The Alabama Crimson Tide have been at the top of the SEC for the better part of the last decade, and they seem to be on track to spend the 20’s on top of the SEC again. This afternoon, Texas A&M will travel to Tuscaloosa in a top-15 matchup.
Let’s look at three keys in this game, plus one final thought.
Maintaining offensive momentum
Tide quarterback Mac Jones played a great game against Missouri a week ago. Jones completed 75% of his passes for 249 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions in Bama’s 38-19 win. Both of those touchdowns, and more than half of those yards, were thrown to Jaylen Waddle, Alabama’s breakout receiver.
Against the 13th-ranked Aggies, these two will be looking to duplicate their week one production in a much more important matchup. However, don’t forget about Devonta Smith and Najee Harris, who are maybe the biggest weapons for the No. 2 Crimson Tide.
The offense out of Alabama is explosive and wonderful, but this game will come down to defense and stopping Texas A&M. Let’s talk about how they can do that.
Shrinking the field on A&M’s offense
The first way is to make the window that A&M has to make a play shrink. This can be done by forcing Aggie’s quarterback Kellen Mond to hand the ball off. Alabama is one of the best run-stop defenses in the conference. If the Tide stuff the run, they can force Mond to hit the quick underneath routes.
The one thing that the Alabama defense does not want to do is let Mond stand in the pocket long enough for deep passes or scrambles.
Alabama does not want flashbacks of 2013 when Johnny Manziel. Mond is not Manziel, and although his athletic ability is similar, Mond does not have the same decision-making or vision to torch the tide down field.
The only way A&M has a good day though the air is if Alabama lets Mond stay in the pocket and get comfortable.
Alabama will probably come out in a normal defense in the first quarter to see what the Aggies will throw at them, but expect Alabama to load up the box frequently to force Mond to throw down field passes.
Defensive personnel
How will the Alabama defense dominate Texas A&M like we expect? Dylan Moses.
Moses is one of the top linebackers in the country and that is after not even playing last year. He had great production his sophomore year at Bama by recording 86 total tackles and three-and-a-half sacks.
However, the leadership that the senior linebacker brings is maybe the most important piece in the equation. If Alabama looked a little out of synch at times last year, it’s because they were, and that was because of Moses being out all season.
That will all change this year, and you already saw Moses making sideline checks and moving guys on defense around against Missouri.
Defensive back Daniel Wright had the best game of anyone on defense, and the best of his career. Wright recorded eleven tackles versus Missouri, 10 of those were solos. Everyone needs to keep their eye on the redshirt junior DB out of Florida as he grows into a leader for the Alabama defense this year.
Final thought
The Alabama defense has grown since last year, and they are looking to make the 2020 squad look like defenses from Nick Saban’s early years in Tuscaloosa.
Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher told his team to come out today, “Like a pack of wild wolves.” A great mantra to fire up your team, but Saban does not have to tell his defense to do that because they already will.
The main thing that the Tide defense needs to do to defeat the Aggies is to come hot out of the gate and ready to play. Nick Saban’s teams have never had a problem with that, and most likely that will not be any different today.
Hayden Crigler is a contributing college football writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him through email: [email protected] or on Twitter: @hayden_crigler.
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