AUSTIN, Texas — Generally, elite athletes can not clarify their very own strikes. They’re incapable of understanding their very own innate capability. They’ll’t let you know how they made this play or that, how they did one thing that no regular particular person might ever do.

That’s why, seated earlier than a hoard of media members, Bryce Younger was stumped.

“I can’t let you know,” he mentioned. “It’s intuition.”

Intuition is why top-ranked Alabama survived an unbelievable scare from Texas on Saturday within the sweltering warmth of Darrel Ok. Royal Stadium—a 20–19 thriller that ended with a 33-yard, game-winning area purpose from kicker Will Reichard.

Intuition arrange the sector purpose. Innate capability beat Burnt Orange. Mr. Heisman delivered.

That’s what occurred right here, even when the person himself can’t clarify it.

Younger and the Crimson Tide’s struggling offense leaped to life within the remaining minutes of the Week 2 sport. He led Bama on two go-ahead scoring drives within the fourth quarter—one ending in a landing with 8:29 left and the latter on Reichard’s area purpose with 10 ticks on the clock.

On that remaining march, with 30 seconds left, he did the seemingly unattainable. He evaded a blitzing cornerback for what might have been a game-ending sack, squatting low to the bottom and permitting Texas defensive again Ryan Watts to fly excessive of him. After which there went Younger, jetting some 20 yards down the sector to place the Tide into prime field-goal territory.

However how?

“I knew I couldn’t get sacked,” Younger mentioned. “I couldn’t go down.”

All Younger did within the fourth quarter was full 15 of 19 makes an attempt for 136 yards. At one level, he accomplished at the very least seven consecutive throws. He stood in a collapsing pocket and fired a shot over the center. He tossed a completion off of his backfoot. He scrambled left after which he scrambled proper.

“When his finest was wanted, he was actually good,” Alabama coach Nick Saban mentioned afterward.

As a result of he sprung to life, the Tide (2–0) survived in opposition to the 20-point underdog Longhorns (1–1). It left greater than 100,000 principally Texas followers in tears afterward, streaming out of the stadium and having nightmarish flashbacks to the 2009 title sport loss to the Tide.

In that sport, Colt McCoy was knocked out within the first quarter. On this one, Texas starter Quinn Ewers, the five-star prospect who spent his first three drives carving by Saban’s protection, left the sport with a clavicle damage and by no means returned. He missed the ultimate three quarters.

“They did it once more,” says one Texas fan whereas taking a tragic elevator to the bottom ground. “Within the nationwide championship sport, they knocked out our quarterback too.”

Ewers was 9 of 12 for 134 yards earlier than Bama linebacker Dallas Turner fell on prime of him throughout the second-to-last play of the primary quarter.

For greater than a decade now, Texas followers have questioned about their crew’s prospects if McCoy would have performed your entire sport of that tile bout. And now, 13 years later, they’ve a brand new query.

What if Ewers hadn’t gone down?

Such is life, such is soccer. Texas has solely itself guilty. The Longhorns missed a 20-yard area purpose to shut the second half (it was partially blocked), dropped a landing move within the first quarter, dropped an interception within the second and needed to accept three extra area targets within the purple zone.

The Saban protégé, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, did not finest the grasp regardless of one of many grasp’s worse days. In 15 years, no Saban-coached Alabama crew had extra penalties in a sport than Alabama did in Austin Saturday: 15 (for 100 yards).

“Undisciplined,” Saban scowled afterward.

The gang had an influence. Texas college students had been camped exterior the stadium in a single day. Regardless of the 11 a.m. kickoff, they packed into the place in document vogue: 105,213. They had been loud, proud and at instances shook the stadium.

“That is like taking part in an SEC sport on the highway,” mentioned Saban. “They’re going to be within the SEC. In the event that they had been within the SEC now, they’d in all probability be within the prime half of the league.”

Bama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. described the surroundings right here because the loudest and craziest he’s witnessed in his faculty profession. He’s a junior who performs within the SEC and has competed in two nationwide championship video games.

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It was that electrical. It was that implausible. And it was scorching—my God, was it scorching. By the sport’s finish, the sector temperature (it’s synthetic turf) was 118 levels.

Afterward, within the postgame information convention, even Terry Saban jabbed her husband. “You seem like you misplaced 10 kilos,” she laughed.

And off Saban went, ushered into the locker room to chill off and have fun a surprising efficiency from his beginning quarterback—a legendary late-game outing that can go down in Bama lore.

The comeback started early within the fourth. There he was, the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner answerable for arguably essentially the most proficient offense within the nation, his crew trailing on the highway at an unranked Texas crew and his struggles partly guilty for the mess. He’d been inaccurate, clearly flustered and unable to maneuver his unit in opposition to the burnt orange on the opposite facet of the road.

The warmth was sweltering, the followers had been loud and the state of affairs was dire. Alabama’s undefeated season appeared misplaced, its vitality zapped by the searing Texas solar.

After which got here what many would anticipate from Mr. Heisman. Nonetheless, few can clarify.

“Why is he so good?” Saban mentioned, repeating the query. “If I might truly let you know that, I don’t know if I’d be doing this and it is a fairly good job I’ve acquired. However I’d have a greater one.”

The jokes apart, Saban proceeded to really give a long-winded, telling reply. Younger research and prepares effectively. He understands the protection. He reads their protections. He protects himself. He is aware of how and when to do away with the ball rapidly, his coach mentioned. He’s athletic sufficient to increase performs. And, oh yeah, he’s instinctive.

“He performs quarterback like some extent guard performs basketball,” he mentioned.

So many video games boil right down to a play or two. One kick. One catch. One block or deal with. This one had all of them. And Mr. Heisman delivered one of many remaining strikes —the squat heard ’spherical faculty soccer. He averted the devastating sack, raced down area and served up victory.

“I used to be attempting to do no matter I might,” he mentioned.

If he can’t clarify it, so be it.

Extra School Soccer:

• CFB World Reacts to Texas’s Upset Bid
• Sarkisian Responds to Texas’s Heartbreaking Loss
• Saban Heated When Bama Gamers Do ‘Horns Down’