Nick Saban goes in-depth on Quinn Ewers and Texas offense

Alabama head coach Nick Saban isn’t underestimating Quinn Ewers. During Thursday’s episode of “Hey Coach & The Nick Saban Show,” Saban complimented the Texas quarterback’s game.

“He’s a really good player, very good passer, very accurate with a ball, good decision-maker,” Saban said. “He’s adequate athletically to be able to move around and avoid people in the pocket. He will run if he needs to, to get a first down.

“I wouldn’t really classify him as a guy that you would say is a dual threat guy from that standpoint, but athletic enough to make a play if he needs to. And he’s a really, really good passer.”

Saban intimately understands Ewers’ talents. The 6-foot-2 QB exploded for nine completions for 134 yards in the first quarter against Alabama last season. Unfortunately, Ewers was injured on a collision with Crimson Tide inside linebacker Dallas Turner.

Quinn Ewers is one wheel on a locomotive

Ewers did not return to the game and Alabama squeezed out a 20-19 victory. It’s safe to assume Ewers will be hungry for revenge on Saturday. Saban isn’t oblivious Texas’ powerful offense.

“They have a really good system on offense,” Saban said. “They did a lot of motions, a lot of formations, a lot of shifts, a lot of guys being put in different positions where they have an opportunity to make a play. They’ve got a really good tight end, that they utilize really, really well.

“They’re able to run the ball and create balance because they are definitely going to create balance and not just keep dropping back and throwing it. They have really good play-action passes off the running game, and that’s when they take a lot of shots and they’ve made a lot of big players on both clamps and passes and was able to complete the ball. It’s just really good skill guys.”

Grudge match

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian learned from the best. Before taking over at Texas, Sarkisian served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Alabama. While there, Sarkisian boosted the team to score 35 or more points in 24-straight games, the longest streak in major college football history.

Sarkisian continued this tradition last week in the Longhorns’ 37-10 win over Rice. In the victory, UT rattled off 458 total yards. Saban doesn’t plan on letting Sarkisian start another scoring streak.

“They made a couple big plays early in the game against us last year,” Saban said. “It’s going to be important that we can control that part of the game and not allow them to get explosive plays.”

Texas and Alabama will go head-to-head at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.