For about a quarter, the fans in DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium were treated to a gunslinging dual between Alabama’s Bryce Young and Texas’ Quinn Ewers. It was about a year ago when the Tide and Longhorns traded two scoring drives apiece before Ewers ate a Dallas Turner hit and sat for the remainder of the game.

Only one of the throwers will be back in Bryant-Denny Stadium for this Saturday’s rematch. It’ll be Ewers, his cannon right arm and an array of weapons being led by head coach Steve Sarkisian.

And unfortunately for the No. 3 Tide (1-0), two starting defensive backs are unsure if they’ll be healthy enough to play: senior Malachi Moore and UAB transfer Jaylen Key, who recorded an interception against Middle Tennessee.

“I think everybody knows Sark is a really good coach. They’ve got a really good team,” Saban said. “ … They make a lot of explosive plays. (Xavier) Worthy’s an outstanding receiver. They’ve got good running backs. They’ve got a really good tight end. They’re very good on defense. They play really good up front. They’re physical. They (played) extremely well on the first game. And they were excellent on special teams.”

Texas managed 292 passing yards across the two quarterbacks, Ewers and Hudson Card. They completed 23 of 34 passes in 2022, producing the second-most passing yards allowed in a single game for the Tide last year (385 against Tennessee). Worthy also torched Alabama for 97 yards operating against both Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold.

The Longhorns totaled 300 passing yards, 8.3 per reception, against Rice in its opener. Alabama defender Jaheim Oatis noted that despite losing running backs Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson to the NFL Draft, Texas possesses more than enough talent offensively. It also has Sarkisian, a former UA analyst and offensive coordinator whom Arnold called a “genius.”

Alabama will find out about the health of Moore and Key in the coming days. Saban is scheduled to speak thrice before the 6 p.m. kickoff, the first being tomorrow afternoon. The Tide turned to Trey Amos, Earl Little II and Kristian Story in the second half against MTSU.

“Some play really well,” Saban said of the fill-ins in the secondary, “some of them have things that they can improve on and sort of didn’t play with the poise that you need to play with; maybe a little anxiety in the first game, whatever. But we need all those guys to continue to develop and play well. Because right now (DeVonta Smith) is already down and we got (Jaylen Key and Malachi Moore) that are not able to practice at least today, maybe someday in the near future.”

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Alabama-Texas offers a ‘barometer’ for the Tide season. So did the 2022 game.

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].