By The Numbers: Quinn Ewers leads Texas to historic win over Alabama
Steve Sarkisian clapped his hands, let out a huge smile and proudly displayed the Hook ‘em Horns gesture to the University of Texas fans as his Longhorns celebrated a memorable 34-24 upset win over No. 3 Alabama on Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
In beating Alabama, Sarkisian joins an established club of coaches, becoming just the third former Alabama assistant to defeat the legendary Nick Saban.
Quinn Ewers shined bright from start to finish in the win, throwing for 349 yards and three touchdowns as he helped the Longhorns respond to every Alabama touchdown in the second half.
Here is a look at some of the jaw-dropping numbers from a historic win for one of college football's premier programs.
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54: It had been 54 years since Texas last won a road game against a team ranked in the top three of the Associated Press poll. Its last such win came over No. 1 Arkansas in the 1969 regular-season finale.
3: Sarkisian joined a rare group on Saturday, becoming just the third former Alabama assistant to beat Nick Saban, joining Georgia's Kirby Smart and Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher. Former Saban assistants are still just 3-28 against him.
2: This was just the second time a team has defeated the Crimson Tide in the month of September in the last 15 years. Alabama's last loss in September came in 2015, when it fell at home to Ole Miss. The Crimson Tide won the national championship later that season.
19: Prior to Saturday, Alabama had started 2-0 for 19 straight years.
1: Quinn Ewers lived up to the hype that has surrounded him since he was the top recruit in the nation in 2021. The Longhorns QB became the first non-SEC quarterback to pass for at least 250 yards and two touchdowns at Alabama since Saban took over in 2007.
21: Alabama's home winning streak ended at 21 games with Saturday's loss. The last team to defeat Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium was the Joe Burrow-led LSU squad that dominated college football in 2019 en route to the national championship.
9: This was only the ninth time Saban has lost at home during his Alabama tenure, going 103-9 at Bryant-Denny Stadium since becoming the head coach in 2007. It's just the third time Saban has lost at home in the last 10 seasons.
2004: While Saban has lost at home nine times now since becoming Alabama's coach, Saturday marked the first time he's lost by double-digits at home. The last time the Crimson Tide lost by double digits at Bryant-Denny Stadium was in 2004, when they fell to the South Carolina Gamecocks, 20-3.
7,273: Before Alabama's loss to Texas on Saturday, it had been 7,273 days — 20 years ago — since Nick Saban lost a home game by double digits as a college football head coach (Florida def. LSU, 19-7).