Alabama football: Final thoughts and a prediction on Texas-sized showdown

These final 48 hours until kickoff will feel like 48 days.

Alabama and Texas have said a lot and heard a lot this week as they’ve prepared for only the 10th battle of blueblood programs from football-mad states. Thankfully for the players, the coaches and all of us on the outside, it’s almost time to see if the top-ranked Crimson Tide can take care of business — as Vegas says they might easily do — or if the young, unranked Longhorns can pull off a September stunner.

As those 48 hours slowly tick away and the high noon Saturday start (11 a.m. in Austin) gets closer, here are some final thoughts on this delicious early season showdown to chew on and spew about:

— Nothing but class and wonderfully deep perspective shown by Longhorns head coach and former Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian this week. When talking recently with ESPN, Sark said bluntly that Nick Saban “saved my career,” and he wasn’t exaggerating, of course. When Sarkisian was fired at USC in 2015 amid problems with alcohol, Saban was there with a lifeline, hiring Sark in 2016 to be an analyst and then his interim offensive coordinator when Lane Kiffin bolted to become the head coach at Florida Atlantic.

— Quinn Ewers is most definitely the raw, freshman unknown quantity in Saturday’s battle, while Bryce Young is the established reigning Heisman Trophy winner. So it’s really hard to believe that it was just 12 months ago that Young was making his 1st career start against a ranked Miami team on a neutral field in Atlanta. The point is, a lot can happen in 1 year’s time. And while Texas doesn’t have nearly the surrounding talent that Young had then or has now, just maybe we’ll view Ewers in a very different light in September 2023.

— If Will Anderson Jr. is going to become just the 2nd defensive player to win the Heisman in 3 months, Saturday is when he will have to begin building his case. It’s fine to pile up the tackles and hurries against the Utah States of the world. But season awards, from the less glossy ones all the way up to the Heisman, are won — and lost — in those big conference games and sexy nonconference battles like the one on Saturday. If Anderson can help make life miserable for Ewers as many think he will, then he will be off and running toward at least getting invited to New York for the Heisman ceremony, if not making history by winning it.

— According to The Tuscaloosa News, Alabama’s “Million Dollar Band” won’t be making the trip to Austin for Saturday’s game because of seating and ticket allotment issues. It will be the 1st time the band won’t be traveling with the team to a road game since the 2020 season, when the COVID-19 pandemic limited attendance. So when the Tide scores a touchdown or kicks a field goal in front of the sea of burnt orange, the traveling contingent of Bama fans will be the only ones making any noise at Memorial Stadium.

— Texas’ roster has grown up smack in the middle of this run of excellence by Bama, a stretch of dominance that began with the Tide’s victory over the Longhorns in the 2010 BCS national championship game. These Longhorns were in elementary school when Saban won the 1st of his 6 titles at Bama, and so they don’t know what life is like with Bama not being the bully in the schoolyard. Now here they are in 2022, as young men with a chance to slay that dragon in front of their fans and their state. Oh, that 1st quarter with the adrenaline running rampant will be a sight to behold, no matter how it all unfolds.

— Saban had the highest praise this week for Texas junior running back Bijan Robinson, saying “he can do everything.” Robinson, who was recruited by Saban but chose Austin instead, rushed for 1,127 yards and 11 touchdowns last season and was a 1st-team All-Big 12 selection. If the Longhorns have any hope of keeping things close on Saturday, Robinson will likely have to have the best game of his career, and that would be saying something.

— Alabama-Texas will be the noon ET game on Fox, providing the backdrop for the network’s Big Noon Kickoff show as well as being the site of ESPN’s College GameDay pregame show. No surprises here. The Tide vs. the Horns is the main attraction of Week 2 in college football, a spectacle involving tradition-rich programs that have simply gone in opposite directions in the last decade-plus. Regardless, the long-awaited matchup is a made-for-TV gem.

The prediction

The point spread opening at 19 on Sunday was a sign of the times, a sign of what Bama has become in the past 15 years and a sign of how far Texas has fallen as Sarkisian arrives for a rebuild. The early adrenaline rush will keep the Longhorns in the game for a half, maybe even into the 3rd quarter. The crowd will be rocking and praying it all continues.

But in the 2nd half, reality will set in. That vicious Tide pass rush will wear down the inexperienced Longhorns offensive line, and the roof will cave in on Texas by the end of the 3rd quarter. Alabama might not end up covering the full 19 points, but it will win comfortably as Young and Co. put up more than enough points.

Alabama 38, Texas 20.