Post Game Review: No. 11 Alabama 26, Texas A&M 20

What could have been.

Despite intially being a close affair, things spiraled out of control for Texas A&M as No. 11 Alabama claimed sole possession of first place in the SEC West with a 26-20 victory on Saturday afternoon at Kyle Field.

No other way to describe how things transpired than a tale of two halves.

After outgaining Alabama 203-148 to stake a 17-10 lead in the first half, A&M was limited to just three points in the final 30 minutes. A porous secondary was exposed by Alabama as they averaged 15.3 yards per catch.

In short, the Aggies only have themselves to blame for faltering in what surely would have been a season-changing win.

The day started as auspiciously as any other as Amari Daniels scorched through the Tide defense for a 9-yard gain. Max Johnson, in his third career matchup against Alabama, moved the chains with a 4-yard rush out of bounds for an easy first down.

“Mooooooseeee” chants rang out early as Johnson connected with Moose Muhammad for a 31-yard pickup. Despite entering the red zone at Alabama’s 19-yard line, the Aggies were ultimately stopped as Max Johnson was pressured and Deontae Lawson broke up a pass to Jake Johnson.

Perhaps threatened by a disruptive sold-out crowd, Alabama was saddled with a 5-yard penalty on its first play after a false start. Tide running back Jase McClellan failed to break through, and Jalen Milroe was sacked for a loss of six yards by no other than Edgerrin Cooper to force a three-and-out.

Taking over at the Alabama 44-yard line following a shanked punt, Max Johnson was quick on his feet for back-to-back scrambles to begin the Aggies’ second drive. Johnson slung it down field and found Evan Stewart on a perfectly thrown 32-yard completion to set up shop at the Alabama 6.

In the red zone again, Johnson’s short pass to Ainias Smith fell incomplete. Randy Bond’s 22-yard field goal salvaged the drive with just under six minutes remaining in the first.

Finding no success on the ground, Milroe captured Alabama’s first first down on a 45-yard completion to Jermaine Burton. The Aggie pass rush upped its ante and forced two straight incompletions highlighted by Josh DeBerry’s pass breakup on third down.

Alabama then settled with a field goal from 39 yards out to tie the game.

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In the last three games, Texas A&M has posted a combined 20 sacks.

Disaster nearly struck as Rueben Owens muffed the ensuing punt return that was fortunately recovered by Smith. Daniels managed to make room and found three yards before a hurried Johnson threw an incomplete pass to Stewart. Facing third-and-8, Johnson narrowly escaped a collapsing pocket and was just two yards shy of the first down as Nik Constantinou punted for the first time.

DeBerry prevented a deep gain from Milroe and struck again by pushing McClellan back two yards as Alabama suddenly faced third down. The Crimson Tide managed to keep marching after Burton made good on a 21-yard reception but were hindered on another false start brought on by a deafening 12th Man crowd.

Still, just nine seconds into the second quarter, Milroe exploited a lapse in the A&M secondary and found a wide-open Isaiah Bond for a 52-yard touchdown. That was the first offensive TD allowed by the Aggies in 14 quarters of play.

Searching for a response, Johnson immediately delivered on a 34-yard missle to Smith to penetrate midfield and extend his consecutive game streak with a reception to 33. The Aggies couldn’t capitalize on the explosive gain as Johnson was sacked for five yards and hurried the next throw. The drive stalled out on third-and-13.

The Maroon & White, who rank fifth nationally in total defense, were hoping to swing momentum in their favor and staved off Roydell Williams from picking up yardage. An incomplete pass was followed by yet another false start before Fadil Diggs buried Milroe for a loss of eight yards. Riling up the Tide, Burton was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Alabama punted it away. 

Smith may have initally muffed the return, but he recovered and missed tackle after tackle to put the Aggies on the Alabama 22-yard line on a massive 46-yard return.

In no time, Max Johnson found little brother Jake Johnson for an incredible 22-yard touchdown. Bond then converted on the PAT to forge a 10-10 tie.

