The final result was as expected – Alabama beat Texas A&M.
But the Aggies did something unexpected – made it hard for the Crimson Tide to win.
As 26.5–point underdogs at home, A&M was picked by many to be steam-rolled by the Tide, but as the Aggies walked off Kyle Field Saturday night, the 27-19 loss felt as if it could have been even closer.
Maybe it should have been.
A&M was in striking distance of getting within a score, or even going ahead on several occasions on an Alabama team who came to College Station riding on back-to-back SEC victories by a combined score of 125-3.
“It is real disappointing. It came down to the wire there,” 12th Man Cullen Gillaspia said. “They’re a great ball club, but you have to take positives from it, too. They’re the number one team in the country and we just went toe-to-toe with them until the final seconds of the game.”
Costly turnovers, big plays and penalties kept the Aggies from doing what seems impossible – beating Alabama.
“It’s tough to know that if a couple more things would’ve went our way we would’ve had a closer shot to win the game,” wide receiver Christian Kirk said. “That’s how Alabama is. All the credit goes out to them. They’re the number one team in the country for a reason. They’re not going to give you anything.”
In the fourth quarter, Alabama safety Minkah Fitzpatrick stepped in front and intercepted A&M quarterback Kellen Mond’s pass to Camron Buckley at the 1-yard line. The turnover kept A&M from potentially getting within seven points.
“They lined up two by two, and motioned Christian Kirk across the field,” Fitzpatrick recalled of the play. “He had a little bit of separation at first when the quarterback threw the ball, and I just closed on him to make the pick.”
A&M’s defense held its own on the Tide’s ensuing drive, and 12th Man Cullen Gillaspia blocked J.K. Scott’s punt out of the end zone for a safety, making it 24-12, Alabama.
“Coach Banks drew up a great scheme against their punt team,” Gillaspia said. “I wish it wouldn’t have gone out of bounds and I wish we could’ve gotten a touchdown there, but the ball is shaped funny and it bounces weird ways.”
After receiving a kickoff, though, the Aggie offense got into a pickle. Mond lost 16 yards on back-to-back plays, and with an added delay of game penalty, A&M was forced to punt on fourth-and-26.
Alabama knocked home a 44-yard field goal after shaving nearly five minutes off the clock on a methodical drive to go ahead by 15 with 2:09 to go. The drive included a 17-yard completion and A&M was flagged for pass interference.
Mond scampered in for a 1-yard touchdown run with 17 seconds left, but after a failed onside kick, any chances of a comeback were dashed.
“He hasn’t always done everything right, but he’s given us a chance in all of these games to be successful, either with his legs with the scramble, and he’s made some good throws,” A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin said of Mond. “We’re not in that position at the end of the game to try and onside kick and do some things if he doesn’t play the way that he did down the stretch.”
Big plays helped put Alabama over the top. The Tide tallied six plays of 15-plus yards, all of which came on their five scoring drives.
“Great win for our team on the road, tough atmosphere,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said. “We knew this would probably be the best team we’ve played and they played us tough in the front seven.”
Alabama was also able to neutralize a strong A&M rushing attack, holding the Aggies to a season-low 71 yards – a mere 1.8 yards per rush. Trayveon Williams was the leading rusher with just 38 yards on 15 carries.
“We played the game to try and stop their run, which we did a pretty good job,” Saban said.
Despite the loss, A&M knows that it can right the ship on the road ahead, beginning next week when the Aggies travel to Gainesville to take on Florida – a team that suffered a 17-16 loss at home to LSU on Saturday, a week after the Tigers’ lost 24-21 at home to the Sun Belt’s Troy.
“As season goes on we’re going to keep growing stronger. I’m pretty confident that this next week, going into Florida, we’re going to have our best week in practice and going into the bye week,” Kirk concluded. “We still have a long season to go and each week we’re going to get better and better.”
 final result was as expected – Alabama beat Texas A&M.
But the Aggies did something unexpected – make it hard for the Crimson Tide to win.
As 26.5-point underdogs at home, A&M was picked by many to be steam-rolled by the Tide, but as the Aggies walked off Kyle Field Saturday night, the 27-19 loss felt as if it could have been even closer.
Maybe it should have.
A&M was in striking distance of getting within a score, or even going ahead on several occasions on an Alabama team who came to College Station riding on back-to-back SEC victories by a combined score of 125-3.
“It is real disappointing. It came down to the wire there,” 12th Man Cullen Gillaspia said. “They’re a great ball club but you have to take positives from it too. They’re the number one team in the country and we just went toe-to-toe with them until the final seconds of the game.”
Costly turnovers, big plays, and penalties kept the Aggies from doing the deed though – beating Alabama.
“It’s tough to know that if a couple more things would’ve went our way we would’ve had a closer shot to win the game,” wide receiver Christian Kirk said. “That’s how Alabama is. All the credit goes out to them. They’re the number one team in the country for a reason. They’re not going to give you anything.”
In the fourth quarter, Alabama safety Minkah Fitzpatrick stepped in front and intercepted A&M quarterback Kellen Mond’s pass to Camron Buckley at the 1-yard line. The turnover kept A&M from potentially getting within seven.
“They lined up two by two, and motioned Christian Kirk across the field,” Fitzpatrick recalled of the play. “He had a little bit of separation at first when the quarterback threw the ball, and I just closed on him to make the pick.”
A&M’s defense held its own on the Tide’s ensuing drive, and 12th Man Cullen Gillaspia blocked J.K. Scott’s punt out of the end zone for a safety, making it 24-12 Alabama.
“Coach Banks drew up a great scheme against their punt team,” Gillaspia said. “I wish it wouldn’t have gone out of bounds and I wish we could’ve gotten a touchdown there but the ball is shaped funny and it bounces weird ways.”
After receiving a kickoff though, the Aggie offense got into a pickle. Mond was lost 16 yards on back-to-back plays, and with an added delay of game penalty, A&M was forced to punt on fourth-and-26.
Alabama knocked home a 44-yard field goal after shaving nearly five minutes off the clock on a methodical drive to go ahead by 15 with 2:09 to go. The drive included a 17-yard completion and A&M was flagged for pass interference.
Mond scampered in for a 1-yard touchdown run with 17 seconds left, but after a failed onside kick, any chances of a comeback were dashed.
“He hasn’t always done everything right, but he’s given us a chance in all of these games to be successful, either with his legs with the scramble, and he’s made some good throws,” A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin said of Mond. “We’re not in that position at the end of the game to try and onside kick and do some things if he doesn’t play the way that he did down the stretch.”
Big plays helped put Alabama over the top. The Tide tallied six plays of 15-plus yards, all of which came on their five scoring drives.
“Great win for our team on the road, tough atmosphere,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said. “We knew this would probably be the best team we’ve played and they played us tough in the front seven.”
Alabama was also able to neutralize a strong A&M rushing attack, holding the Aggies to a season-low 71 yards – a mere 1.8 yards per rush. Trayveon Williams was the leading-rusher with just 38 yards on 15 carries.
“We played the game to try and stop their run, which we did a pretty good job of,” Saban said.
Despite the loss, A&M knows that it can right the ship on the road ahead, beginning next week when the Aggies travel to Gainesville to take on Florida – a team that suffered a 17-16 loss at home to LSU on Saturday, a week removed after the Tigers’ lost 24-21 at home to the Sun Belt’s Troy.
“As season goes on we’re going to keep growing stronger. I’m pretty confident that this next week, going into Florida, we’re going to have our best week in practice and going into the bye week,” Kirk concluded. “We still have a long season to go and each week we’re going to get better and better.”