Alabama vs. Texas preview: 'If not now, then when' for Steve Sarkisian, Longhorns

Bryant Denny Stadium is sure to be rocking Saturday night when Texas and Alabama square off in arguably the biggest game of Week 2. There are plenty of College Football Playoff implications for the No. 3-ranked Crimson Tide and No. 11-ranked Longhorns in a rematch of last year’s thriller.

One team, however, might be facing more pressure than the other, according to SiriusXM’s Jacob Hester.

Hester pointed to Texas as the team facing more pressure in the game considering how last year’s game went. The Longhorns lost Quinn Ewers to injury and saw Will Reichard make the game-winning field goal in the final seconds as part of an 8-5 season. This year, Texas is seen as one of the most talented teams in the country, which is why Hester said the Longhorns need to be ready to come out firing against Alabama.

“Look, if I’m Texas, if not now, then when?” Hester told On3’s Andy Staples on Andy Staples On3. “If I’m not ready for this game after last year being right there, Bryce Young goes and wins the game for Alabama, and very disappointing, right? And then, I have a season that I was not satisfied with, and then I have all this talent. All this talent a year older. And I’m Steve Sarkisian, I’m going into the SEC. Are you going to be able to do it, if not now? When are you going to be able to do it? Are you going to be able to live up to that standard of eliteness and playing in a game like this and expecting to be not only competitive, but have a chance to win?

“No team in the country has more pressure on them, in my opinion this year, than Texas does. Even more than Oklahoma. Because you’re going into the Southeastern Conference, because you have every eyeball on you, because you’ve got people like Urban Meyer saying you’re the most talented team in the country. I feel like they have the most pressure. And can they handle that pressure? Well, you know how you handle that pressure? You go out and you beat what is the standard of college football. … If you go and you beat a team like that, then you get confidence. And then, you can move forward as a team that [says], ‘You know what? We’re gonna go from a talented team to a damn good football team that can win every single game that we play.'”

Both Hester and Staples agreed Texas can cover the 7-point spread against Alabama. But to win a game like Saturday’s, Hester said it’s about more than just having the talent. There’s no question the Longhorns’ roster has plenty of playmakers. It’s all about how the Longhorns mentally prepare for the game.

A quick start will be critical for Sarkisian’s group, who’s out to prove something.

“If you want to be the team that gets talked about in the benefit-of-the-doubt club every single year because you’ve earned that right, you got to win a game like this,” Hester said. “If you lay an egg in a game like this, that is going to be so disappointing to so many people because you have what it takes to be in this game. And it’s not physically. It’s the mentality that you have to have to play and win a game like this. That’s what I want to see from Texas.

“I want to see from the opening kickoff, you have the belief and the mentality that you can go take the fight to Alabama and win in a matchup on the road, tough environment against what is a standard … blue-blood, blue-chip ratio, whatever you want to call Alabama. They’ve always been that for the last 20 years. What an opportunity for Texas to go and try to prove a lot of people wrong.”