Nick Saban on Texas: "We expect them to have an outstanding team"

The marquee game on Texas’ 2023 schedule is a road contest at Bryant-Denny Stadium versus the Alabama Crimson Tide. Texas, who last traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala. in 1902, takes on Nick Saban‘s team on September 9 in a rematch of a 2022 thriller.

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Bama defeated the Longhorns 20-19 in Week 2 last year thanks to a last-minute drive led by Bryce Young that culminated in a game-winning field goal. The ‘what ifs’ were plenty in number after that contest considering Quinn Ewers was 9-for-12 for 134 yards in the first quarter before leaving due to a shoulder injury at the end of the opening 15 minutes. The Longhorns took a 19-17 lead late thanks to a Bert Auburn field goal, but eventually succumbed to the efforts of the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner.

Steve Sarkisian, himself a former Saban assistant, will look to exact revenge in T-Town this year as part of Texas’ final season as members of the Big 12. Sark has been effusive in his praise of his former boss throughout his Texas tenure, crediting Saban with resuscitating his career. When asked about Texas on Wednesday at SEC Media Days in Nashville, Tenn., Saban reciprocated the gesture and spoke highly of Sarkisian. He called Sark a “great coach” and noted “he’ll have them ready” ahead of the Longhorns’ attempt to issue Bama its first non-conference loss in Bryant-Denny since 2007.

“I think Texas has a lot of players back from last year’s team,” Saban said. “Obviously it was a really close, tough game last year when we played that game. I think they are doing an outstanding job of recruiting and developing the players on their team and it’s going to be a real challenging game, no doubt, because they have a lot of starters back and they have a lot of experience coming back and an experienced quarterback.

“So we expect them to have an outstanding team.”

Even with the Crimson Tide’s national championship drought, a first-world problem if there ever was one in college football, Saban’s word carries tremendous weight within the sport. His level of success means he understands what could be beneficial or detrimental to the game.

Saban, entering his 17th season at Alabama, was asked about the 2024 arrival of Texas and Oklahoma into the SEC. He viewed it as a positive for the conference.

“Oh, I think it’s a great addition to the SEC,” Saban said. “You have two great programs that have great traditions that have great fan support. I think it just continues to sort of — the map of the SEC, it is stronger than ever. I think the competition is going to be — it’s always been difficult. It’s going to be even more challenging because you’ve got two really, really good programs who have consistently, if you look at the past, have been, you know, Top-10 programs for a lot of years, won national championships.

“So they are going to add a lot to the competition. I think with the new scheduling that we’ll have in the future, it’s more good games for fans, more diversity in who you play. So there’s a lot of positives about it. From a coaching standpoint, it’s going to be much more challenging to be able to compete week-in and week-out. I think when you look at the SEC, the thing that separates it is not the top, but the depth, how many good teams there are.”

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Texas hasn’t joined the ranks of those “good teams” in the SEC quite yet, but they’ll face one of the best teams in that league early in the season. After the 2022 nail-biter, plus considering Sarkisian’s experience with Saban and the upcoming move east for the Longhorns, there won’t be any overlooking of UT by Bama when the Longhorns attempt to leave the Yellowhammer State with a victory.