Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Alabama Escaped An Upset In Texas Thanks To Bryce Young Ducking A Sack To Set Up The Winning Field Goal

Top-ranked Alabama found itself in serious trouble in Austin on Saturday afternoon, as Texas pushed them to the edge in what was a low-scoring, highly entertaining game.

Early on it looked like it might be a shootout, with Texas’ young star QB Quinn Ewers throwing for 134 yards in the opening quarter before leaving the game with a shoulder injury after a big hit to end it. After Texas finished off that drive with a touchdown to tie the game at 10-10, we didn’t see another touchdown until the fourth quarter. The Longhorns entered the red zone five times in the game and came away with just 16 points — one touchdown, three made field goals, and a missed 20-yarder to end the first half — and those struggles executing came back to haunt them (as did what looked like a safety that became an incompletion on a wild review).

Trailing 16-10 in the fourth and having gotten just 20 yards in their last 25 plays, Alabama’s offense finally got going on offense as Bryce Young, who struggled much of the day along with Bama receivers dropping passes, got in a rhythm. He capped that drive off with an incredible scramble drill pass to Jahmyr Gibbs, as the Georgia Tech transfer was Young’s most reliable target all day out of the backfield.

After a stop by the Bama defense, it looked like they’d salt the game away, but on a 4th and 1 in Texas territory, the Tide tried to run for it and got stuffed, giving the Longhorns life.

Texas would march down the field and faced 3rd and 3 when Will Anderson, the presumptive No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft who had a rough game to that point, came up with a huge sack to force a long field goal.

Still, Bert Auburn (incredible name, by the way) drilled it from 49 and put Texas up by two with just over a minute to play.

Young would again find Gibbs to move the ball into Texas territory, but the play of the game was an evaded sack by Young that would’ve forced Alabama into second and long from outside field goal range and may have forced them to use a timeout. Instead, Young spun under the sack from an unblocked defender and wheeled around the edge to get Alabama inside the 20 and firmly into field goal range.

After getting iced on his first make, Will Reichard, who was good from 52 earlier in the game, delivered the game-winning kick with 10 seconds left to spoil the upset and keep Alabama unblemished early in the season.

The Tide certainly won’t feel like they played well in the game, as they had 15 penalties for 100 yards and struggled to move the ball, but ultimately found their rhythm when they needed it late and got some big plays from Young. The pressure on Young early seemed to bother him, as he has a propensity for holding onto the ball too long, but his sense of urgency picked up late and the Tide offense started to move. Alabama’s defense wasn’t great against the pass, particularly when Ewers was able to stretch the field, but they were stingy per usual in the red zone and will certainly have things to work on going forward.

It’s a brutal loss for Texas considering the missed opportunities. Failing to score touchdowns from inside the 10, the safety that got wiped off the board will surely be a big talking point, and the Ewers injury will all be some major “what ifs” for the Longhorns going forward.