Texas Football: 5 overreactions from Longhorns colossal win over Bama

Steve Sarkisian has shaken the second-half woes in big games

The biggest knock against Sark after his first season at Texas was the inability to hold onto first-half double-digit leads. Texas blew nearly a half-dozen double-digit first-half leads during Sark’s first season as the head coach in 2021.

Sark and the Longhorns have shifted the narrative regarding the ability to close out games in the second half in the last two seasons. Texas did a better job holding second-half leads last season (i.e., the wins over the Kansas State Wildcats and Baylor Bears).

The win over Alabama proves that Texas has reached the point as a program that it can not only close out games after holding sizable first-half leads but it can outplay opponents as talented and deep as the Tide in the final 30 minutes. During his time as the head coach, Sark and the Longhorns have more depth and talent at almost every position on both sides of the ball than ever before.

And that showed in this game, with Texas outscoring Alabama by two scores in the fourth quarter. Texas was more physical and methodical moving the ball down the field late in this game. According to Sidearm Stats, Texas had 41 fourth-quarter rushing yards compared to -16 for Alabama.

Moreover, this win over Alabama is a massive accomplishment for Sark. He got his statement win as the Texas head coach. Sark and the Longhorns now have all sorts of momentum a couple of weeks ahead of Big 12 play. The sky is the limit for where Sark and the Longhorns can go the rest of the season if they take care of business week-by-week in conference play.