It’s a marquee non-conference contest on the gridiron when the SEC battles the Big 12 in the Lone Star State. The #1 Alabama Crimson Tide are on the road as they make the trip to take on the Texas Longhorns Saturday afternoon. Alabama opened their 2022 campaign with an emphatic 55-0 demolition of Utah State last Saturday in their previous game. Texas cruised to an easy 52-10 home victory over UL Monroe in their season opener last Saturday. In the all-time series between the schools, the Longhorns own a 7-1-1 advantage though they’ve met just once in the last 40 years. The most recent meeting saw Alabama pick up a 37-21 triumph in the BCS Championship Game back on January 7, 2010.
Alabama shrugged off all the losses of talent to the NFL and last season’s CFP National Championship Game defeat to Georgia as they absolutely throttled Utah State at home in their opener. The Crimson Tide saw the issues Utah State had stopping lowly UConn’s run game in their opener the week before and put it to use. Alabama bolted to a 17-0 lead after one quarter and was up 41-0 at the half en route to the one-sided victory. The Crimson Tide didn’t score the final 25 minutes of the game but the damage was long since done. Alabama racked up a 559-136 advantage in total offense, piled up 30 first downs while allowing seven and held a 31:51 to 28:09 edge in time of possession. Those numbers more than offset the fact that the Crimson Tide committed the game’s only turnover.
Bryce Young, who won the Heisman Trophy last season, completed 18 of 28 passes for 195 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions. He led the Crimson Tide with five carries for 100 yards and a score on the ground. Jalen Milroe was eight of 10 for 76 yards with a touchdown and an interception plus 10 rushing yards. Ty Simpson finished one of two for 10 yards. Jahmyr Gibbs was the leading ground gainer among running backs as he finished with nine carries for 93 yards. Jamarion Miller (seven carries, 32 yards), Jase McClellan (five carries, 23 yards), Roydell Williams (three carries, 15 yards) and Trey Sanders (one carry, five yards) all got a crack with the ball as well. In the passing game, Traeshon Holden (70 yards, two TD), Kobe Prentice (60 yards) and Jermaine Burton (35 yards, two TD) each caught five passes to lead the way for the Crimson Tide. Will Reichard hit all seven extra point attempts and two of two field goal attempts with a long of 45.