D.J. Durkin’s defense held firm and forced two incompletions and (yes, another) false start on Alabama. Diggs then pounded Milroe for seven yards as Alabama came up empty handed, marking back-to-back sacks on Tide drives.

A short punt situated A&M with ideal field position on their own 47. Double coverage on the back end stopped what would have been a big gain by Muhammad. Le’Veon Moss muscled his way through for two yards, and a pass interference call gifted the Aggies a fresh set of downs. Continuing to establish a solid attack on the ground, Owens grabbed a pair of 4-yard gains, and Johnson’s 18-yard dart to Muhammad punctured the 25-yard line.

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Le’Veon Moss led the Aggies on the ground with 49 yards and a touchdown on 16 attempts.

Garnering momentum, Moss put his head down and put the Aggies back in the red zone with a 9-yard rush. Another successful rush by Moss preceded a quick slant to Smith as A&M fell on the ‘Bama 1. Moss then capped off the 11-play, 53-yard drive with a touchdown to retake the lead in commanding fashion.

Taking over on the Alabama 25, Milroe connected on three straight passes to charge past midfield. Staring at third-and-5, an illegal snap pushed Alabama back five yards, and Walter Nolen thumped Milroe for a 3-yard sack to set up fourth down.

A&M got the ball back and let the clock run out to end the first half. By then, the Aggie defense had sacked Milroe four times and caused just as many false start penalties.

Milroe seemingly came out of the locker room with a vengeance as he completed five passes in quick succession. Without wasting a second, Alabama was on the A&M 28 but Cooper blindsided Milroe and knocked the ball away (recovered by the Tide) for a loss of nine yards. 

With the play clock winding down to just one, Nick Saban desperately called a timeout as his team was stopped dead in its tracks. It was no use. Bryce Anderson sent the crowd into a frenzy with an interception (his first as an Aggie) and returned it for 15 yards.

But Max Johnson gave it right back. A pass intended for Jake Johnson was initally called incomplete and later ruled an interception by Caleb Downs. It was a whirlwind sequence of events as the Tide took over on the A&M 39 and picked up the first down on a 15-yard push up the middle by McClellan. With Alabama in the red zone for the first time, a great read by DeBerry caused a 5-yard loss on Isaiah Bond before Taurean York hurried Milroe and his pass attempt to Burton fell short.

Despite a valiant effort by the A&M defense, Burton scored on a 15-yard completion to tie the game again.

Back on offense, a 9-yard dart to Smith gave way to Moss finding first down on a 2-yard rush. Moss continued to cut his way through the Alabama defense and carried the Aggies across midfield. Stewart made a showstopping grab for eight yards but Moss’ rush proved just short as the drive fizzled out at the Alabama 45.

A 12-yard burst by Milroe put Alabama into positive rushing yardage, and the Tide’s momentum kept flowing as a 46-yard reception by Burton landed Alabama on the A&M 20-yard line. A few plays later, the Milroe-Burton connection resulted in a 19-yard touchdown.

Pressure mounting to produce offensively, Max Johnson closed the third quarter with a 7-yard scramble. The Aggies soon found first down, and Moss came up with 11 yards on a short pass after spinning out of a tackle. Smith almost got away with a deep gain, but the pass from Johnson was broken up and Constantinou was called back out.

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Jalen Milroe turned in his best game for Alabama with a career-high 321 passing yards and three touchdowns.

As Alabama looked to run away with the game, Demani Richardson forced a fumble on Burton that was recovered by Anderson.

Max Johnson was sacked by Dallas Turner to force third-and-15. Jake Johnson hauled in a 10-yard catch, but it wasn’t enought to keep going, and Bond was blocked on a 41-yard field goal attempt that was returned for 70 yards.

Though, the Aggies dodged a bullet as a blindside block nullified the TD and put Alabama back on its 37-yard line. A pair of false starts sandwiched an incomplete pass before another false start flag pushed Alabama backwards as the Tide punted on fourth-and-22.

