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Alabama head coach Nick Saban knows a thing or two about being a heavy favorite.
As he leads his team into Austin, Texas, on Saturday, the Crimson Tide will do so as 20-point favorites against unranked Texas. As the No. 1 team in the nation, and coming off a 55-0 shutout over Utah State, most expect to see Alabama lay the wood on a Texas program led by former Alabama assistant coach Steve Sarkisian.
The Texas Longhorns take the field before the game against the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Sept. 3, 2022 in Austin, Texas. ( Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
However, Saban is not listening to the bettors.
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"Everybody has heard that we’re 20-point favorites in this game," Saban said Thursday on "Hey Coach," his weekly radio spot. "And last time we were 20-point favorites, and we went to Texas, we got our a-- kicked."
"What you did last week, that’s not going to help you what you did this week, and every team we play if they beat us, that's like the resurrection game," Saban continued. "I mean that resurrects their whole program."
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The last time Alabama played a regular season game in the state of Texas was in October 2021 in College Station, Texas. Saban’s former assistant coach, Jimbo Fisher, and Texas A&M took down No. 1 Alabama on a last-second field goal, knocking Alabama from the top spot in the rankings.
Head coach Nick Saban, of the Alabama Crimson Tide, meets with head coach Jimbo Fisher, of the Texas A&M Aggies, at Kyle Field on Oct. 9, 2021 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
As Saban alluded to Thursday, Saturday is an opportunity for a program-defining moment for Texas, though Sarkisian tried to play down the hype earlier in the week.
"I think one of the mistakes people make is (saying) this is the game that’s going to define our program," Sarkisian said on Monday, according to AL.com. "It might. It might not. I’m not concerned about it. I’m concerned with the way we play the game. I said it all along, my goal is to be in Dallas Dec. 3 (for the Big 12 title game). This game has no impact on that."
Alabama coach Nick Saban watches during the first half of the team's NCAA college football game against Utah State, Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. ( AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
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"You can get caught up in being worried about Alabama," Sarkisian continued. "You can get caught up worrying about GameDay being here. You can get caught up with Fox being here. You can get caught up in stuff that really is irrelevant to our ability to play good football. We need to be enamored with us. Focused on us."
Texas freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers will get the first big test of his career, facing an Alabama defense that allowed just 136 yards of offense in Week 1.