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Nobody in sports likes to use the term “moral victories.” There is not a moral victories column in the standings. Sports are about wins and losses. Moral victories are reserved for youth sports at the YMCA or i9 Sports. Too many people roll their eyes when that term is uttered.
Yet, I will argue that pointing out the positives after Texas narrowly lost to Alabama, the No.1 in the country, is not the exercise in futility that some sports fans claim it to be. Now, if you are Texas A&M looking for positives after an embarrassing home loss to Appalachian State, laughing while you walked away from the conversation would be an acceptable response. Allow me to pause this column for a moment.
Okay, anybody who says there is nothing positive to highlight after seeing a team that struggled to win games last season nearly pull off a huge upset after Quinn Ewers was injured is either stubborn or willfully ignorant. Yes, a loss is a loss. And sometimes a narrow loss against the No.1 team in the country shows a program is taking a step in the right direction.
Since the term moral victory is offensive to some, we can use other phrases – bright moments, reasons to be optimistic, my team doesn’t suck, etc. Use whatever term you feel comfortable with. Once we get past debating that phrase, everyone must admit this team looked damn good again Alabama on Saturday. We know if Texas can bottle that performance and unleash it throughout the next 10 games, it will be the sign of progress every Longhorn observer wants to see.
Texas had a moment on Saturday.
It is time to start the movement.
“A bunch of positives," Sarkisian said after the game. "First of all, I’ll say, I'm so proud of our team because let's call it like it is, nobody gave us a chance in this game. None of you [media in attendance]. None of the national media. Nobody gave us a chance. But we believed in our locker we could go win this game. We played like a team that believed they could win this game. We played like a team that thought they were going to win the game. Things happen, bad breaks happen. We ended up not winning. I'm super proud of our guys that they played our style of football, our brand of football. I thought we played with great energy from start to finish. I thought we had a tremendous effort in all three phases. I thought we played a tough brand of football. I thought we were hitting, we were physical. I thought we were mentally tough. We overcame a lot of adversity today.
“I thought we made plays when we had some opportunities to make them, and I thought we played pretty smart today. I don't think there were any plays that were like, what are they doing? That's our style. And I'm proud that we played our style of football, our brand of football against a quality team. So yeah, there's a lot to be proud of. But I know when I watch his tape, there's going to be a lot of things that I know we can improve upon. And that's the key to the drill to any season, especially early in the season is that we've got to continue to improve individually, across the board, so that we can improve collectively. There's plenty for us to work on to get better at. Clearly, this was a physical game. I think both teams are probably a little bit beat up coming out. We might have some opportunities for some other guys that are going to have to step up and help contribute to the team.”
Clearly, the huge question to start this week centers around the health of Ewers.
Sarkisian said Ewers had a clavicle sprain but the quarterback will receive an MRI on Sunday morning. The people I spoke to this weekend said they do not believe Ewers broke anything. However, everyone associated with the program is waiting to hear the severity of Ewers’ injury and how many weeks he might miss.
We know this team operates differently without Ewers. Hudson Card played with heart against Alabama. You have to give the young man credit for playing through an injury. Card is not Ewers.
Despite the drop-off in quarterback production after Ewers left the game, we saw Texas excel in nearly every area. Sure, there were mistakes at times. However, Sarkisian’s team looked like a squad that could compete for a Big 12 Championship this season.
We saw a Longhorn defensive line abuse Alabama’s offensive line throughout the game. This line could barely pressure the quarterback in 2021. Those same players made Alabama quarterback Bryce Young look average throughout most of Saturday.
Here are some interesting defensive stats:
• Aside from an 81-yard run in the second quarter, Texas allowed 13 yards on 11 carries in the first half.
• Following the 81-yard run, Texas forced Alabama into six punts over the next six drives.
• 16 different Longhorns recorded at least one tackle against Alabama.
“We gave up a long touchdown run there, 90-yard touchdown run, whatever it was," Sarkisian said. "Our defense responded. I think they went six straight punts after that. We come out, we drive down at the end of the first half and missed the field goal and turn right around and come back in the second half and continuing to battle and compete.
“That was a physical game there. Alabama's a very physical team. All the credit in the world to them. They found a way to make plays when they needed to. Bryce Young, Houdini act getting out of the sack to scramble down the sideline to put them in field goal range. Great teams find a way I thought we found a way there to take the lead and I thought we had found a way to win it.”
Sarkisian did discover something else.
This offensive line is pretty good.
Most college football observers thought Alabama linebacker Will Anderson would feast on this offensive line. Instead, Anderson finished with only one sack and his team compiled three. In addition, Alabama recorded only one quarterback hurry. We did not leave this game talking about how Alabama abused the freshmen offensive linemen. Those guys played extremely well.
Is Texas a finished product?
Of course not.
It is hard to judge if this cake needs another game, a few more weeks, or this season to finish baking. It might be as simplistic as Texas needs Ewers back as soon as possible. Texas may need to stay afloat until Ewers returns.
But we know when Ewers is healthy, this team can compete with any program in the country.
Including the No.1 team.
Texas had a moment on Saturday.
It is time to start the movement.
“I told the team I don't look at this as you we lost. We ran out of time,” Sarkisian said. “I felt good about us finding a way to go down score again there but the clock hit zero. But we didn't lose today. We just ran out of time. Proud of our kids, proud of our team, and proud of our coaches for the preparation. And now the key to the drill is getting back on the horse tomorrow and getting right back to work. We play again in seven days.
“I think one of y'all asked me earlier in the week is this game going to define us and define our season. It's not. We've got 10 more regular season games to go play. Our season will be defined on how we play throughout the entirety of the season, and that next step comes next Saturday [against UTSA]. We don't have a lot of time for the poor me's and whoa me’s. I don't think we will. I think our team is going to hold their head high with the way they played and we'll get back to work and hopefully come out on top next Saturday.”
