Alabama is the most dominant football team of the 2000s, starting with the hiring of Nick Saban away from the Miami Dolphins in 2007. After his initial season with Alabama, his squad has never lost to an unranked team.
That all changed this week as the defending national champions were dethroned by Jimbo Fisher in College Station.
Texas A&M won on a walk-off field goal as time expired to beat Alabama 41-38 at home.
Fisher finally became the first-ever Saban assistant to defeat their former mentor. TAMU jumped out to a 17-7 lead early in the second quarter before the teams started to share blows back and forth.
Finally, the two teams were tied 38-38 late in the fourth quarter when Texas A&M was able to make the final play to put the Crimson Tide away.
Quarterback battle
The Aggies had fantastic offensive numbers with their backup quarterback Zach Calzada looking better than Bryce Young, which is saying a lot.
Calzada completed 21-31 passing attempts for 285 yards as well as three touchdowns through the air. Young completed 28 of his 48 pass attempts for 369 yards. He also had three passing touchdowns.
Big day for running backs
Brian Robinson, Jr. was once again a bright spot for the Tide with 147 yards. He averaged over six yards-per-carry.
Texas A&M running back, Isaiah Spiller, was one of our projected keys to the game this week. However, Spiller only having 46 yards on the ground, and Bama still losing the battle is telling of how the game went. We discussed that containing him would be a piece of the puzzle to beating the Aggies.
Trouble up front
To be fair, it helped the Tide defense a lot, but the real issue with Bama was their offensive line.
A slightly above average TAMU defensive front got constant pressure on Young all night, causing an interception and four sacks.
Young looked frantic out there all night with Texas A&M’s pass-rush causing the Bama offensive line to stay in the game longer. At times, Young was able to show strokes of genius just because of his playmaking ability. Yet overall, the offensive line had him running for his life most plays, which is something an Alabama quarterback has not done in many, many years.
Playing catch-up
Alabama spent the entire second half chasing the Aggies. When they finally caught them, it looked like all hope for A&M was over. However, with the game tied at 38, Seth Small for the Aggies pushed a 28-yard game-winner through the uprights.
What’s next for the Tide?
From kickoff returns to interceptions, this was a weird yet fun game. Alabama went down in a thriller, but the Crimson Tide’s season is far from over.
The SEC West is still open, and Bama should roll through Mississippi State in Starkville this coming weekend to get the team back on track. However, Mississippi State did defeat Texas A&M just last week. So, it will be interesting to see if they bring that same intensity.
Expect Saban to light a fire under this team as he has been known to do from time to time and have Bama ready to dominate next week.
Hayden Crigler is a contributing college football and college basketball writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him through email: [email protected] or on Twitter: @hayden_crigler.
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