A&M-BAMA: Tide can't overcome miscues in loss to Aggies
Texas A&M upsets Alabama in SEC action on Saturday. (UA Media Relations)
By TIM GAYLE
Alabama couldn’t block and couldn’t tackle in the first half of Saturday’s game against Texas A&M.
The Crimson Tide corrected some of the mistakes in the second half, but never seemed able to break out of the mental fog against the Aggies, allowing a Seth Small field goal on the final play of the game that gave Texas A&M a 41-38 upset win.
The win snapped an eight-game winning streak by Alabama over Texas A&M, a 100-game winning streak against unranked opponents, the nation’s longest winning streak (of 19 games) and a 24-game winning streak by Nick Saban against former pupils, proving that Alabama, at least this year’s squad, can struggle to keep their mental focus against any foe.
“This is the second time we’ve won 19 games in a row,” Saban said. “We won 19 games in a row (in 2009-10) and went to South Carolina and played about like we played today and got beat. So I don’t know the psychology of all that but it really is not when you get to the game. When you get to the game, everybody wants to win, everybody wants to play well. It’s what did you do to get to the game. How did you prepare? How did you practice? What kind of habits did you create? So you can carry those things to the game. And that’s what sort of eliminates bad plays.
“Now you’ve got to give the other team credit. They’re capable of making plays. And I think when the game comes, everybody wants to win, but we need to do things better to get ready to play better, especially when we’re playing on the road, especially when we’re playing against really good teams. Because I don’t know of anybody in our division that isn’t a really good team so if we don’t play really well, we’ll struggle against anybody we play against.”
Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher, who has never beaten a Nick Saban-coached team, promised as much this summer when speaking to an Aggie booster club meeting. Now, finally, he delivered.
“It doesn't mean anything to me,” Fisher said. “I don't mean that in any disrespect. Nick is one heck of a football coach. I have known Nick for years. I consider him a great friend. Coached with him, have a lot of respect for him. He has got great teams. The thing that means something to me is our football team is learning to play against other good football teams and have success. That's the important thing to me.”
And Alabama, who hasn’t looked that dysfunctional since a 43-37 loss to Ole Miss in Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2015, certainly has no one to blame but themselves after breaking down in the offensive line, at quarterback, at receiver, on special teams, on the defensive line and in the secondary.
“It’s a very difficult loss,” Saban said. “You’ve got to give Texas A&M a lot of credit. I thought they played very well, they had a good plan. You know, we certainly contributed to helping them in a lot of cases -- turned the ball over in the red zone, settled for field goals in the red zone, don’t get stops when you need to get stops on defense.
“I know there are things that I need to do better, every coach had things that they need to do better and every player … we did a lot of things out there to contribute to the other team, whether they were penalties, missed plays, dropped balls.”
A Brian Robinson fumble led to a Texas A&M touchdown and a 17-7 lead in the first half, but the Tide would battle back. Alabama appeared to swing the momentum with a blocked punt that was recovered for a touchdown, but Devon Achane returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown to reclaim a 14-point lead.
Alabama never clicked with regularity on offense but did grab a 38-31 lead late despite an illegal procedure penalty that stalled a drive on the Texas A&M 9, resulting in a field goal; three incomplete passes following a first and goal at the Aggie 3 that led to another field goal; and dropped passes by Jahleel Billingsley and John Metchie on Alabama’s final possession that resulted in a punt.
The Aggies’ final two possessions wiped out Alabama’s seven-point lead, with both six-play drives picking up four first downs and huge chunks of yardage after the Tide had shut down the Texas A&M offense for much of the second half.
“To get down 38-31, to be behind after being up like that, and to respond back?” Fisher said. “And (quarterback) Zach (Calzada) stood in there and made throws. He got hit in the mouth. But our guys made plays.”
Fisher was asked how his team blocked out the last two weeks of disappointing losses to Arkansas and Mississippi State and responded with the biggest win of his players’ careers.
“Eliminate all the clutter,” he said. “Eliminate the clutter and win your space. You've got to line up and play each and every week. You write your own history. You believe in your own self. And there's going to be trials and tribulations and you're defined by how you respond to adversity. Now you are defined by how you respond to having success.”
Alabama apparently didn’t learn the lesson and now must regroup next Saturday night in Starkville against Mississippi State. Texas A&M, meanwhile, travels to Columbia to play Missouri.