Looking Back At Texas Longhorns Loss To Washington Huskies in 2022 Alamo Bowl: What’s Different?

The Texas Longhorns and Washington Huskies are meeting again in the postseason, this time with a trip to the title game on the line.

The 2022 season ended with the Texas Longhorns falling by a score of 27-20 to the Washington Huskies, and now the Longhorns have a chance to end Washington's season with a loss on December 1.

The biggest difference between the two postseason matchups is the fact that last year's game didn't have nearly as many ramifications on the landscape of the sport. The winner this year advances to the championship game, as Washington comes in as the No. 2 seed and the Longhorns are the No. 3 seed in the College Football Playoff.

However, on top of the game having much more important stakes, there are some major differences this time around in terms of growth and confidence. One similar thing is that similar to the last meeting, is that Texas is without its star running back, as Bijan Robinson opted to skip the bowl game last year, while Johnathon Brooks is out for the year with a torn ACL. 

As for the offenses, Texas is no longer one-dimensional like they were last season. Heading into the Alamo Bowl a year ago, there were major doubts about Quinn Ewers. Rather than being the focal point, he was essentially a facilitator who had been fazed out of the offense. Let's dive into how the Longhorns ended up losing!

Washington QB Michael Penix Jr. against Texas in the Alamo Bowl :: Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK

In 2022, the Longhorns' defense started the game off with a huge interception by Jerrin Thompson, forcing a rare mistake by quarterback Michael Penix Jr. The offense couldn't capitalize and was forced to punt, which led to a Husky field goal. Texas answered with a field goal of their own, but would be held scoreless the rest of the half while Washington went up 13-3. 

Ewers connected with Brooks for a touchdown in the third to cut the lead to three, but Penix answered to extend the lead back to 10. The Huskies then added another touchdown to pull away to 17. Texas scored a touchdown in the fourth, got a massive stop on defense, but settled for a field goal to make it 27-20.

The Longhorns were unable to move the ball down the field quickly enough, and the clock ran out on their season and comeback. 

Heading into this year's Allstate Sugar Bowl, the Longhorns find themselves favored by four points with a 68.4% chance of winning according to ESPN's matchup predictor. Unlike the Huskies who limped through the back end of their schedule, the Longhorns got hot to end the season winning their last three games by an average of 29 points. 

Revenge could be on their mind, but more importantly, a chance to win a title stands out as the biggest motivation for Texas.