Can Deion Sanders and Colorado beat their former conference rival to start 2-0, is another upset brewing and which receivers will stand out in Week 2?
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Steve Sarkisian vs. Nick Saban (Texas at Alabama)
The stats aren't pretty for former Saban assistants, and Sarkisian is well aware.
Only twice since Saban has been at Alabama (going back to 2007) has one of his former assistants beaten him -- both losses coming in 2021 with Texas A&M and Jimbo Fisher upsetting Alabama during the regular season in College Station and then Georgia and Kirby Smart taking down the Crimson Tide in the College Football Playoff National Championship game. Saban is 28-2 against his former assistants.
Sarkisian's response, and a fair one: "What's the record for all the guys who aren't former assistants against Nick Saban?"
Texas' visit to Alabama will be Sarkisian's first return to Bryant-Denny Stadium since the 2020 season, when he won the Broyles Award as the top assistant coach in college football. He has said
Saban saved his career after giving him a second chance following Sarkisian's struggles with alcohol and being fired from his head coaching job at
USC. Sarkisian took advantage of that second chance and headed an explosive Alabama offense that was second nationally in scoring (48.5 points per game) as the Crimson Tide ran through an All-SEC schedule during the COVID-impacted 2020 season and won Saban's most recent national championship.
What that record-setting season also did was open the door for Sarkisian to get the Texas job.
"I would not be the head coach at Texas if it weren't for Nick Saban," Sarkisian said last year. "He gave me a chance when I had a hard time getting an interview, never mind a job."
What Saban hasn't done is lose to one of his former assistants at home. In fact, Alabama hasn't lost to anybody at home since 2019, a 46-41 setback to eventual national champion
LSU.
Sarkisian, in his third season at Texas, is looking for his first signature win and first over a top-10 team. The Longhorns came agonizingly close a year ago against Alabama in a 20-19 loss at home when the Tide kicked the winning field goal in the final seconds.
Bryce Young pulled a Houdini-like act in Alabama's final drive, and Texas played with its backup quarterback much of the way after
Quinn Ewers was knocked out with a shoulder injury at the end of the first quarter. Ewers is back and Young is now playing in the NFL.
This is Texas' last chance to make a run at the College Football Playoff as a member of the Big 12. The No. 11 Longhorns move to the SEC next season. This looks to be their best and most talented team under Sarkisian.
"Every game takes on a life of its own," Sarkisian said. "We've got to play better than we did a year ago. Clearly, that wasn't good enough."
-- Chris Low
www.cbssports.com
This! I was just stating it at the office this morning. We kept UT on the field several times with dumb penalties!