Just under seven minutes were on the clock as A&M started its next drive on its own 16. The offensive line completely crumbled as Johnson was sacked for nine yards. Intentional grounding in the end zone resulted in a safety and Alabama increasing their lead to 26-17.

Going for the kill, the Tide couldn’t put things away as Cooper sacked Milroe on third down and Will Reichard punted. The Aggies nearly made Alabama pay with a 39-yard touchdown by Smith that was overturned as he stepped out of bounds before crossing the goal line. A 2-yard tote into the end zone by Moss was nullified by a holding call and backed the Aggies up 10 yards.

Max Johnson was sacked and a 13-yard pass to Jake Johnson wasn’t enough to make up for wasted time. Bond converted on a 20-yard field goal to cut the deficit down 26-20.

Alabama recovered an onside kick attempt at the A&M 48. The Tide managed to make enough progress to hold on to the ball and keep the Aggies from making a last-ditch effort.

All the Aggies were left with were thoughts of what could have been.

RUMBLED: Jermaine Burton. The senior wideout burned the A&M secondary single-handedly with nine receptions for a staggering 197 yards and two touchdowns. The Aggies simply had no answer for him and they paid the price. He averaged 21.9 yards per reception. Jalen Milroe obviously played a significant part in this with a career-high 321 yards and three passing TDs.

STUMBLED: See above. Yeah, the A&M secondary was down in the doldrums. The pass rush was there (six sacks), but once Milroe got the ball through the air into the hands of his receiving corps, it was a different story. Sure they limited Alabama to just 23 rushing yards, but the Aggies allowed 321 receiving yards that led to three touchdowns.

TURNING POINT: Texas A&M seemed to be riding high after Bryce Anderson’s interception. Just moments later, they gave it right back and it was all downhill from there. 

UNSUNG HERO: Ainias Smith played his heart out. Leading the Aggies with 137 all-purpose yards, he also topped A&M in receiving with 88 yards on four catches. Also worth noting the type of game Edgerrin Cooper had. With 11 tackles, three TFLs and three sacks, he was nothing short of disruptive.

KEY STAT: Alabama had eight “big” passes of 15+ yards that culminated in 236 yards gained. That includes a 52-yard touchdown to Isaiah Bond and a pair of 45+ yard receptions by Jermaine Burton.

Scoring Summary

First-quarter

A&M: 5:34 - Randy Bond 22-yard field goal. Drive: 7 plays, 39 yards. TOP 3:15. Texas A&M 3, Alabama 0.

ALA: 3:31 - Will Reichard 39-yard field goal. Drive 6 plays, 49 yards. TOP 1:56. Texas A&M 3, Alabama 3.

Second-quarter

ALA: 14:51 - Jalen Milroe 52-yard touchdown to Isaiah Bond. Drive 5 plays, 66 yards. TOP 2:06. Alabama 10, Texas A&M 3.

A&M: 9:57 - Max Johnson 22-yard touchdown to Jake Johnson. Drive: 1 plays, 22 yards. TOP 0:08. Texas A&M 10, Alabama 10.

A&M: 3:23 - Le’Veon Moss 1-yard rushing touchdown. Drive: 11 plays, 53 yards. TOP: 5:38. Texas A&M 17, Alabama 10.

Third-quarter

ALA: 7:29 - Jalen Milroe 15-yard touchdown to Jermaine Burton. Drive 6 plays, 39 yards. TOP 2:57. Texas A&M 17, Alabama 17.

ALA: 0:22 - Jalen Milroe 19-yard touchdown to Jermaine Burton. Drive 6 plays, 80 yards. TOP 2:37. Alabama 24, Texas A&M 17.

Fourth-quarter

ALA: Intentional grounding in the end zone, safety. Alabama 26, Texas A&M 17.

A&M: 2:11 - Randy Bond 20-yard field goal. Drive: 5 plays, 62 yards. TOP: 1:26. Alabama 26, Texas A&M 20.