Despite losing 20-19 to No. 1 Alabama on Saturday, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was proud of the way the Longhorns competed against all odds.

“Nobody gave us a chance, but we believed in our locker room that we could win this game,” Sarkisian said. “We played like a team that believed they could win this game and a team that thought it would win this game. Things happen. Bad breaks happen and we (ended) up not winning this game. I’m super proud of our guys.”

Starting quarterback Quinn Ewers going down with a clavicle injury in the first quarter was one such bad break. Prior to his injury, the redshirt freshman had accumulated 134 yards while completing 9 of his 12 passes.

Despite being a 21-point underdog heading into the matchup, Texas gave the No. 1 team in the country a scare right up until Alabama kicker Will Reichard hit a game-winning field goal with 10 seconds left on the clock.

Sarkisian said Saturday’s final score shows that Texas is not far off from getting to where the program hopes to be in the grand scheme of things.

“I told the team I wouldn’t look at this as we lost. We ran out of time,” Sarkisian said. “I would’ve felt good about us finding a way to go down and score again, but the clock hit zero.”

A gutsy defensive performance led to the majority of the Longhorns’ success against the Crimson Tide. Texas held Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Bryce Young and the Alabama offense to just 186 yards and 10 points through the first three quarters and forced six consecutive punts after Ewers’ injury.

Ultimately, Alabama head coach Nick Saban’s offense found its groove against Texas’ defense in the fourth quarter, recording 188 yards on its final three drives of the game. Still, Texas’ defense shows a vast improvement from last season’s 40-21 drubbing at the hands of Arkansas. Simply put, the Longhorns looked more capable of handling a physical, SEC opponent this time around.

“I keep preaching every chance I get about our interior defensive line,” senior defensive lineman Keondre Coburn said. “I feel like we’ve improved a lot from the past season. We’re going to keep moving and keep showing the world who we are. We’re going to get our respect, one way or another.”

While Texas will have to digest coming so close to a major upset, the Longhorns have the look of a team with a more resilient culture than last season’s team, according to senior running back Roschon Johnson.

“Last year, that game probably wouldn’t have been close,” Johnson said. “Around the third quarter, they probably would have separated. This year, it was a different story.”

However, the moral victory does not mean much unless the Longhorns continue to build on the momentum throughout the season. Junior running back Bijan Robinson said he thinks Texas’ performance handling adversity against a good opponent showed the country that the Longhorns have a different culture and brotherhood this season.

“We showed in people’s eyes that we’re not the type of team to back down anymore,” Robinson said. “We’re going to bring the fight the whole game throughout this whole season. We’re ready to go against anybody.”