense under Co-DC/LB coach Pete Kwiatkowski at the outset of this season than they did last year.

The very fact that Texas allowed just 20 points to Alabama, without them turning the ball over a single time, is truly impressive. Texas gave Young fits in the pocket for much of this game. That included two key sacks, one from junior linebacker Jaylan Ford.

Ford was a real spark plug for this defense for nearly the entire game. He had multiple quarterback pressures and one key sack where it looked like a rocket bursting into the Alabama backfield.

We also didn’t see many of the missed tackle issues that plagued Ford throughout much of the regular season opener.

Ford finished up this game with 10 combined tackles, two tackles for loss, a few quarterback pressures, and one sack.

But he wasn’t the only player that showed out for the Longhorns this weekend.

Senior edge rusher Ovie Oghoufo was good for Texas with five combined tackles and one key sack. It’s also worth highlighting the standout game from senior safety Anthony Cook, who came up with nine combined tackles, a few run stops, and two tackles for loss.

Texas’ defense shined in this game and held them in when the offense started to sputter at times in the second half. It will be massive if the defense continues to show this level of improvement heading into Big 12 play.

Steve Sarkisian had this team ready for this game

There will be plenty of Longhorns fans that have different opinions about some of the playcalling and different mistakes that were made in this game. But the fact of the matter is that Texas pushed Alabama further than just about anyone thought they would coming into this game.

Sark and the Longhorns staff must be commended for the game planning and preparation for this Alabama game. Texas’ offense had some creative playcalling, motions, and they just played with a level of energy and resilience that many weren’t expecting, myself included.

The defensive staff must also be credited with greatly limiting what is likely to be one of the best offenses in the entire country this season. Alabama was held to fewer than six yards per play and barely eclipsed 200 passing yards. The pressure was also much more noticeable in this game than throughout most of last season.

If this is what we can expect to see from Sark’s team throughout the season, we’re probably going to see Texas playing in Arlington, TX, in December in the Big 12 Championship Game.

This game should have a very positive impact on Sark and the Longhorns both on the field and on the recruiting trail for the rest of the fall. That is as long as Ewers and Card are both able to get healthy in a short span of time. Texas will need both of those guys back by the time Big 12 play starts in two weekends against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in Lubbock.