WATCH: Longhorns Convert Wacky 4th Down vs. Alabama After Weird Sequence
The No. 11 Texas Longhorns and coach Steve Sarkisian have shown aggression on offense in Saturday's meeting with the No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
This resulted in four fourth-down attempts for Texas through the first three quarters, but it was one of these tries during the third quarter that was one of the weirder sequences you'll see in football.
Lined up under center on 4th and 1, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers tried to QB sneak into the pile to pick up the conversion. Instead, the ball immediately popped out and sat harmlessly on the turf for Longhorns running back Jonathon Brooks, who scooped it up and fought forward on the left side of the offensive line to get the first down.
The play, which ended up being somewhat meaningless after the Longhorns turned it over on downs a few plays later anyways, was a lucky break for Texas. But there nearly wasn't anything lucky about it.
The officials' original call was that Ewers had possession and fumbled, which gave Alabama possession. If this happens on fourth down, only the fumbler can regain the ball and advance this.
But upon further review, it was clear that Ewers never had possession, which made it a live ball for anyone to recover. While the Tide defense was focused on Ewers in the pile of bodies, Brooks was able to pick up the ball and convert.
The Longhorns and Tide went back-and-forth toward the end of the third quarter and into the start of the fourth, but Texas erupted quickly for back-to-back touchdowns to take a 27-16 lead. The second of these scores was a five-yard touchdown from Brooks after Jerrin Thompson picked off Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe.