TUSCALOOSA, Ala.–Alabama took the field against Texas A&M Saturday and left a smoldering crater where Aggies once stood.
The final score was 59-0, but that scoreline is deceiving. Alabama was in total control for the entire game, and Texas A&M never threatened to score. They barely threatened to get more than two first downs on a drive.
Through two weeks of a struggling offense, turnovers and penalties, the Crimson Tide returned home as a changed team, finishing Saturday with 602 yards, zero turnovers and zero penalties.
“I think this is as close to the Alabama football that we want to try to get from our players in terms of effort, toughness, emotional excitement and execution that we got throughout the game,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said. “Our approach to this game was that we wanted to find what exactly every position and player has to do and see if you can go out there and dominate your box and do your job.”
This was a complete win for Alabama, and it all started with the offense. Alabama had 12 first downs in the first quarter after only managing 10 the entire game against Arkansas last week. The offense had 449 yards in the first half after only 227 in the entire game last week. Alabama was also 9-for-15 on third down.
Obviously Texas A&M’s defense isn’t nearly as stout as Ole Miss or Arkansas, but Alabama made it look like Florida Atlantic.
Alabama quarterback Blake Sims erased all doubts about his health and decision-making abilities, passing for 286 yards and three touchdowns, and he even got to run a little bit. Running back T.J. Yeldon reasserted himself as a dominant runner with 114 yards and two touchdowns, while wide receiver Amari Cooper recaptured his usual gaudy numbers with 140 yards receiving and two touchdown catches.
As well as the team executed, this offensive outburst was fueled by the drastic improvement of the offensive line, which Saban addressed after the game.
“We had a little gathering with the offensive line this week and said, ‘Look guys, you guys are starting to feel pressure and you’re being criticized,” Saban said. “‘You’re not being the sergeant-at-arms that we need you to be in terms of how you control the line of scrimmage and how you dominate the line of scrimmage. Because none of our guys are going to make any plays unless you do that. I believe in you, and I trust in you.’
“Everyone just has to finish better and do a better job of preparing and getting ready to play. Not being confident and not believing you can do it is not acceptable, and not affecting other people on our offense because you guys are the guys that are going to make everyone go by what you do. I’m really proud of the way they did that today.”
But we had seen this from the offense before. We had seen dominance and creativity. What we hadn’t seen was a truly dominant defense against a quality opponent. While A&M has suffered through the gauntlet of Mississippi schools in the past two weeks, it still entered Saturday as the nation’s top-ranked offense in total yardage. That quickly changed.
Alabama cornerback Cyrus Jones said he could sense Alabama’s momentum before the game even started.
“I felt it from the jump as soon as we came onto the field. I just could feel the swagger we had on defense and we just were confident,” Jones said. “We knew the game plan, and when you know the game plan as well as we did, it’s easy to go out there and play fast.”
Averaging 565 yards and 38 points per game, Texas A&M hardly crossed midfield while Alabama’s starters were in the game. They obviously scored zero points and only amassed 172 yards of total offense. For as much hype as the Aggies received via their Week One win over South Carolina and throughout the season, they were not their usual selves Saturday. Alabama’s defense rendered their offense totally useless.
“Defensively, this is the best we’ve played against this kind of offense. We had to make some adjustments in the game but the players did a really good job,” Saban said. “I thought being physical and breaking on the ball really had an effect on the game.”
Alabama dominated the line of scrimmage, pressuring Aggie quarterback Kenny Hill with mostly a five-man rush, sacking him six times. And while the secondary was a concern with A&M’s potent passing attack, Hill never had enough time to plant and throw. The Alabama defense was constantly pressuring him, as well as shutting down the Aggies’ run game.
“We just were going out there and enjoying the game and having fun, not worrying about the circumstances, not worrying what the outcome is,” Alabama safety Landon Collins said. “If we’re having fun and balling like we did today, that’s what you’re going to get and that’s what we did today.”
Having fun was the key for today’s game. For the team that strives to appear professional and emotionless, maybe some fun was exactly what they needed. The Crimson Tide showed the most emotion I’ve ever seen them show in a game, especially in a first half. Every big hit was celebrated, every big play was cheered. Even the sidelines bounced when the sound system played “Jump Around.” It wasn’t only strength coach Scott Cochran who was waving his arms, pumping up the crowd, it was the entire team.
There was a communal sense of support and happiness from the team today that wasn’t evident last week or the week before. Alabama finally shed itself of the nerves, which Saban accredited to the burden of expectations.
“I just thought there was a lot of anxiety on our team. A lot of guys worrying about expectations, being defined by external factors,” Saban said. “You make you, you make you who you are by what you do and that’s what we’ve been trying to sell to our players. It’s all about the team, it’s all about what we do, how we do it and everybody’s gotta forget about all that other stuff.”
Earlier this week, Saban talked about just letting the team play and have fun; letting them run like Secretariat. Maybe A&M’s defense just isn’t good, or maybe there’s no place like home for Alabama, but either way, this was an Alabama team remembering what made it great: running onto the field, playing and having fun.
“We’re always trying to get the players to focus on the things that they can control,” Saban said. “I just think that, for whatever reason, this team seemed to — maybe it’s youth, maybe it’s inexperience — they got really nervous before games and we’ve been trying to say, ‘Hey, cut it loose, play hard, have fun, play with good intangibles.
“We don’t put those kind of expectations on our team, all we want our guys to do is play their best football, and I was really proud that our team played their best football today.”
But the expectations won’t be diminished any time soon, especially not inside the Alabama locker room. When Sims was asked after the game if he thinks the Tide are a four team playoff contender, he said, “I believe so.”
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