Alabama: 31
Texas: 27
Bama Yardage: 374 - exact same as last year, a metaphor
Texas comes out looking sharper on offense. They look woefully unprepared against Rice so I have to think there was a heavy focus on Bama prep over the past couple weeks. Sark schemes up some points over the first few possessions, a strong Texas defense more or less keeps a lid on Alabama through the first half, and Texas takes a lead into the locker room. The kool aid is flowing, the game thread is a unabashed circle jerk.
Texas finds itself with a 10-14 point third quarter lead... and Alabama has Texas exactly where they want them. We've all seen this movie before. We cling to hope that this time will be different but it feels the exact same as things start to unwind. The Texas offense stalls as they simply cannot run the ball on Alabama's front and Ewers's play deteriorates when he's asked to make plays off script. Alabama's offense isn't doing anything special but as their snap count mounts they start gashing the Texas defense for chunk yardage with regularity. Texas gets the ball back with 3-4 minutes left but can't execute a go-ahead/game-winning drive.