Alabama Football: Could the Crimson Tide receive playoff help this week?

The Texas Longhorns should on paper be able to dominate a TCU team that is 4-5 and drastically worse than the team that finished runner-up in the National Title game. However, with quarterback Quinn Ewers injured, every game for the Longhorns poses a scare for the 7th-ranked team in the country. Stepping in for the injured Ewers is Freshman Maalik Murphy, a former four-star quarterback in the 2022 recruiting class. Many fans would have expected true Freshman Arch Manning to fill the role, but Steve Sarkisian opted for Murphy instead. Murphy has been shaky in his two games of significant playing time passing 35-62 for 418 yards, while throwing three touchdowns and three interceptions. Last weekend the Longhorns narrowly escaped in overtime against Kansas State, this weekend could be a similar style of game.

The path to victory for the Horned Frogs would be running the football early and often. The TCU team is led by running back Emani Bailey who’s rushed for 908 yards and four touchdowns adding another 141 yards receiving. The passing game has struggled for TCU which is a concern as Texas held Kansas State to 43 yards rushing on 28 attempts.

A TCU win would provide the Alabama Football team a massive bump as it would hand Texas its second loss all but eliminating them from playoff contention. If Texas doesn’t take a second loss there could be a potential scenario where the committee is deciding between a one-loss SEC Champion Alabama and a one-loss Big 12 champion. If that team is the Longhorns, it could be very tough for Alabama to beat the Longhorns out for a potential final spot in the playoff. The argument for Alabama Football would be the game was played in week two and Alabama has gotten better since. In a perfect world, the Crimson Tide would have the best win should it beat Georgia for the SEC Crown.