Longhorn notes
(Provided by UT)
QUINN EWERS, QB
• Redshirt Freshman Quinn Ewers connected on 9-of-12 passes for 134 yards before leaving at the end of the first quarter with an injury.
• Completed a 46-yard pass to Xavier Worthy late in the first quarter that set up the Longhorns' second quarter touchdown.
HUDSON CARD, QB
• Card connected on 14-of-22 passes for 158 yards.
• Also rushed six times, including a career-long 20-yard run.
BIJAN ROBINSON, RB
• Rushed for 57 yards with one touchdown on 21 carries.
• Added three receptions for 73 yards, totaling 130 yards of offense.
• Has scored a touchdown (rushing or receiving) in 13 of his last 14 games.
• Has totaled 1,958 career rushing yards, moving ahead of Sam Ehlinger's 1,907 rushing yards for 20th on the UT all-time rushing list.
• Is now 62 yards behind quarterback Marty Atkins for 19th on the all-time rushing yards list.
XAVIER WORTHY, WR
• Caught five passes for 97 yards.
• Had a 46-yard first-quarter reception that set up Texas' touchdown.
• Also had 10 punt return yards.
JAYLAN FORD, LB
• Led the Longhorns for the most tackles (10), tied for the most solo tackles (6), was one of two Longhorns to record a sack, and recorded two tackles for
loss and one QB hurry.
• It was the second game of his career with 10 or more tackles and first since setting a career-high with 12 last season against Oklahoma State,
• Ford tied two Alabama players, DeMarcco Hellams and Jaylen Moody, for the most tackles in the game with 10.
DANIEL TREJO, P
• In his second game as a Longhorn, the transfer from Texas Wesleyan twice flipped the field on Alabama with punts of 50 and 61 yards in the third quarter.
• Punted five times averaging 46.4 yards per punt, totaling 232 yards.
Funniest Things You Will See This Week
For the couples (mainly the guys)
This probably mirrors the reaction of every child who has never seen a landline phone
Auntie was about to whoop somebody (profanity alert)
Sports On A Dime
1. Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian on Hudson Card’s performance: “• I thought Hudson handled it great. A couple of really good completions there, a couple of big scrambles; he's always used his legs well. Big-time completion to (redshirt freshman wide receiver) Casey Cain there on the final drive to the second and last drive to get us down there for the field goal as a guy who hadn't gotten in first-team reps all week. So, when you come in those types of situations, it's never easy, and I thought he performed more than admirably.”
2. Sarkisian on the performance of his defense against Alabama: “I think, first of all, our defense did an unbelievable job and our defensive staff did a tremendous job preparing our players. I give our players a lot of credit for having belief and trust in their coaches to execute the plan and to go out and do it at a really high level. I thought we played tough. I thought we played physical. I thought we played hard. For the most part, I think we tackled well. It is unfortunate the one run got out for the long run, and that's a talented group. They have a lot of good players and a good quarterback. I thought we affected the quarterback enough. Bad luck on the potential safety there that could have changed the complexion of the game, but that's football, man, that's the way it goes. I appreciate the guys, the coaches in their preparation, and the players for buying into the plan and then executing it.”
3. We will never know what could have been against Alabama. However, we do know the Longhorn future is bright with Quinn Ewers at quarterback.
4. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey spoke to the media during halftime of Texas-Alabama on Saturday.
Sankey on the importance of continuing and reestablishing rivalries once the conference decides its plans for divisions once Texas and Oklahoma join the league: “They're important. In fact, our expansions in many ways unique because we're restoring rivalries. Texas, Arkansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas A&M-Texas depending on one’s view. You know, Oklahoma, Missouri was 1/4 of the Big 8 conference and they'll play again. Then the border linkages around Arkansas with Oklahoma. We’re able to restore rivalries. Now, the question is, do they happen every year? Our motivation is to move our teams more frequently through our campuses. So, those rivalries will exist. The question is do they move every year? I tend to think whatever we can do to facilitate those real traditional encounters, it needs to be at the forefront of our minds. It's not a single factor, and that's why we're still digging into the reality. I think what's important is, even if they're not played every year, we've got the ability to continue rivalries and create new rivalries.”
5. Sankey on the CFP expansion guaranteeing Texas and Oklahoma move into the SEC by 2024: “There's too many moving parts. Yeah, those are unrelated issues … We've talked about a respectful orderly transition based upon the agreements and that's the way we structured things. If there's change and we have to adapt, then we'll prepare to adapt.”
6. Sankey on the possibility of having no divisions and the top two finishers advancing to the SEC Championship game after Texas and Oklahoma join the conference: “We focused on single division and the number of games in question and how you format the number of games. Division pods have not been on the table for many, many months. Divisions are out there but the focus has been on your single division format.”
7. Texas running back Bijan Robinson on his team’s growth since last season: “ That’s what we’ve been harping about this whole offseason. We realized that we wanted to be a really great team with each other. And we knew that we had this competition coming in week two, and I felt that we needed it going into the start of the season with confidence. Playing Alabama and seeing where we were at, and understanding that we still have a lot of work to do obviously. The fight and the chemistry that we have together, and the willingness to just go out there and just play football and have fun show positive results.”
8. Alabama football coach Nick Saban is old school. You have to love his respect for this game and the opponents.
9. Props to Texas analyst Gary Patterson for showing class and professionalism as always. Patterson is being extremely respectful to the coaches on Sarkisian’s staff. It is easy to understand the former head coach does not want to take any credit for this team’s defensive improvement even if he has been very important behind the scenes. Patterson is a class act.
10. Is this bad?
Final Thought
