Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide are facing their biggest test yet when the Texas Longhorns travel to Bryant Denny Stadium on Saturday. Yes, it’s only Week 2 of the 2023 college football season, but Steve Sarkisian’s team took Alabama down to the wire in 2022, and they’ve only gotten better.
Part of that getting better is Quinn Ewers has entered his second season as the team’s starting quarterback. In Texas’ 37-10 win over Rice last Saturday, Ewers went 19-of-30 for 260 yards with four total touchdowns (three passing, one rushing).
During Thursday’s Hey Coach & The Nick Saban Show, the 71-year-old Saban heaped praise on the second-year quarterback.
“He’s a really good player, very good passer, very accurate with a ball, good decision-maker,” Saban said, via On3. “He’s adequate athletically to be able to move around and avoid people in the pocket. He will run if he needs to, to get a first down.
“I wouldn’t really classify him as a guy that you would say is a dual threat guy from that standpoint, but athletic enough to make a play if he needs to. And he’s a really, really good passer.”
It remains to be seen how Ewers fares in a rematch against Alabama, who won last year’s matchup, 20-19. After going 9-of-12 for 134 yards against the Crimson Tide last season, Ewers was replaced by Hudson Card after suffering an injury. Based on last season’s performance, Saban knows that Alabama will have its hands full against a healthy Ewers come Saturday.
[Hey Coach & The Nick Saban Show, On3]
