Texas at Alabama Preview: Betting Odds, Tips and Predictions for the Week 2 Matchup

The standout matchup for Week 2 of the College Football season is easily Texas’ trip to Alabama. Alabama squeaked out a 20-19 win in Austin last season, but it was not a promising sign of things to come for either team. But this year, if Alabama can handily put aside the Longhorns they’ll put to rest any preseason debate arguing they aren’t favourites to take the SEC West again. And if Texas goes into Bryant-Denny and gets the win, it’s hard to dampen the claims of Longhorns fans that Texas are in fact back.

Texas at Alabama Odds

Alabama enter this year’s matchup as 7 point favourites. The consensus heading into this season was whilst there’s always an abundance of talent at Alabama, this year's roster does have holes. One of those was perceived to be at quarterback, but Jalen Milroe showed out with an impressive display against Middle Tennessee. The Crimson Tide eased to a 56-7 victory, with Milroe accounting for three touchdowns through the air and two on the ground. The Longhorns will be the real litmus test, and if Milroe can put on a similar performance, Alabama should win this one and remind the rest of the nation they are still legitimate national title contenders.

It was a comfortable opening weekend for Texas, but they didn’t win against inferior opponents with the same conviction as Alabama. Redshirt Sophomore Quinn Ewers threw for 260 yards and three touchdowns whilst Xavier Worthy caught seven catches for 90 yards in their win over Rice, and both will need big games to overcome the Crimson Tide.

Texas at Alabama Prediction

Very rarely have punters bet against Nick Saban at Bryant-Denny and come out as winners. Alabama have only lost once at home since 2015, and it took arguably the greatest college team of all time in Joe Burrow’s LSU to beat them. Teams need an air of magic around them to overcome Saban at home, and whilst this Texas team has talent, they don’t have the magic required to beat the Crimson Tide in Alabama.

NFL scouts will be eagerly watching this matchup to see how potential draft picks like Quinn Ewers, Xavier Worthy, and Ja’Tavion Sanders stack up against Alabama’s secondary. But the Texas run game has suffered with the loss of Bijan Robinson to the NFL. The Longhorns will struggle to keep Alabama’s defence honest without a legitimate rushing threat, and the Crimson’s Tide’s secondary features NFL talent at corner and safety. Alabama will look to get Milroe to the edge and keep Texas’ defence guessing, freeing up the passing game and the ability to get the ball to Jermaine Burton. The Longhorns may make a bright start on Saturday night, but I expect the Alabama offensive line to wear down the Longhorns defence with the threat Milroe brings on the ground and through the air.

Score Prediction: Texas 20 - Alabama 34