College Football's Biggest "What If?" Strikes Again

 

In the early hours of September 9th, the Texas Longhorns faced off against the number one ranked team in country, the Alabama Crimson Tide. The matchup was set-up to be an instant classic. The last time the Longhorns faced the Tide on the football field was back in the 2009 season in the national championship game. As well, current UT head coach, Steve Sarkisian, was on the Tide's coaching staff under Nick Saban before coming to Austin. 

The game hosted Fox's Big Noon Kickoff broadcast as well as ESPN's College Gameday. For Longhorn fans, it seemed everything was lined up for it to be a perfect day to upset the best team in the country; however, the biggest "what if" revealed its nasty head once again as the Longhorns fell just short of the Tide, 20-19.

As mentioned, the Longhorns had previously battled the Crimson Tide in the National Championship during the 2009 season, where the legendary "what if" question first got sparked. The Horns were led by starting quarterback, Colt McCoy, who was the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and Heisman Trophy finalist. Going into the game having thrown 3,521 yards and 27 touchdowns that season, it seemed the Longhorns were posed to win another national championship trophy. 

However, in the first quarter, a hit to Colt injured his throwing shoulder and forced him to leave for the rest of the game, leaving then-freshman Garret Gilbert to take over. In the end, the Horns fell short to the Tide, 37-21. Since then, the college football world pondered, "what if" Colt had never got hurt? Would the Longhorns have prevailed? Would the Bama dynasty have been prevented (they won 5 more after that year)? 

Then, when the Longhorns got to face the Crimson Tide for the first time since that incident, it seemed as if the "what if" curse lives on. This season, the Longhorns were led by redshirt-freshman and former 5-star recruit, Quinn Ewers. After transferring from Ohio State and winning the starting job, it looked like the Longhorns had found their man at quarterback to bring them back to their usual winning days. Then, Longhorns fans got major deja vu when a hit to Ewers early in the first quarter injured his non-throwing shoulder and sidelined him for the rest of the game. 

It may seem cliche or cheesy to pull the "what if" card again, but when looking at what Ewers had done up until that point, it is hard not to. In not even a full quarter, Ewers had thrown for 134 including a beautiful 46-yard strike to Xavier Worthy to put them on the goal line, just before the play that got him injured. His 134 yards was the fourth most ever given up by the Tide under Nick Saban in a quarter. And it did not look like Ewers was slowing down any time soon. As well, those 134 yards were the most by either team, including Bama's reigning Heisman winner Bryce Young until nearly the fourth quarter. The offense just looked electric with number three at the helm. 

Credit should be given, though, to the absolutely hard-fought performance by the UT defense to limit an explosive Bama offense to just 20-points (Alabama was a 21-point favorite according to Vegas). As well, backup quarterback, Hudson Card (who was also injured), was able to put together some good drives that resulted in points. Though, it just wasn't enough to get the win. 

However, when only losing by one-point to the best team in the country, given all that could've been, the biggest "what if" continues to live on. "What if" Quinn Ewers had never got hurt? Would the Longhorns have won? Would it have been the signal that Texas is finally back? 

It is that dreadful question that continues to haunt Longhorn fans, even a full decade after it first struck in 2009. Thoughts and prayers do go to Quinn for a quick and healthy recovery, so he can go back to playing the sport he loves and leading the Longhorns back to victory.