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Nick Saban's home winning streak vs. ex-assistants broken by Steve Sarkisan in 2023 Texas football game

nate chute, austin american-statesman
·2 min read
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Coach Nick Saban retired in January from Alabama after winning seven national championships, including six with the Crimson Tide from 2009 to 2020.

With a win in Tuscaloosa this past September, Texas snapped Alabama's 21-game home winning streak.

The last time the Crimson Tide lost at home happened during the 2019 season with a 46-41 loss against eventual national champion LSU.

The win for the then-11th ranked Longhorns over No. 3 Crimson Tide was also a historic victory for head coach Steve Sarkisian, a former Nick Saban assistant.

Alabama's head coach since 2008, Saban built a power house program, going 195-28 during his tenure, according to Tuscaloosanews.com. Only eight of those losses happened at home and now, just three times against former assistants.

Nick Saban's Alabama record and the few, former assistants to beat him

Saban boasts 28-3 record against his former assistants. Each of the losses, including Sarkisian's victory with Texas Saturday, have come in the last three years.

In 2022, Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs beat Alabama for the national championship, 33-18. Smart, an Alabama native, was an assistant with Saban from 2007 to 2015 before taking the head coaching role at rival Georgia.

In 2021, Jimbo Fisher became the first assistant to beat Saban, doing so in front of Texas A&M's home fans with a 41-38 victory.

Texas vs. Alabama history: The Longhorns last beat the Crimson Tide over 40 years ago

The two programs have only played each other 11 times.

Prior to last year's game in Austin and the BCS national championship game for the 2009 season, the Longhorns and Crimson Tide hadn't played each other since 1982, a game the Longhorns won. This means Saturday's victory is the first time in over 40 years has posted a win in the series.

The two schools have also played each other in two Cotton Bowls, an Orange Bowl, and a Sugar Bowl dating back to 1948. Those bowl games were all won by the Longhorns, but the 1960 Bluebonnet Bowl ended in the only tie between both teams.

The Longhorns are 8-1-2 all-time against Alabama, recording their first-ever win against the team on the road in 1902 by a score of 10-0.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Nick Saban's home record vs. ex-assistants was broken by Steve Sarkisan