On3 Roundtable: Vastly different Alabama, Texas teams will meet in Tuscaloosa in Week 2

Last year’s Week 2 game between Alabama and Texas was one of the best games of the 2022 college football season. The Longhorns went toe-to-toe with the Crimson Tide in Austin before Alabama walked away with a last-second one-point victory.

The two traditional bluebloods meet again early this fall with a night-time matchup at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Sept. 9.

But as Bobby Burton of Inside Texas explained to JD PicKell on On3 Roundtable, the game will look a lot than last year.

“Well, I think we’re gonna see a different Texas offense and a different Alabama offense and defense,” Burton said. “Texas losing Bijan Robinson obviously puts more of the focal point on the passing game. Texas played a lot of two tight end offense last year simply because they wanted to run the ball more with Bijan Robinson. Now with Bijan gone, they’re gonna rely more on the arm of Quinn Ewers. Obviously, that’s gonna be a difference.”

Quinn Ewers was excellent to start the game versus Alabama last year with 134 passing yards on 9-for-12 passing. But he suffered a sprained clavicle at the end of the first quarter and missed the rest of the game.

Hudson Card came in and performed well against the Crimson Tide defense. Texas took a 19-17 lead on a Bert Auburn field goal with under 90 seconds remaining.

But the Longhorns left too much time for 2021 Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young, who led Alabama down the field for Will Reichard to nail a 33-yard field goal.

Young not being under center will be one of the many difference for the Crimson Tide in this game. In addition to their usual revamping following a group of players heading off to the NFL Draft, Alabama also has a new offensive coordinator in Tommy Rees and new defensive coordinator Kevin Steele.

“Then you look at Alabama, they’ve got two new coordinators themselves in Tommy Rees and Kevin Steele,” Burton said. “I think they’re gonna go back more to basics on both sides of the ball. I expect them to be more run heavy on offense. I expect them to be more base in the secondary in particular and not do as many combo coverages. If I look at this JD, it’s more about (an) evolving style for Steve Sarkisian based on personnel on his offense. Then we’ve got two new coordinators that Nick Saban’s brought in that are gonna be a little bit different.”

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