Kirk Herbstreit: Sarkisian held back against Rice, must deal with âthreatenedâ Alabama crowd

Don’t measure the Texas Longhorns by their performance over Rice in Week 1, Kirk Herbstreit says.

The ESPN “GameDay” analyst previewed Saturday’s game between No. 11 Texas and No. 4 Alabama, which will be live streamed on fuboTV (free trial), and is convinced Texas coach Steve Sarkisian was holding back.

“I don’t personally take a lot away from the Rice game,” Herbstreit said on a conference call with reporters. “I think when you have, in week 2, a behemoth. I don’t think you can really do a whole lot with all due respect to Rice. I think it’s really more about getting some people out there, the depth, rotating guys around, getting a lot of people to have a chance to go out and show what they can do.”

It was a sluggish start for Texas, despite Quinn Ewers passing for three touchdowns and running for another in the 37-10 win on Saturday. The bigger barometer, Herbstreit contends, is last year’s meeting in Austin. In that game, Alabama won 20-19, but it took two fourth-quarter plays by Bryce Young, including a Young scramble to set up Will Reichard’s 33-yard field goal with 10 seconds left.

“Last year, I think a lot of people wondered how that offense would do against Alabama,” Herbstreit said. “I think a lot of people were — and I know I was — taken aback in that first quarter when that ball was flying all over the place. Quinn, to me, was in a real rhythm there early prior to that injury, that hit from (Alabama’s) Dallas Turner. Who knows what would have happened had he stayed in the game. My point is, I think Sark had something going there. It would have been fun to see that battle throughout the whole game.”

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Still, Herbstreit cautioned Texan fans about their team’s ability to protect Ewers, while also contending with the Bryant-Denny crowd.

“You know Sark, he’s holding things back,” he said. “He’s not going to show what he’s going to do. Now, the line of scrimmage is a reality. They’ve got to protect better, especially on third down. They don’t have the luxury of being in Austin this time around with the crowd behind them.

“Alabama, when their fans feel threatened, that is a really good atmosphere and very challenging on the quarterback and offensive line. I don’t know if enough people really talk about their setting. They’ve had a lot of great years and when they play a team they know they’re going to handle, maybe it’s an OK atmosphere.

“When they feel there’s a big game, they can be a difference in the game. How (Texas) handles that for the first time, even though it’s a veteran O-line and a veteran quarterback, it will be very different than it was a year ago.”

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.