Longhorns set to meet former Texas commit, Steve Sarkisian recruit Jalen Milroe in Alabama

In an alternate universe, Jalen Milroe would be trying to lead Texas past an Alabama team that had Steve Sarkisian on its coaching staff this weekend. Or perhaps Milroe and Sarkisian would be joining forces as a quarterback and coach in Alabama's attempt to take down Texas.

In this universe, though, Milroe is the starting quarterback for No. 3 Alabama and Sarkisian is coaching No. 11 Texas as the teams prepare for their game Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

"This is one of the reasons you come and play college football, for moments like this," Milroe told reporters this week. "We know we have a tough matchup this week and we're excited."

Milroe is a Texas native who starred in high school at Katy Tompkins in the Houston area. He revealed Monday that the first jersey he ever bought was a Vince Young jersey. "My family loved Vince Young. ... Yeah, I love Vince Young," he said.

So how did one of VY's biggest fans end up at Alabama? Let's head back to July 2019 to connect those dots.

Four years ago, Milroe was a four-star prospect in the 2021 recruiting cycle. On a Sunday evening that summer, he committed to Texas and then-coach Tom Herman. "I’m just telling guys how we can build something at Texas if we stop moving out of the state and making everyone else look good," he later told the American-Statesman.

One year later, the Longhorns landed a commitment from Southlake Carroll five-star prize Quinn Ewers. At the time, Ewers was in the class that followed Milroe's, but the writing was on the wall. Three days after Ewers' pledge, Milroe decommitted.

To add another wrinkle to this story, Ewers backed off his pledge to Texas two months after Milroe's decommitment. He eventually reclassified and signed with Ohio State during the 2021 cycle. After one season with the Buckeyes, he transferred to play for Sarkisian at Texas.

"When a big-time quarterback is committed somewhere, it definitely changes other people's minds on where they want to go or whatnot," Ewers said on Monday when asked to recall the short time that he and Milroe were both committed to Texas. "But it's been awhile, I'm not really sure."

Milroe didn't reopen his recruiting when he decommitted from Texas. When he announced his decision, he also revealed that he had flipped his pledge to Alabama. Sarkisian was at the time the Crimson Tide's offensive coordinator and a key figure in Milroe's recruitment.

"During recruitment, Alabama was one of the schools I wanted to go to," Milroe said. "(Sarkisian and Jeff Banks) were coaches that were here throughout the recruitment process. Great guys, great coaches. They recruited me here, but I love the team that we have and the coaches that we have here now."

Sarkisian said that Milroe had stood out at an Alabama camp, and he remembered being impressed by Milroe's parents, the quarterback's work ethic and his arm talent. "I just felt like there was so much upside," he said.

But Sarkisian never got to coach Milroe. He was hired by Texas in January 2021.

"He ended up committing to us at the University of Alabama and I think it might have been a couple months later, I get the job here at the University of Texas, so I was kind of kicking myself a little, but that's part of it," Sarkisian said. "There's only so many quarterbacks in the country that you recruit and that you try to get to know, so inevitably you get to know the young men and their families and you root for them and you pull for them, just not this Saturday."

This actually marks the second straight year that Sarkisian, who was Alabama's offensive coordinator for the 2019 and 2020 seasons, has faced a quarterback that he helped get to Tuscaloosa. Last year, Bryce Young led the Crimson Tide to a 20-19 victory at the Longhorns' expense. Young was initially a USC commit, but he flipped to Alabama while Sarkisian was coaching there in 2019.

This time around, Sarkisian will watch from the sidelines as Milroe makes his third career start. In Alabama's season-opening rout of Middle Tennessee, Milroe threw for 194 yards, ran for a team-high 48 and accounted for five touchdowns. During the 2022 season, he started in place of an injured Young and threw three touchdowns in a 24-20 win over Texas A&M.

"They're an efficient offense with an explosive quarterback that can run, and he has great arm talent that can throw it deep to his receivers," UT defensive back Jahdae Barron said.

As for Texas, the Longhorns will be led into Bryant-Denny by Ewers. Ewers made his second career start against Alabama last year, and he played well for a quarter before his day was ended by a shoulder injury. This week, the Longhorns declined to talk about hypotheticals when asked about that injury and UT's one-point loss.

"I don't really play the what-ifs," Ewers said.

"We really nipped that in the bud and just really focused on this year," receiver Xavier Worthy said.

Ewers has now made 11 starts at Texas. Last week against Rice, he threw for 260 yards and three touchdowns. After a slow start, he led Texas on three scoring drives in the third quarter of a 37-10 victory.

Sarkisian said on Thursday that Ewers has looked good in the leadup to a sold-out game that will draw ESPN's College GameDay treatment. On Saturday, Ewers will face a defense that ranked 12th last year in total defense (318.2 yards per game), ninth in scoring defense (18.2 points per game) and 17th in passing defense (187.8 yards per game). Alabama allowed just 133 passing yards, 211 total yards and seven points against Middle Tennessee.

"It's tough to go beat teams like that on the road without your quarterback playing well, so hopefully we can find a rhythm for him and create some opportunities to take some shots and that rapport with his receivers can shine through," Sarkisian said. "You've got to play a complete game, you can't be a one-dimensional team. I think we're a really versatile team, I think Alabama's a very versatile team. Both teams can win games a variety of ways, but naturally, you need a complete game to go and try to win a game like this."

Saturday's game

No. 11 Texas (1-0) at No. 3 Alabama (1-0), 6 p.m., Bryant-Denny Stadium, 1300, 98.1, 105.3 (Spanish)

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Alabama, Texas quarterbacks once crossed paths on the recruiting trail