Texas At Alabama Highlights Early '23 Season, And Horns' QB Quinn Ewers Can't Wait After Illegal Hit In Last Year's Game

The 2024 Southeastern Conference football schedule announced last month has one glaring omission.

Texas and Alabama are not playing.

And they should be. These two huge brand names of southern fried football could be the best new rivalry of the revamped SEC with Texas and Oklahoma joining in 2024. A Burnt Orange and Crimson passion play may already be brewing.

Texas Lost Close One To Alabama Last Year

Alabama luckily squeaked by Texas, 20-19, last Sept. 10 in Fox's Big Noon Kickoff in Austin on a 33-yard field goal with 10 seconds left. The game ate up the rankings as the fourth most watched college football game in Fox history.

Texas-Alabama Is Rivalry Waiting To Happen

The rematch will be on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. on ESPN from Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. Mark it down now.

Alabama finished ranked No. 5 last year at 11-2. Texas was No. 25 at 8-5. That game and No. 15 LSU vs. No. 10 Florida State in Orlando on Sunday, Sept. 3 (7:30 p.m., ABC) highlight the early season schedule for the 2023 season.

Alabama-Texas and LSU-Florida State are the only games through the first two weekends matching ranked teams, according to last year's final polls.

The Longhorns threw for 292 yards against Alabama that afternoon to just 213 by reigning Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young of Alabama.

Texas QB Quinn Ewers Put On A Passing Clinic

And it was clear in the first quarter who the best quarterback was. That was Texas redshirt freshman Quinn Ewers, a transfer from Ohio State. He was the No. 1 prospect overall and No. 1 quarterback in the nation out of Southlake, Texas, in the 2021-22 recruiting period. Ewers basically put on a clinic that Alabama's secondary watched closer than it defended.

Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers throws a pass in front of Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. (31) at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, on Sept. 10, 2022. (Photo by Daniel Dunn via Getty Images)

On Texas' first drive, Ewers hit 6 of 9 passes for 64 yards, including three first-down conversions with a 22-yard completion. That drive tied the game 3-3.

Then Ewers completed 3 of 3 passes for 70 yards. He was on fire, and Alabama's secondary couldn't stop scrambling. Ewers hit 9 of 12 passes for 134 yards as the first quarter neared its end, and he was just getting warmed up. His last completion went 46 yards to wide receiver Xavier Worthy to the 3-yard line.

Alabama's Dallas Turner Ended Quinn Ewers Day

But on Ewers' 13th pass of the day from the 1, Alabama linebacker Dallas Turner hit him and drove Ewers' left, non-throwing shoulder into the ground hard.

Alabama linebacker Dallas Turner drives Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers' left shoulder into the ground and draws a roughing the passer penalty in the first quarter of Alabama's 20-19 win over Texas last season in Austin, Texas. Ewers did not return to the game and missed the Longhorns' next three games (Getty Images).

Officials called roughing the passer, and Texas scored two plays later for a 10-10 tie. But Ewers was done with a sprained sternoclavicular (SC) joint in his shoulder between the clavicle and the sternum.

Sophomore Hudson Card replaced Ewers. He completed 14 of 22 passes for 158 yards around three sacks, but he was not as sharp.

Texas Vs. Alabama On Sept. 9

Ewers missed the next three games. He returned on Oct. 8 against Oklahoma, and continued his clinic. He hit 21 of 31 passes for 289 yards and four touchdowns in a 49-0 win. Ewers played 10 games on the season, completing 172 of 296 passes for 2,177 yards and 15 touchdowns. And the shoulder nagged at him often.

“I didn’t really feel good until about that Friday before the Oklahoma game," he said. "I was practicing and what not, but it still had issues. Throughout the whole season, it had lingering issues. But it wasn’t nearly as bad as those first three weeks."

Quinn Ewers Attended Manning Passing Academy

The shoulder is good as new now. And Ewers is one of the main reasons that Arch Manning - the No. 1 overall prospect and No. 1 quarterback in the nation from the 2022-23 recruiting period - will not be playing much this season.

At the Manning Passing Academy in Thibodaux, Louisiana, last month, a reporter asked Ewers, "If you don't get hurt, you win that Alabama game, huh?"

Ewers smiled.

"It was an unfortunate occurrence, but you can’t just go jump into what-ifs," he said. "So, everything happens for a reason at the end of the day. I just tried to get back as fast as I could that year. I learned a lot. I learned how to take care of my body throughout that whole process.”

Texas has a game before Alabama, but it is hard not to think about the Tide.

Alabama-Texas Environment Should 'Be A Lot Of Fun'

"We’re worried about the Rice Owls week one, but obviously it’s going to be a great environment at Alabama," Ewers said. "It’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s in Tuscaloosa this year, so we're very excited to play in an SEC stadium. It’ll be good for everybody.”

The crowd of 105,213 for Alabama set the Memorial Stadium attendance record.

"Texas fans were fired up about that one," Ewers said. "I love how they came out an supported us. I think it was record breaking attendance. It was over-filled. People on the stairwell. Nobody could move. It was an awesome environment."

Should Ewers remain at Texas as a fourth-year junior in 2024 and not enter the NFL Draft, he will get to join the SEC with the Longhorns. The schedule has Texas playing Oklahoma, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.

“We’re not too focused on that quite yet just because we’ve got a whole season ahead of us," he said. "But we’re excited. Obviously, it’s a big jump. The SEC has great teams. There’s an excitement to it for sure. It's going to be like last year again. I can't wait."