Down went the Tide, and up went the Horns.

Texas stunned Alabama 34-24 in Tuscaloosa. A back-and-forth thriller went the way of the Longhorns in the rematch. Haymaker after haymaker ended with Texas standing atop the college football world in the monumental showdown.

What should we have taken from Saturday night’s upset? These 3 things:

1. We might’ve overreacted to Jalen Milroe’s Middle Tennessee showing

Yikes. In Milroe’s defense, Alabama’s offensive line didn’t exactly give him clean pockets and clean snaps all night.

But yeah, those concerns about Milroe’s ball security issues surfaced. He threw a pair of bad interceptions wherein he failed to recognize a defender sitting in coverage. A week after he became the first Alabama quarterback to have 3 passing touchdowns and 2 rushing touchdowns in the same game, it was a lackluster showing from Milroe. It was big downfield shots and scrambles. That’s it. Alabama struggled to string first-down drives together.

It was a reminder that Nick Saban treated this as a true quarterback battle. He added Tyler Buchner after spring for a reason. Milroe’s ability to hold onto the starting job will be a popular topic of conversation in Tuscaloosa.

2. Steve Sarkisian made that Alabama defense look beyond mortal

Masterful. Sarkisian dialed up looks all night. Whether it was getting former Georgia Playoff hero AD Mitchell open downfield or scheming in the ground game, Sarkisian was one step ahead. The former Alabama offensive coordinator kept the Tide defense on its heels in the second half.

Texas had 6 plays of 30-plus yards in the game, 5 of which came in the second half. Quinn Ewers played the game of his life with 349 passing yards and 3 touchdown passes. Also of note? Ewers didn’t take a single sack.

Alabama hadn’t allowed that many points in a game since last year’s loss in Knoxville. In the second half, it felt like the Tennessee loss all over again. An elite schemer got the best of Nick Saban once again.

3. That game was historic in a variety of ways

There’s no win more impressive than winning in Alabama. It was the first time that the Tide lost at home since the 2019 LSU game against Joe Burrow, which ended the longest home winning streak (21) in the nation. Up until Saturday, that was Alabama’s lone home loss since the start of the 2016 season. It was the first time that Alabama lost a game in nonconference play since Louisiana-Monroe in 2007. It was the first time that Saban lost to one of his former coaches in a home game.

On the Texas side, this was the Longhorns’ first win against an AP Top 5 team since 2010. It was their first win against Alabama in 41 years, and it was the first win against an AP Top 3 team on the road since 1969.

Is Texas back? Is the Alabama dynasty done?

Saturday night certainly felt historic in every way.