TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dallas Turner has one thing on his mind when he has the quarterback locked in his sights — to "finish the play."

When Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers scampered away from Will Anderson Jr. he ran right into the crosshairs of Turner, who used all of his 6-foot-4, 240-pound frame to drive Ewers to the ground.

The quarterback got the worse of that hit suffering a clavicle sprain which forced him out of the game.

"Honestly there was no intent to hurt Quinn Ewers," Turner said. "Honestly I feel like he's a good quarterback, and I hope he has a very speedy recovery. But it's a QB hit, that's how I look at it."

Turner's "QB hit" wasn't how the referee's interpreted the play, who flagged him for roughing the passer and allowed Texas to replay the down. A play later, Texas would score its only touchdown of the game as Bijan Robinson rushed it in from 1-yard out.

But the damage was already done as the Longhorns were forced to play Hudson Card for the rest of the game, reminiscent of Colt McCoy's shoulder injury in the 2010 BCS National Championship game.

History repeated itself on Saturday as the Longhorns were unable to stave off a Crimson Tide comeback, leaving fans and pundits alike thinking "What if?"

"I thought the quarterback that was in the game that went out of the game was playing really well and made some really good throws early in the game," Saban said when asked if he thought Ewers' injury affected the game. "He’s a very talented guy, but I thought the quarterback that came into the game did a really good job too. He scrambled and was able to extend some plays maybe the other guy wouldn’t have been able to do in critical situations because he is very athletic."

Texas' offense faltered just a bit with Card in the game. While the backup went 14 of 22 for 158 yards, the Longhorns only mustered nine points in the second half despite outgaining Alabama.

The Longhorns' defense stymied Alabama's offense to the point where it did not record a first down for an entire quarter of play, forcing the team to punt on six-consecutive drives.

During that same stretch, however, Texas recorded just one field goal which along with Ewers' injury became one of the storylines in the loss.

Alabama's defense also picked up the intensity in the second half as the unit recorded two sacks while limiting Texas to less than 100 yards through the air, after tallying 193 in the first half. The unit returned to its form against Utah State tallying three sacks along with seven tackles, and making a concerted effort to affect Card every time he dropped back to throw.

"I just felt like we applied a lot of pressure in the backfield," Turner said. "we have disrupted the quarterback in a way as in like affecting him with the QB hits, crashes and getting out of the blocks a lot faster."

Turner said working alongside his "big brother" Anderson has led to multiple meetings in the opposing team's backfield, a trend the duo will look to continue to that this week against Louisiana-Monroe.

"I feel like he's always a party in the backfield when me and him are out on the field," Tuner said. "We also play off each other, he gives me energy and I give him energy."