Alabama vs Texas Opening Odds – Crimson Tide 17.5-Point Favorites Over Longhorns in Week 2

• No. 1 Alabama visits Texas and former Tide assistant Steve Sarkisian in Week 2
• The Crimson Tide opened as a 17.5-point road favorite over the Longhorns
• Read below for the full opening odds and projected line movement

No, 1 Alabama is a 17.5-point road favorite over Texas in a meeting of soon-to-be Southeastern Conference rivals on Saturday, September 10th (Week 2). The Crimson Tide blew out defending Mountain West Conference champion Utah State 55-0 in its season opener Saturday.

Unranked Texas and Heisman Trophy candidate Bijan Robinson handled Louisiana-Monroe 55-10 in its opener Saturday and could move into the AP Top 25 this week after No. 23 Cincinnati lost and No. 24 Houston was taken to triple-overtime by UTSA. The Longhorns received the 27th most votes last week.

Let’s take a look at the opening Alabama vs Texas odds and analyze which direction the line is likely to move in.

Alabama vs Texas Odds

Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook on Sept. 4.

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The Tide was listed as a 16-point favorite by some oddsmakers after Saturday’s games but had moved to a 17.5-point favorite when the line was posted Sunday morning.

‘Bama Opens With a Laugher

Cameras caught Alabama coach Nick Saban and sophomore quarterback Bryce Young sharing a sideline laugh in the first half of the Tide’s season-opening 55-0 home rout over defending Mountain West champion Utah State on Saturday, and why not?

BREAKING:
Nick Saban crowns QB Bryce Young as the THROAT GOAT of the team. “He’s just got that X factor” Saban remarks. pic.twitter.com/yHBrbdEJva

— Carrom King McStallion (@Mr_McStallion) September 2, 2022

With Young leading the way in defense of his 2021 Heisman Trophy, the Crimson Tide was as dominant as a No. 1 team should be in the run-up to a meeting with Texas on Saturday. Young passed for 195 yards and five touchdowns and ran for 100 yards and another touchdown when the Tide rolled up 559 yards of total offense.

Although most of Young’s yards came when he broke contain on two scrambles, he never had more than 42 yards rushing in a game last season and finished with net-zero rushing yards and three scores.

Bryce Young at the half:

🐘 195 passing yards
🐘 96 rushing yards
🐘 5 touchdowns (ties career high)
🐘 Leading Utah State 41-0

pic.twitter.com/8z0kyX87mu

— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 4, 2022

Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr., the only defender listed in the Heisman Trophy odds, a dominant defensive front held the Aggies to  136 yards and seven first downs. Utah State had 79 rushing yards on 37 attempts. Robinson was credited with five tackles and one quarterback hurry.

‘Horns Hooked ‘Em

Texas had a similarly easy time with Louisiana-Monroe in its opener, when Heisman candidate Bijan Robinson scored two touchdowns — one rushing, one receiving — and Ohio State transfer quarterback Quinn Ewers threw for two scores in his celebrated debut.

Robinson wiggled through traffic on a 9-yard scoring run and also had a 16-yard scoring reception.  Ewers was 16 of 24 for 2xx yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Bijan Robinson stacks cuts in a phone booth for his first rushing TD of the year.

Great rep from Christian Jones at RT, been very impressed with his effort tonight #HookEm | @Horns247 pic.twitter.com/2TybwlOoxh

— Hudson Standish (@247Hudson) September 4, 2022

Texas had a 383-259 total offense advantage, but ULM had an almost 11-minute edge in time of possession.

Meeting of the Minds

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian is the 10th former Saban assistant to challenge Saban. The previous nine are 25-2 but have won two of the last three — Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M won 41-38 in College Station last Oct. 19 and Kirby Smart and Georgia avenged an SEC title game loss with a 33-18 victory in the national championship game Jan. 10.

Random fact: Before Sark became OC at Bama, they didn’t have a single 1st rd pick at QB since 1976.

Sark went 2/2 on 1st rd picks during his only 2 yrs in Tuscaloosa as the OC.

— University of Tampering (@Doc_Texas) August 25, 2022

Injury Update

The Longhorns did not appear to miss wide receiver Isaiah Neyor or offensive lineman Junior Angilau in the opener. Both are expected to miss the season after suffering knee injuries in a mid-August scrimmage. Angilau started 34 games the last three seasons, and Wyoming transfer Neyor (44 catches, 878 yards, 12 touchdowns) was expected to complement wideout Xavier Worthy.

Expected Line Movement

Recent past performance dictates that line move toward Texas despite the Crimson Tide’s dominance in Week 1. Alabama was 5-5 ATS in the 10 games it was favored by at least 16 points last season, 2-2 on the road. The Tide is 10-1 SU in its last 11 road games and was 1-3 ATS as a road favorite of at least 14 points in 2021.

Texas has covered both games in which has been a double-digit underdog in the last four seasons, a 34-27 loss to Oklahoma as a 10.5 underdog in the Red River Shootout in 2019 and a 28-21 victory over Georgia as a 13.5-point dog in the 2019 xxx Bowl following the 2018 season. The Longhorns have not been a double-digit home underdog since losing to Baylor 28-7 as a 14-point favorite on Oct. 4, 2014.