No. 10 Alabama at No. 9 Texas A&M. The 59-0 loss to the Crimson Tide was especially humiliating for the Aggies, considering it marked the second-worst defeat in school history, surpassed only by 77-0 at Oklahoma in 2003. The SEC West – and most likely the SEC championship – likely will come down to Alabama’s November 7 home showdown with LSU.
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ALABAMA’S TV RECORD: Alabama has compiled a 231-131-4 (.637) all-time record in 366 televised games (not including pay-per-view, tape-delayed or closed circuit telecasts). Alabama has six players on the roster from Texas, led by DL A’Shawn Robinson, who has 19 tackles. Alabama netted 396 yards.
The Tide’s accustomed to such big stages, having played since 2008 in only three regular-season games without national title implications.
“We weren’t very good at that position today”, A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said of his quarterbacks. The undefeated Aggies are coming off a bye week and have had a full two weeks to prepare for this contest, so that means Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall should be fresh to get after the quarterback. Nobody except Ole Miss, but the Tide committed five turnovers in that one.
But to take their next step, the Aggies must eventually hang with the big boys.
Saturday’s Alabama vs. Texas A&M game has a scheduled start time of 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
That pretty much goes for Alabama, as well. TAMU is 4-1 ATS and the total is 2-3 this season. Alabama has already lost to Ole Miss, but coach Nick Saban’s program deserves a few benefit of the doubt: past year it rebounded from a loss to Ole Miss in Oxford to win the SEC and reach the College Football Playoff. Against a stout LSU defense, Harris will look to avoid mistakes as well as manage the clock, keeping Fournette off the field. Alabama is #6 in total defense and #4 in rush defense. Asked if he felt an extra buzz when scheming to stop the Crimson Tide, Chavis said: “Yeah”. The line not only bats down passes, but also gets to the quarterback often and has 16 sacks this season.
Jake Coker seemed sluggish, being intercepted twice in the first half, and not until later on in the game did he manage to pick up his slack ending the game with 262 yards and two touchdowns.
Instead, the Tide will likely turn to junior running back Derrick Henry, who ranks fourth in the SEC with 665 yard rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. He has a rushing touchdown in 11 straight games dating back to last season.
RIDLEY’S RECEIVING: Though Alabama relies more on its running game, Calvin Ridley has proven to be a threat in the passing game.
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In his four seasons, Sumlin has produced just a single victory over a Top 25 team at home. The Aggies are #15 in scoring and #39 in points allowed nationally. That’s dominant. The Aggies ended up with 284 yards, but that’s what happens when you throw 45 times. Defensively, Texasn A&M football yields 192.2 yards in passing and 182.6 yards in rushing. “We had three pick-sixes”.
Freshman receiver Christian Kirk has also given A&M a big play receiver, something that they have not had since the departure of Mike Evans. On the ground, Tra Carson rushed for 110 yards and one touchdown in 26 attempts. Kwame Etwi has 14 carries for 120 yards. Josh Reynolds has 18 catches for 383 yards and 3 touchdowns. He is questionable for undisclosed reasons.
The upside for A&M is that lots of games remain against fellow SEC West contenders, starting with next week’s matchup at No. 13 Ole Miss (5-2, 2-1).
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Derrick Henry ran for a career-high 236 yards and two scores and No. 10 Alabama set a school record with the three interception return TDs to get a 41-23 win over No. 9 Texas A&M. This is only the eighth meeting between the two teams, and the fourth as SEC members. “So I’m hoping it’s going to be a little different this year”.
