Advertisement

With Alabama and cigar celebrations now in the past, No. 4 Texas gets ready for Wyoming

Danny Davis, Austin American-Statesman
·4 min read
1

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — To celebrate its 34-24 win at Alabama on Saturday night, Texas broke out the cigars.

Backup quarterback Maalik Murphy posted a photo on Instagram of Quinn Ewers doing his best Joe Burrow impression in the Bryant-Denny Stadium's visitors locker room. Linebacker Jaylan Ford also participated in the fun. Texas itself promoted photos of Barryn Sorrell, Jett Bush and Byron Murphy II smoking cigars on social media.

There was no harm in celebrating a big win, but don’t get it twisted. Texas didn't win a national championship Saturday night. This meeting with the Crimson Tide didn’t come in a bowl game. Texas wasn’t able to separate itself from the pack in the Big 12 standings, either.

Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron celebrates his first-quarter interception in Saturday's 34-24 win over Alabama. The Longhorns picked off two Jalen Milroe passes and sacked the Alabama quarterback five times.
Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron celebrates his first-quarter interception in Saturday's 34-24 win over Alabama. The Longhorns picked off two Jalen Milroe passes and sacked the Alabama quarterback five times.

This 10-point win over Alabama was recorded in just the second week of UT’s season. That means there are a lot of games left on the schedule. And the Longhorns know that.

“Like I said coming into the game, this game is not going to define our season,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “We’ve got 10 more regular-season games to play.”

Added Ewers, who threw for 349 yards and three touchdowns: “It’s still early, we’ve still got a lot of games left, a lot of games to play. So we'll enjoy this for 24 hours and regroup and see where we're at.”

Generally, teams love to employ a “24-hour rule” after games. That means that teams get to celebrate — and smoke cigars — for 24 hours after a big win. Conversely, you have a day to get over a loss.

Then it’s time to move on. Or as receiver Xavier Worthy said in his postgame press conference, “game over. We're on to Wyoming.”

Next up for the Longhorns — who jumped up seven spots in this week's Associated Press Top 25 poll, to No. 4 — is a home game this weekend against Wyoming. The Cowboys and Longhorns last met in 2012, and Texas owns a 5-0 lead in the all-time series.

A Mountain West Conference representative and Arizona Bowl participant one year ago, Wyoming is off to a 2-0 start. This past weekend’s 31-17 win over Portland State wasn’t overly impressive, but the Cowboys did open their season with a double-overtime win over Big 12 preseason darling Texas Tech.

The Cowboys were not lacking any swagger after that 35-33 win over Tech. “At the end of this game, (our goal) was just take them to the deep end of the pool and they’re going to fold,” Wyoming quarterback Andrew Peasley said on the TV broadcast. It was Wyoming’s first victory over a top 25 team since 2016.

The Longhorns now are top five. Texas is a top-five team in the AP poll for the first time since the beginning of the 2010 season.

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers celebrates the Longhorns' 34-24 win over Alabama on Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. But later, in his postgame press conference, Ewers preached patience: “It’s still early, we’ve still got a lot of games left, a lot of games to play," he said.
Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers celebrates the Longhorns' 34-24 win over Alabama on Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. But later, in his postgame press conference, Ewers preached patience: “It’s still early, we’ve still got a lot of games left, a lot of games to play," he said.

In its upset of Alabama, Texas compiled 454 yards and became just the sixth team in the last four years to score more than 30 points against Alabama. The defense was led by interceptions from Jerrin Thompson and Jahdae Barron and five sacks split among four players.

After the win, Barron tweeted that “Jim Thorpe I’m coming for you.” Barron had been omitted from the preseason watch list for the Jim Thorpe Award given annually to the nation’s top defensive back, but several of his teammates did enter this season as candidates for various honors and they made strong statements on the campaign trail on Saturday.

Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy scores a touchdown against Alabama. The Longhorns' 34-24 win vaulted them from No. 11 to No. 4 in this week's Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy scores a touchdown against Alabama. The Longhorns' 34-24 win vaulted them from No. 11 to No. 4 in this week's Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Mackey Award candidate Ja’Tavion Sanders? The tight end recorded the first 100-yard game of his career, and he had a 50-yard gain that was a key moment in the fourth quarter.

Worthy, a Biletnikoff Award hopeful, hauled in a 44-yard bomb for a second-quarter touchdown. Fellow UT receiver Adonai Mitchell had two touchdown catches.

Ewers was on the preseason watch lists for the Maxwell, Walter Camp and Davey O'Brien awards. Against Alabama, Ewers completed 24 of his 38 passes. His 349 yards were the sixth-most by a Longhorn against a top-10 team. His passing scores covered 7, 39 and 44 yards.

"Quinn's a dog," defensive lineman T'Vondre Sweat said of Ewers. "I'm not surprised either."

Wyoming is the final nonconference opponent on UT's 2023 schedule and thus this weekend will serve as the Longhorns' final tuneup for Big 12 play. Eight Big 12 teams are currently unbeaten and No. 15 Kansas State and No. 19 Oklahoma joined Texas in the AP's newest poll.

Saturday's game

Wyoming (2-0) at No. 4 Texas (2-0), 7 p.m., LHN, 1300

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Wyoming up next for Texas football team coming off win over Alabama