College Football World Reacts as Texas Stuns Alabama in Tuscaloosa

Texas Longhorns football fans basked in their biggest regular-season victory in years.

Beating Alabama as an underdog over the past 15 years has proven nearly impossible. Beating the Crimson Tide as an underdog in Tuscaloosa, however, might be even more difficult than that.

No. 11 Texas, however, did just that Saturday evening. The Longhorns dominated Alabama in every phase of the game and rode a strong performance from quarterback Quinn Ewers to a 34-24 upset.

It was the kind of win that had largely eluded the biggest brand in the sport since its unbeaten 2009 regular season, and college football fans and observers across the country had a lot to say about it.

Frequent reference was made to former Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger's infamous announcement following the Longhorns’ Sugar Bowl win over Georgia to close 2018: “We’re back.”

Meanwhile, legendary Michigan wide receiver and College GameDay panelist Desmond Howard took a victory lap after picking Texas to win.

Fans of past Longhorn conquerors had some fun at both teams’ expense.

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Some Texas fans, meanwhile, framed the triumph as revenge after Ewers was knocked out of last year’s meeting with a shoulder injury.

Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe’s adventurous approach to quarterback play drew commentary and laughs.

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Fans of Alabama’s SEC foes enjoyed the moment.

Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian received kudos after a career night.

All in all, the rarity of Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban losing to an assistant made it a game to remember.


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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .