Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian pulled off one of college football’s rarer feats on Saturday. He became one of the few former Nick Saban assistants to beat his old boss’ Alabama football squad, joining rarified air that only includes Kirby Smart and Jimbo Fisher.

After the game, Sarkisian was thrilled.

“It’s a heck of a team win,” Sarkisian said. “Really proud of our players. We have a ton of respect for that team and I know how well they’re coached, I know how hard they play. 52-1 walking in this stadium here over the last 53 games, so it just shows a lot about what we’re capable of.”

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers starred in the victory for the Longhorns. He threw for 349 yards and three touchdowns, completing 24 of his 38 passes.

His head coach said more could be coming down the line from Ewers.

“All in all, I think it could serve as a springboard for Quinn if he can recreate the habits,” Sarkisian said. “Sunday through Friday to get himself ready every Saturday.”

Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe spent much of the game running for his life. The Crimson Tide offensive line couldn’t stop the Texas front, which sacked Milroe five times.

Afterward, Sarkisian said the Longhorn pass rush was key.

“I think getting pressure on the quarterback was big,” he said. “Like to think that forced a couple bad throws, created a couple turnovers there…They hit some plays and they were gonna, they’ve got an explosive group, but in the end we stopped the run good enough. They hit a couple explosives but we were able to create two turnovers and then we made plays.”

Texas made big gains in both the media and coaches top 25 polls after the win. The Longhorns jumped from outside of the top 10 to fourth in the media poll and sixth in the coaches.

Sarkisian said he hopes the win over Alabama will propel UT to big things this season.

“This game’s not going to define our season,” Sarkisian said. “We’ve got 10 more regular-season games. I think it does serve as a good benchmark for us of what we’re capable of and what the potential (is) of who we can be as a team moving forward.

The Longhorns will face Wyoming next week in Austin.

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